Why is red wine sealed with a cork and placed horizontally? The correct way to open the bottle will save you from embarrassment

Many people like to drink alcohol. There are many types of alcohol, including white wine, beer, red wine, rice wine, sake, etc. Different wines have different characteristics and tastes. Today, let's talk about an interesting topic, about red wine and white wine. Many people have discovered that white wine has a screw cap, while many red wines use corks and are placed horizontally. Why is this? The following knowledge museum will tell you about it. You will learn a lot after reading it.

Why is red wine sealed with a cork?

As we all know, red wine itself is a low-alcohol fruit wine made from grapes. It needs to be stored for a period of time to oxidize and mature to achieve the best taste. This oxidation process cannot be separated from the participation of oxygen, and it is a trace amount of oxygen that participates slowly. If there is too much oxygen, it will acidify and the taste will deteriorate.

Therefore, red wine needs to be sealed with a cork to allow oxygen from outside to slowly enter the bottle through the wood texture, allowing the red wine to slowly mature. If it is sealed tightly with a plastic or metal screw cap like white wine, then the aging process will stop and the taste will not get better and better. Over time, it will lose its flavor and taste.

In addition, the material of the cork used to seal red wine is also required, and oak is the best. Because oak contains a certain amount of "tannins" that can promote the maturity of red wine and make the taste better and better. In addition, the texture, stability and expansion coefficient of oak are most suitable for sealing the bottle mouth, so many red wines use oak corks. In addition, oak barrels are also used to store red wine, and the purpose is the same.

Why do we need to store red wine horizontally?

There are two purposes for storing red wine. The first is to make it mellow and taste better. The second is to extend the shelf life. If the red wine is placed vertically, the cork at the mouth of the bottle will soon dry out and crack due to evaporation of water, causing a large amount of air from outside to enter the bottle. This will cause the red wine to acidify quickly, the taste will deteriorate, and it may even become undrinkable after a long time. Therefore, it is best to store red wine horizontally, or tilt it about 30 degrees, so that the red wine can soak the cork and keep it in an expanded state, so that the red wine can slowly mature and have a longer shelf life.

Why doesn't white wine need to be like red wine?

The main reason is that the alcohol content of liquor is high and it is very volatile. If corks are used, the alcohol content and taste will be affected over time. In addition, although liquor also needs oxygen to mature, the demand for oxygen is very low, and it needs to be more airtight, so most liquors are sealed with screw caps. There is no need to store it horizontally, but it can be stored vertically.

How to open a bottle of red wine

Opening a bottle cork is an elegant and skillful action. Generally, the wine should be shown to the guests first, and the origin and year of the wine should be stated. The display surface should allow the guests to see the wine label intuitively. The most commonly used bottle openers are a spiral drill with a wooden handle, a lever-type corkscrew and a butterfly-type corkscrew. When opening a bottle, first use a knife to cut the seal from the outer convex part of the bottle mouth 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 steadily pull up the handle slowly to pull out the cork; when the cork is about to leave the bottle mouth, the cork should be gently pulled out so that no loud noise will be made - the entire process of opening the bottle should be kept as quiet as possible. Open the bottle and take out the cork, and let the guests see if the cork is damp. If it is damp, it proves that the bottle of wine has been stored in a more reasonable way. Otherwise, the bottle of wine is likely to deteriorate due to improper storage. Guests can also smell the cork for any peculiar smell or try it to further confirm the quality of the wine. Only after confirming that everything is correct can you officially pour the wine.

In order to make the red wine smell more mellow and taste smoother when drinking, you can open the bottle in advance to let the wine breathe for a while. Its function is to allow the wine to oxidize slightly and release its aroma when in contact with the air. The breathing time of red wine should generally not exceed 3 hours, and for wine aged for many years, it is best to open the bottle before drinking to avoid opening the bottle in advance and causing the unique aroma of aging to dissipate.

When pouring wine, you should start from the right of the host and pour wine for the guests in turn, with ladies and elders being given priority. When pouring wine, each guest should be able to see the wine label. The wine glass is always placed on the right side of the guest, so pouring wine is also done from the right side of the guest. The correct way to pour red wine is to pour about 1/3 of the wine into the glass, which can achieve the effect of sobering up the wine, and on the other hand, avoid the embarrassment of wine overflowing when swinging the glass.

Wine storage options

Wine rack storage

For the average family, it is necessary to purchase a household wooden wine rack.

First, it is best to place the wine rack directly on the ground because the air circulation is smoother and the temperature is relatively low.

Second, avoid sunlight and strong light, because ultraviolet rays will cause the red wine to oxidize and deteriorate, while too strong light will cause the red wine to deteriorate due to heat.

Third, the design of the wine rack must be stable, avoid being close to dishwashers, washing machines, air conditioning compressors, etc., and avoid being close to heat sources. Fourth, choose a wooden wine rack, because its material properties are similar to corks, which can show the quality of storage conditions and facilitate the inspection of wine.

Wine cabinet storage

For those who drink frequently and have a lot of red wine, a wine cabinet becomes a good choice.

First, the temperature. The standard storage temperature for red wine is about 12 degrees Celsius for dry red wine and 13-20 degrees Celsius for dry white wine. Since the main component of red wine is water, the lower the storage temperature, the less favorable it is for reaching the best drinking temperature when serving wine. Therefore, keeping it above a certain temperature line (usually above 5 degrees Celsius) is also a very important standard. For red wine, constant temperature is very important, because temperature changes will cause enzymes to be continuously activated, thus affecting the quality of red wine.

Second, humidity. The standard storage humidity for red wine is 55%-65%. Too high humidity will cause the cork to rot and the red wine to swell, affecting the quality. Too low humidity will cause oxygen to enter the bottle and oxidize the red wine.

Therefore, constant temperature and humidity become an important requirement for red wine preservation, and a wine cabinet is the best choice to achieve this goal. A good wine cabinet can meet this series of requirements and ensure that the red wine will not change significantly over a long period of time.

Wine Cellar Storage

A wine cellar can achieve the same environment as the wine cellar where the red wine was originally produced, with ventilation, constant temperature, relatively appropriate humidity, and light avoidance. But this is not something that ordinary people can have, and it requires a lot of capital investment. The average temperature of a wine cellar is 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and lower temperatures will not harm your red wine, but will slow its development. You should also choose appropriate cooling devices, and the ideal humidity in your wine cellar is 60-70%. In addition, ideal long-term wine storage should avoid high temperatures, direct light and vibration.

After talking about the placement tools, the direction of placing the red wine is also very important. There are three types in total: flat, upright, and inverted. Flat is the best method. Because flat is the angle that takes up the least space and is easiest to store, the cork can also remain properly moist. The disadvantage of inversion is that the most vulnerable part of the red wine bottle is the bottleneck, which often breaks the red wine when taking it out. What is more important to note is that the gas discharged by the natural oxidation of red wine will gather at the bottle mouth, which will cause trouble when opening the bottle. The disadvantage of upright placement is that if it needs to be stored for a long time, the cork will gradually dry and shrink, so that external oxygen may enter the red wine bottle.

From the moment the bottle is opened, air begins to react with the wine. If you know you can't finish it, you must put the cork back in and refrigerate the wine as soon as possible. Wine can only be refrigerated for a few hours. If it is stored for too long, the quality of the wine will be affected.