THE BEST WAY TO OPEN A

Try to poke the cork slightly o-centre. You want the radial diameter of the helically-shaped worm—the curly part of the wine opener—to be centred so that it’s less likely to tear the cork. It takes about seven turns to insert the worm into the sweet spot, although wine openers vary. Ideally, the corkscrew should be inserted into the cork about one turn less than all the way in. Now, pull gently and listen for that sublime ‘pop’.

To pour, you should hold the bottle in the middle, towards the lower half. Don’t hold the bottle by its neck or shoulders where the bottle begins tapering into the neck. Tilt the bottle opening down over your wine glass and pour the wine relatively slowly. Where in the glass? Aim for the centre or along the side, it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that the ow is slow enough to avoid splashing any of the good stu.

Most bottles of wine in South Africa contain just over 750ml. So a bottle can be portioned out into ve equal servings of 150ml. Although, depending on the day you’ve had, and if there’s only two of you drinking, you might wish to top up the glass. If it’s a red you’re pouring leave space at the top to hold the aromas, so don’t ll it to the brim. Tempting as it may be.

So there you have it, the best way to open a bottle of wine. Don’t rush it, and enjoy the process. Aer all, anticipation is half the fun. Happy sipping!

Illustration by: Chloé Damstra

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Tel: 076 044 5020 wine@thehighroad.co.za

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