Top 10 ways to ruin a good wine

So you've invested a few bucks in a fine wine from the grocery store, the wine shop or the winery. Who knows when you'll get the chance to get your family or friends around the table, to pop the cork and enjoy it at it's best. But wait...it's not that easy? or is it?
It is if you avoid some of the main ways to ruin that  $30, $50, or even $100 bottle of Cabernet, Merlot or Chardonnay.

Here are the top 10 ways to ruin a good bottle of wine:

10. Pair it with the wrong food
Food stimulates different parts of your tongue and palette. So does wine. A good wine match to the dish makes both the dish and the wine taste better. In general, whites go with ligher fare- chicken, fish, pork, while reds go better with meats and pastas- Although that is a big generalization, there are lots of good food/wine pairing resources on the internet. Try http://www.how-to-cook-gourmet.com/foodandwinepairingchart.html for some useful food wine pairing tips.

9. Serve it at the wrong temperature
In the US most red wines are served at too high of a temperature and most whites too cold. The optimum temperature to serve a red wine is 15C or 60F, whites at 7C or 45F. I tend to set my wine storage fridge at 11C or 55F and pull a bottle of red out, uncork it, let it sit for 1/2 an hour and it's at the perfect temperature. Give it a try- you'll notice a difference if you pop a room temperature bottle of red in the fridge for a bit before serving.

8. Pour it in the wrong glass
It's amazing what the right glass does for the wine- yes it makes a difference. I know- I was skeptical at first too and asked myself how does a glass effect your wine tasting experience? Wine is about as much smell as it is taste and although a glass won't make or break the wine, it will certainly enhance the flavors.  Just plug your nose and take a gulp of anything- it won't have any flavor.
I once visited Thirty Bench Winery in Niagara on the Lake, Canada where they were doing a tasting of the same wine in different glasses- I was amazed how each glass created a subtly different tasting experience. Glasses are shaped in different ways and allow the aromas to accumulate and escape in certain distinct way. Reidel makes some of the finest wine glasses in the world and has a web-page dedicated to choosing the right glass for you wine. You can find it at http://www.wineglassguide.com/

7. Leave it open for too long
Ever leave a glass or two of wine in a bottle without corking it overnight only to try it the next day and it has lost it's lustre? Blame it on the air. As soon as a bottle is opened and the with is exposed to air, it begins to deteriorate. The first couple of hours is known as letting it breathe- which is beneficial, but it can go downhill from there. If you plan on drinking an unfinished bottle at a later time- cork it.

6. Don't let it breath
Ok not another deal breaker, but letting a wine breathe "opens it up". Uncorking and drinking right away won't kill the wine tasting experience, but you typically won't get the best experience until the wine opens up. The length of time a wine needs to breathe depends on a number of factors and there are a number of tools to speed it up. Decanting is good if you are prepared to polish off the whole bottle but the problem is you have to clean the decanter along with the glasses. I like to use the Vinturi wine aerator at http://vinturi.com/. Simply hold it over a glass and pour. One pour is equivalent to having the bottle open for one hour. It also is portable and travel friendly. I'll make sure to do a "top 10 wine tools every wine lover should have" blog entry. This product will certainly be in there.

5. Expose it to light, heat
Light and heat are the two biggest enemies to wine. That's why most wines that can be aged come in colored and not clear bottles. Always store a wine that you are planning on keeping for a while in a cool, dark place. Keeping a wine at 55F or 11c is the optimal temperature for extended storage.

4. Store it right side up
Natural cork tends to dry out over time and allows air to get into the bottle. That's why it's recommended to store wine "Cork side down" or on an angle to keep the cork moist and reduce the introduction of air into the bottle. Almost every wine storage device is designed to lay the bottle at the correct angle.

3. Boil it in the back of your car
Wine can deteriorate quickly when exposed to high temperature. The interior of a car can quickly rise to 140F in the summer- effectively "boiling your wine" making it undrinkable. If you are out wine tasting on a hot summer day it makes sense to bring a styrofoam cooler with some ice packs.

2. Age it for too long
Something like 95% of bottles of wine are consumed within the first 7 days after they are purchased and an even higher percentage of wines are already ready to drink once purchased and at their peak. Fine wines, on the other hand, can usually benefit from some additional aging, but how long is too long?
Wines aging ability depends on a number of factors including the tanin content. Tannins are that puckery feeling that you get  in your mouth when you bite into an apple. Wines that can be aged for extended periods contain a lot of tanins that smooth out the wine over time. Wikipedia has some great notes on wine aging here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_of_wine. If you are really serious about wine and you plan on laying down a bottle to age it, check with the winery to see when they think it will be at it's prime. Sometimes it's even printed on the label.

1. Pop open an expensive bottle after everyone is already "corked"
What better way to ruin a good wine than uncorking the best bottle after everyone is already two sheets to the wind. Most people's pallettes adapt to wine in excess and after a few too many glasses even the worst bottle starts to taste good. If you are planning to open that 1995 vintage Chianti during a dinner party, make sure everyone is in the condition to enjoy it.