Whether in bars or banquets, red wine, as a wonderful flower of appreciation and evaluation, is gradually being respected and recognized by people. Red wine represents a realm of life. It is the most wonderful romantic moment to be able to sit down, taste the wine in the cup and feel the purest life in the cup with spirit and body. The appreciation of red wine, of course, should be based on sensibility. Every taste of wine, every eye and every ear need to be fully integrated. Red wine will bring people endless fun and enjoyment. In restaurants and fashionistas' wine storage rooms, there are often some red wines that have been treasured by their owners for many years. These wines that are old enough or good enough are the favorite of the owner, and they are also the symbol of the owner's taste and personality. When drinking a bottle of precious red wine with three or two confidants, the refreshing fragrance seems to be the short flute sound at the climax of Beethoven's symphony. The unique wine quality has become more mellow and flawless with the growth of years. Exquisite elegance is not a glass of wine, but a culture and a fashionable taste of life. The luckiest people are those who have something to do with wine. "Born in Liu Ling, named after wine", the wine of the ancients is firm but gentle moonlight, and the wine of today is full of romance. People often ask, why do you drink red wine? For fashion? Smell? Healthy? Or life? Can't other wines meet the demand? Let's listen to what a professional sommelier says: Due to the differences in varieties, soil, brewing technology and climate, red wine produced in different places has its own unique flavor, which brings different visual, olfactory and taste feelings to everyone. Excluding the pursuit of high-priced wine just to show off or show off, there are three reasons for the high price of good vintage wine in some famous wineries or wineries: First, the good flavor and taste brewed by these wines have been the preference of many people for hundreds of years; Second, according to the principle of economics, the price of wine brewed in that year will certainly rise when the supply is less than the demand; Third, these precious wines usually take a long time to mature. With the passage of time, the transformation has become more and more perfect and the price has become more and more expensive. Some experts or people who have long-term wine tasting experience can really distinguish the year from the color of the wine, smell the grape varieties from the aroma, perceive the maturity of the grapes from the taste, and describe the taste and taste with very appropriate adjectives. The whole wine tasting process is like playing with rare treasures and playing over and over again. Drinking red wine is more about appreciating a little romantic interest, reliving a long-lasting feeling and recalling the romantic story that has been infiltrated by red wine for centuries: whenever a special day comes, a handsome and considerate gentleman always brings a bottle of wine and a bunch of flowers to his sweetheart, and then they drink wine in the warmth of the flowers and fall in love, so some wine labels are specially designed as a red heart. This romance makes the beautiful red wine more poetic and picturesque beyond the world. Red wine is a living work of art, and its magic lies in its vivid life juice, profound historical connotation and noble cultural accumulation. Tasting red wine, feeling joy and indulging in mystery are naturally a rare and wonderful artistic conception of life. When you pick up a tulip cup with exquisite curves and crystal clear, shake it gently, listen to the sweet sound made by the collision between ice cubes and the cup body, and stare at the rose wine juice slowly flowing down the cup wall, revealing the charming luster like jelly, how peaceful, peaceful and elegant your heart is. With the whirling of the glass, the fragrance of the wine rises. You hold your breath, gather together, relax, take a deep breath of faint fragrance, smell it repeatedly, and you can't bear to go down your throat for a long time; Then you take a sip and put it in your mouth, letting the delicate and smooth nectar swing between your lips, teeth and tongue. The fragrance lingering in the mouth still lingers in the mouth even after entering the throat, which makes people bow their heads and remember. At this moment, your thoughts will slowly float and swim to any place you want to go-you will feel that wine is a romantic poem, burning gently in your life. This is the fun of wine tasting! Now many people don't know much about red wine. Most people drink ordinary red wine with sprite and lemon, and shake a small handleless wine cup to drink more. People who really know wine think that "drinking less is better" is an immortal proverb for drinking red wine. Because red wine is the perfect combination of nature and time, it needs the patience of the drinker. Although western food and red wine are imported, they are passed down from generation to generation and have a commendable tradition. Tasting red wine is actually a good way to slow down your life. From aperitif to wine for dinner and dessert, there is a process, just like bloom flowers falling, which is orderly. Indeed, when there are pianos and wonderful singers who sing jazz for you and comfortable seats surround your tired body, why not take a vacation for yourself and let the fragrance in the cup bring you a beautiful view of the vineyard? If I let you have a taste of red wine as old as you, you wouldn't be so careless. The elegance and preciousness of red wine is that it represents the time of condensation, and people's labor was held in the cup decades ago. At that moment, I was inevitably moved. If you are a good friend, bring that bottle of very old red wine that has been treasured for many years. It is enough for you to get drunk first. It is speculated that as early as 7500 BC, grape varieties used to brew most modern wines have appeared in the Caucasus, which is now Armenia and Georgia. In ancient times, almost all Mediterranean countries planted grapes that could be used to make wine. The murals of the Egyptian Pharaoh's mausoleum in 2000 BC described in detail every step of wine-making in ancient Egypt. Wine is an inseparable part of ancient Greek and Roman culture. Vineyards in the Loire Valley of France appeared one after another in the 4th and 5th centuries, and now France has become the most famous wine producing area. For centuries, the French have brought the exquisite craftsmanship of wine-making into the art field, making many wine-producing areas in China famous for producing high-quality wines. This is not only because the French people's wine-making level is superb, but also because France has a unique climate and soil conditions, thus producing a variety of grapes, and then brewing a series of world-famous red and white wines, champagne and cognac, which makes many drinkers infinitely intoxicated. The weather in France is cooler, so the ripening period of grape planting is longer, and grapes can get more and richer flavors. French wine is elegant, noble and complicated, but not everyone can appreciate it. In Bordeaux and its surrounding areas, there are some manors specializing in wine brewing, which are usually called "wine castles" or "wineries". In such a manor, castles are often located in endless vineyards. Although the main buildings have different styles, they are basically based on the architectural styles of the Renaissance and 17 to 18 centuries. Bordeaux wine is famous for its smooth, mellow, deep purple, bright color, rich aroma and tangy fragrance. The wine is natural, pure and flawless, and is known as the "Queen of French Wine". Bordeaux has a unique climate and geographical conditions: facing the Atlantic Ocean, it has a mild climate and many soil forms, and the Gironde River crosses it, where vines grow best. Bordeaux is the largest wine producing area in the world, and almost all kinds of wines can be produced: mellow red wine, spicy or sweet white wine, and rose wine, ranging from fine wine to ordinary table wine. The brewing process of wine is serious and rigorous: the first step is the so-called stem removal, that is, the grapes are removed from the comb-shaped branches. Because the branches contain a lot of tannic acid, it will cause unpleasant taste in wine. The next step is to squeeze the fruit. To brew red wine, the fermentation process of grape pulp is essential. Because the red pigment contained in fruit acid is released during this time. Next is juicing and fermentation. After juicing, you can get the raw material of wine-grape juice, and add wine juice to make good wine. Wine is the product of fermentation, so fermentation plays a very important role in the process of wine brewing. Fermentation is a chemical process that works through yeast. After this chemical action, the sugar contained in grapes will gradually be converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Therefore, in the process of fermentation, sugar is getting less and less, while alcohol content is getting higher and higher. Through the slow fermentation process, wine with rich fragrance and delicate taste can be brewed. Although this has been done, the work of the winemaker is still unfinished. After fermentation for about 3 weeks, the new wine must be precipitated for the first time and changed into barrels. The second precipitation takes 4 to 6 weeks. Wine can be bottled after being stored in barrels for 3 to 9 months or even longer. The bottle is sealed with a cork, so let the wine wait quietly for the romantic moment in the sealed space. What wine should I drink tonight? Maybe there is a way to help you make a decision: try to conceive Long Night as a drama. What kind of night will it be? The characters, scenes, lights, props, music, plots and food on the table are all organized, so you will know what wine to put on this stage. An atmosphere of Jing Ya. Indoor light should not be too strong, and there should be no noise, including strong music and sound. The air is fresh, and the walls should be light-colored to form a relaxed atmosphere. At the same time, wine tasting should be carried out on an empty stomach, with sensitive senses and a good spirit and mood. B The red wine reception selected by tablecloth will present different colors according to the origin and year of the wine, which can be violet, ruby red and so on. In order to show their beautiful and pure colors, the choice of tablecloths is not arbitrary. Dark tablecloths will affect the feeling of wine color, so white and pink tablecloths are more suitable. C Ideal wine temperature Every kind of red wine has its ideal drinking temperature, and the drinking temperature of red wine is 18℃ to 24℃. Red wine must be drunk at the temperature that best reflects its value, because the temperature when drinking red wine has a great influence on the aroma and taste. Too low temperature will inhibit the fragrance and aggravate the sour and astringent taste. If the temperature is too high, the wine will lose its freshness and there is a danger of producing improper aroma compounds. The most convenient cooling method for normal temperature red wine before drinking is to put the wine bottle in an ice bucket with half ice and half water. 15 to 20 minutes later, the temperature will drop from more than 20 degrees to about 10 degrees. If you want the temperature to drop faster, you can sprinkle a handful of coarse salt in the ice water, which can give full play to the best characteristics of red wine. D wine tasting apparatus The wine glass is an important tool for catering, which has a decisive influence on the overall beauty of the dining table, especially the taste of drinking, so the wine glass for drinking red wine is quite particular. From the material point of view, the glass used for drinking red wine must be light enough and transparent enough to show the true colors of wine. Smart drinkers play with wine glasses gracefully and appreciate the color of red wine in the glasses, which is also an important way to judge the quality of red wine. So the glass should be made lighter, so that it won't fall off when picked up; Only by thinning can we see the color of the wine clearly. Of course, the most upscale wine glasses are crystal glass. This kind of wine glass has very high transparency and low refractive index, which is much higher than that of ordinary goods. From the appearance, drinking red wine is a variety with narrow mouth and wide belly. Narrow mouth is to let the aroma of wine gather at the mouth of the cup, which is not easy to escape, so as to fully taste the aroma of wine and fruit. Wide belly is to make red wine fully contact with air. In the past, the popular wine glass was small and exquisite, but now the pot-bellied cup is fashionable, which makes it more imposing in your hand, and at the same time, it also allows more space for red wine to contact in the cup. When tasting red wine, you should hold the high part of the glass in hand to avoid touching the glass body to heat up. The correct way to pour wine is to pour red wine into the glass about 1/3, which can achieve the effect of sobering up on the one hand and avoid the embarrassment of wine overflowing when shaking the glass on the other. E pouring method There are many red-headed documents of red wine on the table. If you don't need to learn western table manners, then a bottle opener, a suitable wine temperature and a suitable cup are enough. However, in order to avoid encountering special circumstances and missing good wine, it is safer to know more details. A. Breathing In order to make red wine smell more mellow and taste more supple when drinking, you can open the bottle in advance to let the wine breathe and breathe for a while. Its function is to slightly oxidize wine, which can better release its fragrance when it comes into contact with air. Generally speaking, the breathing time of red wine should not exceed 3 hours. It is best to open the bottle of aged wine after drinking for many years to avoid the unique aroma of aged wine escaping when opening the bottle in advance. B.opening a bottle is an elegant and skillful action. Generally, the wine should be shown to the guests first, indicating the origin and year of the wine. The display surface should let the guests see the label of the wine intuitively. The most commonly used bottle openers are wooden handle drill, lever bottle opener and butterfly bottle opener. When opening a bottle, first cut and seal it from the protruding part of the bottle mouth with a knife and remove the upper part. Then aim at the center and slowly screw the spiral cone into the cork, then tighten the bottle mouth, and then slowly pull up the handle to pull out the cork smoothly; When the cork is about to leave the bottle mouth, gently pull out the cork to avoid making a loud noise-try to keep quiet during the whole opening process. Open the bottle, take out the cork, and let the guests see if the cork is wet. If it is wet, it proves that this bottle of wine has adopted a reasonable preservation method, otherwise this bottle of wine is likely to deteriorate due to improper preservation. Guests can also smell the cork or try to drink it to further confirm the quality of the wine. You can't officially pour the wine until it is confirmed. C. pouring skills when pouring wine, you should first pour wine for the guests from the owner's right, paying attention to the ladies and the elderly. When pouring wine, everyone should be able to see the label of the wine. The wine glass is always placed on the guest's right, so pour the wine from the guest's right. When pouring wine, white wine is poured into 2/3 of the glass, and red wine is poured into 1/3 of the glass. If the wine is too full, it is difficult to raise a glass, let alone look at the color and smell the fragrance. We should leave a certain space for the bouquet gathered at the mouth of the cup, so that the bouquet will linger here. F. Choosing the wine that matches the menu depends on many factors, such as the wine stored in the cellar, regional traditions, personal tastes, etc. In any case, red wine should not be drunk in excess in one meal. The drinking order of red wine will affect the taste of its quality. In order to reduce the interference of the first-class wine to the second-class wine, it is best to arrange the lighter wine in front and try to stay behind the heavier and sweeter wine when arranging the tasting order. So usually white wine precedes red wine, sweet wine precedes dry wine, new wine precedes old wine, and high-alcohol wine precedes low-alcohol wine. In foreign countries, there are pre-dinner wine, table wine and after-dinner wine. Some appetizing absinthe and cocktails can be prepared for aperitif. Table wine varies from dish to dish, generally using dry red or dry white and champagne; After dinner, choose liqueur, brandy and whisky. The collocation of wine and vegetables is quite particular: sweet white wine with goose dried sauce; Dry white and semi-dry white wine with fish, seafood and white broilers and poultry; Red wine with red beef, mutton, etc. It can also be simplified as "white wine with white meat, red wine with red meat". This is because the "acid" in liquor can increase the refreshing activity of taste, and as far as seafood is concerned, it has the effect of removing fishy smell. "Tannin" in red wine can soften the fiber and make the meat feel tender. In this way, the food and wine complement each other, which not only appreciates the unique taste of the food but also highlights the flavor of the wine. Of course, you can also use your imagination to create new collocation methods. Unusual combinations are sometimes very attractive, especially when French wines are paired with dishes from other countries, such as China and Japanese. People who advocate higher taste and interest in life are often interested in things unfamiliar to ordinary people, because this often requires a higher level of vision and experience background. Just like people who are really addicted to red wine can distinguish its color, smell and even the glass they drink. The grade of wine is measured by the age of preservation. The higher the grade of red wine, the more complicated the taste, which can only be described by the word good wine. Different kinds of red wine have different drinking years. Generally speaking, red wine with high reputation and unique personality can only appreciate its flavor after a long period of aging, while white wine mostly just wants to taste its fresh and fruity aroma, so its drinking period should not be too long, so it should be drunk as soon as possible. Someone said, "The difference between wine tasting and drinking is thinking." In the west, wine tasting is considered as an elegant and meticulous taste, and for the leisure class, appreciating red wine is even more elegant. Tasting wine can be divided into five basic steps: watching color, shaking wine, smelling fragrance, tasting and aftertaste. As long as you have keen senses and spirituality, and pay the corresponding patience and time, you will certainly appreciate the mystery and leisure. Watching and tasting red wine begins with the eyes, because the appearance of red wine is an important symbol of its health, quality characteristics and brewing degree. First of all, it depends on the packaging of the bottle, whether the international bar code on the label on the back of the bottle starts with 3 words, whether the French international code is 3, and whether there is a Chinese logo on the label on the back of the bottle; Open the bottle and see if the words on the wooden wine stopper are the same as those on the bottle label. In France, wine bottles and wine stoppers are dedicated. Drinking red wine, the wine label is equivalent to the identity card of the wine. The wine label usually includes the name of the winery, the name of the wine, the variety of the wine, the capacity of the wine, the alcohol content, the country of production, the year of growth, the place of bottling, etc. This information is very important for experienced customers. For example, through the growth year of grapes, we can know whether the growth process is perfect or not, and we can also decide whether to drink it immediately or store it for several years. Wine labels also have distinctive patterns. In the past, these were mostly signs of wineries, even noble signs, royal signs or landscapes and buildings handed down from wineries, all of which were unique charms. In addition, because every year's wine will be printed with the year, many drinkers will keep a particularly beautiful vintage label for aftertaste and even show off to their friends. Slowly, collecting wine labels has become a pleasure for drinkers. After checking the appearance, you can gently pull out the cork, be careful not to shake the bottle, and pour a small amount of red wine into a clear and transparent tulip-shaped glass until it is about 5 cm away from the foot of the glass. In bright light, hold the bottom or foot of the glass, tilt it at 45 degrees, and observe the appearance and color of the wine on a white background. To evaluate the appearance of red wine, there are mainly factors such as color, clarity, concentration and luster. For good quality red wine, its clarity, brightness and luster are the first impression and the basic quality of good wine. The color of the new wine is clear and bright, and the old wine is slightly yellowish brown. When the glass is tilted at 45 degrees, there is a layer of water at the joint between the wine and the glass wall. The wider the wine, the higher the alcohol content. Different colors can appear at the junction of water body and wine body, thus showing the year of wine. Blue and lavender are equal to 3 to 5 years of wine age; The color of red brick is equal to 5 to 6 years; Amber is equal to 8 to 10 years; Orange means it has expired. Under most normal circumstances, the color of dry red wine is bright red, indicating that the age of wine is quite light, usually between 1-4 years; The color of dry red wine is purple, indicating that the wine has reached middle age, about 4 to 8 years; When the color of dry red wine is brown, it means that the wine has reached maturity or aging period, usually more than 9 years or 10 years. Different brewing procedures and styles have different effects on the color change of liquor. B Shake the bottom of the cup and shake the wine in the cup constantly, so that the wine can be hung on the glass wall. The shaking will release esters, ethers and acetaldehyde in the wine, so that oxygen can be fully combined with red wine, and the unique aroma of red wine can be released to the greatest extent, so that the sommelier can judge the quality and characteristics of wine according to the aroma of wine. Shake the glass horizontally from the right side of the glass to see the speed at which the wine flows evenly from the glass wall. The stronger the wine, the slower the flow and the better the quality of the wine. When we taste wine, the sense of smell is the most sensitive organ. In fact, the sense of smell of the nose is closely related to the taste of the mouth, and the feeling of the mouth will confirm the experience of nose smell. When you smell the wine without shaking it, the smell you perceive is the "first smell" of the wine, also called "pre-fragrance". Before smelling wine, it's best to take a breath of fresh outdoor air, then hold the foot of the cup tightly, tilt the cup at 45 degrees, and put the tip of the nose into the cup to smell the original smell of wine. At this time, the delicate, pleasant, elegant and rich aroma will come to the nose. Take a short sniff, but don't take a long deep breath, because the sense of smell can easily become dull, especially when you want to taste several lighter and more tender red wines. Ask yourself if you like the smell. Is it light? Is it fresh? Is it sour or sweet? Thick or sweet? Is it strong or graceful? After the glass rotates and shakes, you can smell the smell released from the wine quickly, which is the "second taste" of the wine, also called "lingering fragrance". Remember, the smell of red wine, like the color, can reflect the variety of red wine and the maturity of red wine itself, partly because of the brewing method. This new wine will release the unique "extraordinary fragrance" of the grapes used in the brewing process. "Exogenous fragrance" traditionally refers to the smell people smell from tender red wine, and the word "mellow" is usually used to brew red wine. For Tibetan red wine, its aroma is long-lasting and rich, including flowers, fruits, earth, oak, fur, barbecue and other flavors. D don't eat sweets before tasting red wine, otherwise you will feel sour, bitter and astringent. For most people, wine tasting means taking a sip of wine and then swallowing it quickly, but it's not called wine tasting. Tasting wine is a matter related to taste buds. Remember, let the wine spread around your mouth, on both sides of your tongue, behind your tongue, on the tip of your tongue and to the bottom of your throat. The taste buds on the tongue can distinguish four basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. The tip of the tongue tastes sweet, the edges on both sides of the tongue taste salty, the upper side of the tongue tastes sour and the root of the tongue tastes bitter. Simply put, a good wine should have the following characteristics: moderate aroma, rich and complex enough; The taste of wine should also be rich and complex enough; The aftertaste should be long enough; The flavors of wine and oak should be balanced. The above four points are the basic conditions of good wine, and they are indispensable. Sip the wine into a small mouth and put it in front of your mouth, let your tongue and related parts warm the wine, and let all kinds of flavors escape slowly and get better. Usually, you will feel the following flavors mixed together: sweet but not sweet, which is called "dry". If the fermented wine is terminated early, some natural sugar will be left behind. If the tongue obviously feels sugar, it belongs to slightly sweet to very sweet wine; Sour taste can be felt on both sides of the tongue and chin; Astringent taste, red wine has the highest tannic acid content and a strong sense of dryness; The smell of alcohol, when wine flows into the throat, will be filled with a warm current. The more alcohol, the warmer. What you feel when you taste red wine is the stimulation and taste to your mouth. Different wines have different brewing methods, some are smooth, some are strong, and some are charming ... It is true that wine is like a man, and a man is like his wine. Only by tasting it carefully can you realize its value. E aftertaste At this time, the sommelier can quietly experience the wonderful aroma, taste and characteristics of wine: harmony, mellow, sweet, delicate, plump, continuous and pure ... The real good wine is mellow and flawless, which makes people memorable. Is the wine light, moderately rich or relatively rich? Is red wine tannic acid too strong or too astringent? Have a good time? How long does the aftertaste last? The most important thing is whether you like this bottle of wine or not. After tasting the wine, it gives people a wonderful and warm feeling. A good bottle of red wine is like a perfect and harmonious symphony, with every note and tone clearly recognizable. Good red wine is indeed a brilliant artistic treasure in the wine industry. In order to fully taste the flavor contained in red wine, it should be stored in a proper environment before drinking, regardless of its purchase price. If it's just a small episode, just keep away from light and heat. At present, there are electronic wine cabinets on the market, which have the function of constant temperature and humidity. Putting red wine in exquisite and beautiful bottles is a charming landscape in family decoration. If you like to collect a lot of red wine, you should have a wine cellar with constant temperature and humidity. Traditional wine cellars are mainly made of wood, because wood is a natural material and can be stored for more than a hundred years. The wine cellar cannot be built against the wall, and it needs to keep a distance of 3 to 4 cm from the original room wall, so it is not easily affected by external temperature and humidity, and red wine will be oxidized and deteriorated. The following provides the best conditions for wine storage, so that you can keep your love wine. Warm wine should not be kept in too cold place. If it is too cold, it will make the wine grow slowly, stay in a frozen state, unable to continue to evolve, and lose the meaning of storing wine. It is too hot, the wine ripens too fast, and it is not rich and detailed enough, which makes the red wine over-oxidized or even deteriorated, because it takes a long time to form a detailed and complicated wine flavor. The most important thing is that the temperature of the wine cellar should be stable for a long time, preferably between 1 1℃ and 14℃. B Humidity The ideal humidity is 70% to 80%. If it is too dry, put a plate of wet sand to adjust. The humidity of the wine cellar should not be too low, because insufficient humidity will make the cork lose its elasticity and the bottle mouth cannot be sealed tightly. The dry shrinkage of bottle stopper will lead to the invasion of outside air, which will change the quality of wine, and the wine will evaporate through the cork, resulting in the so-called "empty bottle" phenomenon. Even if the wine has not deteriorated, the dry cork is easy to break when opening the bottle, and the sawdust falls into the wine, which will greatly affect the quality of the wine. But the humidity should not be too high, which is easy to make the cork and wine label moldy and rotten. C-photometric wine cellar had better not have any light, because light is easy to cause the deterioration of wine, especially fluorescent lamps and neon lights are easy to accelerate the oxidation of wine and give off a strong and unpleasant taste. The best place to store wine is the north. Don't go near objects with strong smell except to avoid light. Doors and windows should be made of opaque materials. D a ventilated wine cellar is best ventilated to prevent the musty smell from being too strong. Red wine, like a sponge, will suck the surrounding flavor into the bottle, so avoid putting strong things like onions and garlic with wine. The damage of vibration to wine is purely physical. The change of red wine in the bottle is a slow process, and the vibration will accelerate the ripening of red wine and make the wine rough. So try to avoid moving wine around, or putting it in a place where it often vibrates, especially old red wine. Because a bottle of vintage red wine needs to be stored for 30 to 40 years or even longer, not just 3 to 4 weeks, it is best to stay "asleep". F The traditional way to put wine is to lay it flat, let the red wine touch the cork and keep it moist. The wet cork is elastic enough to plug the bottle tightly. On the contrary, when the bottle is placed vertically, the cork does not have enough moisture to keep it moist. The wine bottle can be set at 45 degrees, so that the cork can contact the red wine and the air in the bottle at the same time. It can be seen from the above points that the best place to preserve red wine is the wine cellar, which should have a certain depth to ensure constant temperature, humidity, light and vibration. Of course, if the temperature is not suitable, you can install temperature control equipment.