Tips for serving wine

Tips for serving wine

Whether you’re enjoying a great value weekday wine or toasting a special occasion with one of our award winners – use Arabella’s top tips on serving to make the most from your brilliant bottles.

  • Before serving

    • Plan ahead and make sure your wine is at its perfect temperature before serving.
    • Taste wine before serving to guests. That way you can make sure it’s the right temperature and in a good condition.

  • What’s the best temperature?

    • Chill white and rosé wines but not too cold.
    • Sweet and sparkling wines need to be served around 7C – colder than dry wines such as Chardonnay which may taste better at around 10C.
    • Let red wines warm up to room temperature (<20C) gradually. 

  • Decant red wine

    • Red wines can benefit from ‘breathing’ as this allows the aroma and flavour to fully open up.
    • However merely opening the bottle doesn’t give the wine enough surface area to breath. Pour into a carafe or decanter for the best results.

  • Opened bottles

    • If you have an unfinished bottle of wine after a dinner party, replace the cork and put it back in the fridge. The remaining wine will keep for around two days.  
    • It’s fine to refrigerate opened reds to keep them fresh. Just take them out of the fridge to warm up before serving.
    • Get more value for your money by using a vacuum pump to remove air altogether, which will keep wine fresh for up to four days.

  • How much wine do I need for my dinner party? 

    One average bottle of wine provides 6 x 125ml glasses. You can use this as a guideline for how many bottles you need to buy for each occasion.

  • Picking the right wine

    Let our Wine Chooser do the hard work and find wines that match the colour, taste and price you’re after.

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