#4: You Probably Don’t Need To Let Your Wine Age …
If you’re buying a collectable (and expensive) wine, there’s a chance you need to shelve it for a period of time until it’s matured enough to be ready to drink. (Then you can bust out for a special occasion, like when the end of the world finally arrives.) Otherwise, down the bottle you bought within a year.

#5: … But You Should Probably Decant It.
Decanting wine usually means pouring it into another container — called, for some strange reason, a decanter — that gets rid of sediment and lets it to “breathe”; that’s when oxygen interacts with the liquid, bringing out desirable flavors and lessening the punch of the alcohol taste.

#6: Swirl It In Your Glass Before You Drink It
If a waiter asks you to taste wine at a restaurant after purchasing a bottle, smell the wine to check for cork taint, proper temperature, or oxidation. Don’t ever smell the cork — believe it or not, guys have foolishly done this. If you smell a mustiness or the wine something smells off, send it back. If you can’t find anything wrong, taste the wine like you normally would:  swirl gently (not like you’re creating a whirlpool), sniff, and sip.

#7: Screw Caps Are Just Fine
Screw caps (instead of corks) are still seen by many as a sign a wine is cheap. Well, they’re ignoramuses. In fact, wine corks can go bad and spoil the vino; screw caps eliminate the oxidation issues that can arise with corks.

TAGS: alcohol, booze, drinking, wine