How to Serve and Drink Wine on Festive Occasions, According to Etiquette

During the holidays, we indulge in a few too many drinks and organize many beautiful evenings with friends and relatives. Assuming that we must always drink responsibly, let's try to do it in an elegant way this time. To succeed, just follow a few simple rules that will allow you to be a perfect host and a truly gallant drinker.

How to Serve Wine According to Etiquette

Choose the wine that best suits the occasion: it is not the most expensive or the most valuable. Instead, it is the wine that best harmonizes with the dishes you have to serve. What is even more important than the pairing with the dishes, however, is the taste of your guests: serve them the wine that they like best. If you know that they appreciate a Brachetto (for example), it is a touch of great class to have your guests find this type of grape.

A very important point of etiquette is the sequence of bottles: are the whites or the reds served first? The traditional sequence in the service of wines calls for whites before reds, with the exception of straw wines or sweet sparkling wines (which are served at the end of the meal). The serving temperature follows an increasing gradation, except for dessert wines. Each type of wine has its own glass, and the reds, already uncorked and oxygenated, should be brought to the table at the moment of consumption. One last important thing to keep in mind: if you receive a bottle as a gift, offer it immediately to share with the person who bought it. Regardless of whether it is white or red, it should still be the first bottle put on the table.

How to Drink Wine According to Etiquette

We finally come to the moment of tasting the wine. First of all, do not mix water with wine. The glass should be held by the stem, without lifting the little finger, and the hand should be kept away from the cup to avoid heating the wine or interfering with its aromatic bouquet. Do not bring the glass to your mouth while you still have the bite to swallow, and always dry your lips before and after drinking.

Sip slowly, sniffing the contents almost incidentally, without the dramatic gestures so typical of tastings. Don't swirl the glass like a washing machine spin cycle, and don't stick your nose in as if you were searching for gold nuggets in the Klondike River. It's also a very bad gesture to throw your head back to drain the last drop of wine: it's a good sign in theory, because it means you liked the wine, but more often than not it means you liked the wine a little too much. Avoid unpleasant noises like hissing or clicking your tongue. Toasting is appropriate only on official occasions, and the ritual is led by the host unless he or she gives up their seat. Finally, remember to respect your limits and never embarrass others.