Wine Writing Team on October 19, 2020 0 Comments Whether you’re hosting guests or serving yourself a glass of wine, a well-stocked home wine bar is essential. Here are some tips and tricks to make sure you have everything you need. The Most Important Wine Bar Tools A Wine Opener: There are a wide variety of wine openers to choose from. The most pragmatic is a Swiss army knife wine opener. This usually includes a worm (which is a corkscrew), a lever, and even a foil cutter. This will make sure you can open any type of wine bottle. Proper Wine Glasses: Of course, you need to make sure you have plenty of wine glasses on hand. Finding the right wine glass will make a huge difference in the tasting experience of your guests. As a starting place, stock wine glasses for both red and white wines. A Decanter: One of the most important factors that play a role in the taste of the wine is the amount of oxygen. Pouring your wine into a decanter will make sure there’s a healthy dose of oxygen. A Wine Preserver: Finally, you need to make sure that you invest in a series of wine preservers. Some of the most popular wine preservers include vacuum pumps, oxygen-absorbing bottle stoppers, and Argon gas systems. Make sure you have the right tools to preserve the taste of the wine after it’s opened. Now that you have the proper tools, it’s time to stock the wine. Stock a Variety of Wines Make sure you have a variety of wines on hand. Here are some popular types of wine to include in your home bar: Cabernet Sauvignon: This is a full-bodied, red grape wine that was first planted in the Bordeaux region. Today, this is one of the most popular types of wine in the world. It’s full of gold tannins and is accompanied by a long, persistent finish. Syrah: This type of wine is popular in France and Australia. Syrah wines have intense flavors with medium tannins. It pairs well with lamb and beef. Zinfandel: This is a type of red wine from Croatia. It’s a spicy, fruit-forward wine that has a medium finish. There’s also a pink variation of this wine called White Zinfandel. Chardonnay: Chardonnay is a dry white wine that was planted in large quantities in France. Now it’s popular all over the world. It has a spicy, bourbon note with zesty apple and citrus flavors. Sauvignon Blanc: Sauvignon Blanc is a dry, white wine that was first planted in France. This is a tart, herbal, fruit flavor wine that pairs well with chicken, pork, and fish. Pinot Grigio: Also called Pinot Gris, this is a dry, light-bodied white wine that was first popular in Italy but is now spread throughout France and Germany as well. This is a light wine that is easy to drink. It also has a slightly bitter flavor. Rose: Rose is a pink wine that sits in the middle of white and red wine. It might be a good idea to have something in between red and white to have for guests as well. Stocking a wide variety of wines will provide your guests with a number of wines to choose from. The more bottles you have on hand, the better the next gathering is going to be. When you take the time to make sure you have the right tools and the right types of wine stocked in your at home wine bar, you place yourself in a position to be the perfect host next time you invite family members or friends over.
