The right temperature
Wine is at its best when served at the right temperature.
- White: Dry whites are served cold, but not frozen, 10� and 13� C; sweet wines at 9� C, and vintage wines between 10� and 12� C.
- Red: Despite the widespread belief that they are served at room temperature, young reds should be drunk at temperature ranging from 13� to 15� C, and vintage wines between 16� and 18� C; wine from important years is drunk at 20� C.
- Ros� and claret: between 10� and 12� C.
- Sparkling wines and champagne: between 8� and 10� C.
- Sherry: between 8� and 10� C for manzanilla and dry sherry, and between 11� and 15�C for amontillado and sweet wines.

To chill a bottle of sparkling wine, ros� or white, you can use a refrigerator but not for more than a day. Two hours is enough. Don't use the freezer. The chilling can also be done 15 minutes before the wine is to be served. Do it in an ice bucket with ice and water. The temperature will go down to 10� C.

When and how to serve a wine
Bottles of young red are opened half an hour before they are to be served. It is a good idea to pour the wine into a decanter or glass flask for it to breathe. This does not apply to reds from good years or whites. These wines are not decanted.

Removing the cork from the bottle properly helps you appreciate a wine fully. It is done like this:
- Remove the upper part of the material covering the cork, using a special cutter designed for this purpose or the blade of the corkscrew.
- Stick the end of the corkscrew in the cork. Turn the corkscrew, not the bottle.
- Start removing the cork, and when it is almost out, make circular movements so air goes in and the cork comes out without making any noise.

With sparkling wines, you must keep the cork from shooting out like a bullet. So hold the bottle at a 45-degree angle, remove the structure that covers the cork and hold the upper part of the cork with your thumb and the edges of the bottle's mouth with the rest of your hand. Twist the bottle with the other hand and remove the cork with the hand still on it. If the bottle has been stored in a wine cellar for a long time, the cork must be removed very carefully. Examine the cork's look and smell for signs of decomposition. The choice of corkscrew depends on its purpose, as well as the experience of the person using it.�

If the bottle was stored in a horizontal position in the wine cellar, place it in a vertical position for a few hours before serving� - especially if it is a vintage wine- so the sediment sinks to the bottom of the bottle. When filling the glasses, don't shake the bottle or pour it all out to the very last drop.

White wine is served with the right hand and a folded napkin so that the heat of the hand does not heat up the wine. Also, keep the label facing the dining guest so they know what wine they are about to drink. Don't fill the glass more than halfway. This allows room for the wine to be swished in the glass and its bouquet to be enjoyed fully.
The order of serving is also important. First the whites, and among the light wines before the stronger ones. Next come the reds.

In the glass
To test the wine, pour a small amount in a glass for one of the guests. The guest holds the glass up against a light to view its colour, then moves the glass to take in its bouquet, then tastes it to make sure it has not rusted. If the guests gives the go-ahead, first serve the guests and then the host or hostess.

The glasses should be colourless. The right shape is spherical with a narrow mouth. You can keep two or three kinds of glasses around the house: one for sparkling wines, another for reds - a bit smaller than water glasses - and another for white wines, the smallest of all.

On the table, the glasses should be arranged like this: to the right, the glass for white wine; to the left of it, the glass for red and to the left of this glass, the water glass. If sparkling wine is going to be served, the glass is placed at an oblique angle, to the left of the other glasses. Liqueurs are served at the end of the meal, and the glass is placed in front of the dining guest right then.