Valentine’s day is approaching, so date night is a trendy discussion subject lately!
February 14th set aside (because we’re not here to discuss the concept of lovers’ day), dating can be delightful, but it can also be stressful.
In case you are planning a nice dinner, you’re certainly going to open a nice bottle of wine (or several!). Some of you might already know a lot about wine, but it’s never wrong to go through the basic rules of wine again. So here is our 10 non-exhaustive bullet list of “Wine 101 to impress on a date”.
- When you open the bottle, never, ever, pop that cork! This applies to both still and sparkling wine.
- You can smell the cork if you want, but it is not gonna help you much finding out whether the wine is corked, since – well – cork smells like cork. But we will talk more about that in a future dedicated blog post.
- Use a dropstop. It might take away a bit of the sexiness of the whole procedure, but at least the big red stain will not take yours away!
You want to toast with sparkling, but you’re on a budget? Go with a good Saumur rather than a bad champagne! The manufacturing process is the same (and so are the grapes, sometimes), but you’ll get more wine for the same price. What’s the difference, you’ll ask me? Well we’ll discuss that point very soon, too. You’re planning a veggie dinner? Go for a Viognier if you wanna go for white, or a Pinot Noir if you’re more of a red drinker. Fish or seafood? You can never be wrong with serving Albariño (Alvarinho in Portugal). A nice piece of meat? Make it simple with a nice bottle of Bordeaux or Rioja. It is always possible to pair meat with white wine, but that deserves a longer discussion. - Sweets for your sweet? Depending on your choice of dessert, a sweet wine will accompany perfectly!
- The right drinking temperature? Sparkling wine generally at 5 – 10° C, white wine 7 – 12° C, and red wine maximum 18° C.
- And last but not least, don’t pull the wine connaisseur card if you know only the basics! Nothing wrong with not knowing much. Be frank, it may gain points!
Good luck with your date, let us know how it went!
Tastefully yours,
Marc, PW
