What is the best way to clean red wine stains from a wide-base decanter? Regular cleaners and detergents leave an odor. Hot water, baking soda, and one of those stemware washing brushes that are made out of soft foam (they squeak when you use them) work just fine. Another approach is to use Ivory dishwashing soap which is a soap, not a detergent. When you think you have rinsed it sufficiently, rinse it two more times! For really stubborn stains, fill the decanter 1/3 full with warm water. Add 1/2 tsp or so of dishwasher detergent, shake well, and let sit for 5 minutes. Rinse, rinse, rinse......... Before using a decanter (or glasses) that have been sitting for some time, it is best to give them a quick rinse with distilled water and let them dry.

I always thought that the deep indention (punt) on the bottom of the bottle was a serving aid, but at a wine tour in California I heard that the deeper the punt, the finer the wine (something to do with pressure). What’s the story?
Punts are a leftover feature from the days of yore, when glass was weaker and bottles were made individually by glass blowers who added the punt to strengthen the bottle. This was especially useful with Champagne bottles with their substantial internal pressure. Modern glass is much stronger, and bottles are machine-produced so there is no need to keep punts around except for tradition. Some suggest that punts help collect sediment or make it easier to pour the wine if you have super strong thumbs. The truth is it’s just an aesthetic tradition, although big punts make a bottle look bigger and can be a marketing gimmick.

I ordered a bottle of wine that cost $90 at a nice restaurant. It was served in rather small, inexpensive wine glasses. The table next to us was served a bottle in nice Riedel stemware. I questioned the manager and was told that only wines over $100 were served in the better stemware. What do you think?
Another reason to go to BYO restaurants when possible! And you could have brought an equally good wine for much less money! Any worthy restaurant should provide ample stemware. If the restaurant has a liquor license, it should not matter what you spend on the wine. Wine at all levels is meant to be enjoyed, not sipped from a thimble. (Well, maybe not white Zinfandel or Yellow Tail.) The glassware needn’t be expensive crystal, but it should be pleasant and large enough to swirl and sniff without endangering the tablecloth or your companions.

How harmful is checking wine into the hold of an airplane?
Now that carry-on liquids are so limited, checking wine is the only way to transport it while traveling by air. The extremes in air pressure and temperature in the hold can damage your wine, but, it’s even more dangerous to travel to a destination where there is no good wine to drink, so the risk may be worth it. Make sure to pack the wine in a well-insulated, styrofoam container.

I’ve recently developed a taste for tawny Ports. What is it about aging in oak that gives it the distinct flavor.
Oxidation. Tawny Ports are paler and browner (tawnier) than traditional Ports. They have a mellow, nutty, slightly woody, dried-fruit character derived from slow contact with air during long maturation in porous wooden casks. The good news is that since tawnies have already been exposed to oxygen, an open bottle will keep far longer than vintage-style Ports.

What is the best way to clean red wine stains from a wide-base decanter? Regular cleaners and detergents leave an odor.
Hot water, baking soda, and one of those stemware washing brushes that are made out of soft foam (they squeak when you use them) work just fine. Another approach is to use Ivory dishwashing soap which is a soap, not a detergent. When you think you have rinsed it sufficiently, rinse it two more times! For really stubborn stains, fill the decanter 1/3 full with warm water. Add 1/2 tsp or so of dishwasher detergent, shake well, and let sit for 5 minutes. Rinse, rinse, rinse......... Before using a decanter (or glasses) that have been sitting for some time, it is best to give them a quick rinse with distilled water and let them dry.

I always thought that the deep indention (punt) on the bottom of the bottle was a serving aid, but at a wine tour in California I heard that the deeper the punt, the finer the wine (something to do with pressure). What’s the story?
Punts are a leftover feature from the days of yore, when glass was weaker and bottles were made individually by glass blowers who added the punt to strengthen the bottle. This was especially useful with Champagne bottles with their substantial internal pressure. Modern glass is much stronger, and bottles are machine-produced so there is no need to keep punts around except for tradition. Some suggest that punts help collect sediment or make it easier to pour the wine if you have super strong thumbs. The truth is it’s just an aesthetic tradition, although big punts make a bottle look bigger and can be a marketing gimmick.

I ordered a bottle of wine that cost $90 at a nice restaurant. It was served in rather small, inexpensive wine glasses. The table next to us was served a bottle in nice Riedel stemware. I questioned the manager and was told that only wines over $100 were served in the better stemware. What do you think?
Another reason to go to BYO restaurants when possible! And you could have brought an equally good wine for much less money! Any worthy restaurant should provide ample stemware. If the restaurant has a liquor license, it should not matter what you spend on the wine. Wine at all levels is meant to be enjoyed, not sipped from a thimble. (Well, maybe not white Zinfandel or Yellow Tail.) The glassware needn’t be expensive crystal, but it should be pleasant and large enough to swirl and sniff without endangering the tablecloth or your companions.

How harmful is checking wine into the hold of an airplane?
Now that carry-on liquids are so limited, checking wine is the only way to transport it while traveling by air. The extremes in air pressure and temperature in the hold can damage your wine, but, it’s even more dangerous to travel to a destination where there is no good wine to drink, so the risk may be worth it. Make sure to pack the wine in a well-insulated, styrofoam container.

I’ve recently developed a taste for tawny Ports. What is it about aging in oak that gives it the distinct flavor.
Oxidation. Tawny Ports are paler and browner (tawnier) than traditional Ports. They have a mellow, nutty, slightly woody, dried-fruit character derived from slow contact with air during long maturation in porous wooden casks. The good news is that since tawnies have already been exposed to oxygen, an open bottle will keep far longer than vintage-style Ports.

I have an older bottle of wine with a significant amount of air/space in the bottle. Should I worry?
People often refer to the “fill level” or the ullage (pronounced “UH-lij”) of an older bottle. Ullage actually refers to the amount of wine “missing” from a bottle - the airspace between the bottom of the cork and the top of the wine’s fill level. The older the bottle, the greater this distance becomes. The (very slow) loss of wine by evaporation is to be expected.

If it has been well stored, a 10 to 15-year old wine should still have a fill level into the bottle’s neck, whereas a 20 to 30-year old wine may have a level below the neck in what is called the “shoulder” of the bottle. But beware the ullage! The greater the gap, the greater the risk of spoilage. If the fill level is down to a “low shoulder” or below, it may be considered too poor of a level for a wine of any age.

There is another rule of thumb that some collectors espouse: avoid bottles with more than half an inch of ullage per decade of age. This rule is especially useful when evaluating Burgundy bottles, which have more of a “slope” than a “shoulder.” Also be suspicious of bottles where the fill levels seem inappropriately high for their age - they may have been topped off, most likely with a younger vintage.

I just purchased a new wine cooler. At what temperature should I keep the cooler for my collection of Cabernets?
Ideal cellar conditions are a constant 55° F and 70 percent humidity. Make sure that the wine is stored away from light and vibrations which can prematurely age wine just like tanning booths can prematurely age people. White wines should be stored under the same conditions as red wines. Some wine refrigerators feature (and charge extra for) different temperature zones, but these are unnecessary.


A red wine that I recently purchased had a slight effervescence in the taste. I could not actually see any bubbles forming but I could feel it on my tongue. Is this normal or a sign of bad wine?
This effervescence, or “spritz,” is normal in some wines - usually light whites, but also in some light reds such as Valpolicella. The winemaker has either left behind or added some CO2 just before bottling in order to maintain liveliness and freshness. There are also situations where CO2 is present because of an unintentional secondary fermentation. Sometimes these wines will be drinkable, but often there will be some serious off tastes that accompany the fizz. If the wine tastes okay, drink it! If the spritz bothers you, swizzle it with a spoon. You can always cover the mouth of the bottle tightly and shake the bottle vigorously, but don’t tell anyone I said so.

Regarding wines with screw-top closures: is it better to store these wines upright or on their sides, or does it matter?
It doesn’t matter. If you have a bottle with a cork, you want to keep the cork from drying out, getting all crumbly, and allowing air in to spoil the wine. Since twist-offs don’t have that same threat, you can store them facing any way you want - as long as you avoid light, vibration, and temperature fluctuation which will still damage your wine no matter how it is closed.

Is there anything wrong with using a coffee filter to filter cork from wine?
It’s better than straining the cork through your teeth or chewing on cork bits. I've used coffee filters and cheesecloth (and even paper towels in a pinch) in my decanter funnel to strain those nasty bits of cork from the wine. There are no harmful side effects. I frequently use a coffee filter to separate the last bit of Port from the sediment in the bottle.

I’m planning a long trip and would like to bring some wine with me. Is there any evidence of wine being affected by air travel?
    It’s most dangerous to arrive at your destination without anything good to drink! But air travel does bring up a few concerns for wine. It used to be simple when you could bring wine with you as carry-on luggage, but checking wine as baggage subjects it to the changes in temperature and air pressure in the plane’s storage area and can mess with a wine’s health. I wouldn’t do this with a delicate older wine, but a young, robust wine should recover quickly  (within a matter of days). It’s best to use insulated containers. If you plan to put bottles in a suitcase with the rest of your things, make sure they are well cushioned and seal them in a leak-proof plastic bag just in case

Why must red wine be given a chance to breathe before drinking it if the essence of the taste is the volatiles? Wouldn’t some of the taste evaporate before the wine is tasted?
    That’s an interesting argument against decanting, but the truth is that it depends on the wine—some need more air to open up, and others don’t evolve with aeration. Most of the time, watching the wine change in the glass is fine for me, but there are other wines that are markedly better after decanting. When I first open a bottle of a wine that I’m not sure whether or not to decant, say, a young and robust red, I always pour myself a taste to make sure the bottle isn’t flawed. If it seems closed and unexpressive, I might give it some extra air in a decanter.

I recently had some young red wines with loads of sediment on the bottom. I thought sediment was the result of tannins and aging, so why was it in these young wines?
    You are right that as bottled wine ages, phenolic molecules combine to form tannin polymers that fall to the bottom of a bottle as sediment. But sediment is present during most of a wine’s life; dead yeast cells, bits of grapes and seeds, tartrates and polymers are constantly settling to the bottom of a tank or barrel during winemaking.
    Most winemakers will try to remove sediment before bottling because many people associate cloudy wine with spoiled wine. But many of the best winemakers will bottle a wine without filtering or fining these particles. I’m guessing that either the wines you had were intentionally unfiltered, or the sediment you’re referring to was actually harmless tartrate crystals. These crystals might absorb pigments in red wine and take on dark colors. Again, many vintners cold-stabilize their wines so they can filter out these crystals, but the more a wine is manipulated, the more flavor is removed. Many of the best winemakers opt for more flavor at the risk of the wine throwing more deposits.

Why do older bottles of wine often have sediment at the bottom? Where does it come from?
     Sediment is the harmless, usually dark-colored matter that often accumulates as a wine (especially red wine) ages. Large solid materials such as bits of grape pulp and dead yeast cells are  always removed from wine before bottling. But when a clear wine develops sediment after years of cellaring, it generally comes from phenolic polymerization. (Of course!)
     A red wine gets its color from pigmented phenolic compounds which are originally found in the skins of grapes. Over time—usually it takes several years in the bottle—these compounds link together (polymerize), the color shifts from purple to brick red, and the now larger phenolics drop out of suspension and become sediment. Older wines are often decanted just before serving to avoid the sediment’s bitterness. Young wines are decanted for aeration.  

Does the size of a wine bottle have any effect on the way wine ages? And why don’t all wines come in big size bottles?
     There is some controversy here, but most observers believe that bigger bottles age more slowly and slightly better than smaller bottles. The thinking is that either the relative amount of oxygen trapped inside a large bottle isn’t as great, or that the relative exchange of air through the cork isn’t as great. The 750ml bottle may have become the standard because that size represents the lung capacity of a glassblower. Most people have gotten used to this size. After all, it’s the perfect amount for two people. Since most wines are consumed shortly after being released, only collectors need consider the slow-aging, harder-to-handle, larger format bottles.

Should the cork of a newly opened wine be wet? Is it a sign that the wine has gone bad? It has happened a few times, and we have thrown out the bottle because it didn't taste right.
     Wine is wet. Wine touches cork. Cork gets wet. It’s a good thing. In fact, if the cork isn’t wet, that means the wine has been stored upright—a possible danger sign about its condition. You may be referring to the case where the the sides of the cork are wet all the way up to the top of the cork. More often than not, the wine will be fine, but the wine may not have been stored well; the expansion of the liquid due to significant temperature fluctuation may have forced wine past the cork and may have allowed air in. Or the cork may not have been tight fitting in the first place. In either situation, do not assume that the wine is bad. Taste it first. The brown color and the smell and taste of oxidation (Sherry) will be obvious if the wine is spoiled.

I am baffled by some of the descriptions used by wine tasters. For example: What are “round tannins?” Versus what? Square tannins?
     Wine lovers wax poetic at times, but their intention is rarely to sound obscure or to baffle or impress (or both) others. Tannins are the mouth-puckering group of compounds found in the skins, stem, and seeds of grapes as well as in oak barrels that give wine backbone, structure, and aging potential. Because of the balance of tannins with other components, such as sweetness, body, and acidity, this sensation can seem smooth and round. Other times, tannins stick out and can seem coarse, rough, or chewy. Generally speaking the riper the grapes, the softer, “sweeter,” and rounder will be the tannins.

When cooking a pot roast and the recipe calls for red wine, does the quality, type of wine (Cabernet or Syrah etc.), or vintage matter? Will the meat taste better with Opus One vs. a bottle of Yellow Tail Cab?
     When cooking with wine, I follow a couple of guidelines. First, I tend to cook with either exactly what I’m drinking with the meal (if it’s only a splash or two) or with something in a similar vein so that the flavors will complement each other. Second, I only cook with wine that I would drink; cooking doesn’t magically improve the quality of a wine, and lousy wine may spoil the dish; it certainly won’t enhance it.
     When the alcohol evaporates from wine, all that’s left is the flavor, so I usually go for fruity wines (like Syrahs and Zinfandels), and there are plenty of them in the affordable range. Most flavorful wines will do just fine, but a wine like Yellow Tail is too light, too mild, and too low in acidity to do much good. The better the wine, the better will be the dish, up to a point; cooking with Opus One would only confirm that the cook has more cents than sense. And don’t use bottle that’s been sitting in your fridge or on the counter for a couple of weeks; oxidized wines do little to help the flavor of your dish and in fact may do them harm.

I’ve heard that refrigerators are horrible for the long-term storage of wine. It seems to me that most of the small wine storage units on the market today are simply small refrigerators with wine racks. Am I better off storing my wine in a dark closet than in a wine cooler?
     Refrigerators are designed to maintain an internal temperature of about 35 degrees F and to extract most moisture. That’s why your food dries out so quickly in a refrigerator-and that’s exactly why wine or Champagne should never be stored in a refrigerator for more than a few days. A dried-out cork will shrink and allow air into the bottle, thus spoiling the wine. However, a wine cooling unit is designed to maintain a constant temperature of 50 to 60 degrees and leave about 45 to 60 percent humidity.
     Vibration is also not good for the long term storage of wine. Many (but not all) wine coolers use thermoelectric cooling systems. These units do not have compressors or any moving parts and therefore have low or no vibration. Standard refrigerators, on the other hand, use a compressor which has internal moving parts that will cause vibration.
     A wine cooler is ideal for the storage of wine. An unheated basement that is at least partly below ground level is the next best thing. For most people, the dark closet is a perfectly adequate way to store wine, but only for weeks or months, not years.