How to Pour Wine

In order to pour the perfect glass of wine, start by getting yourself prepared. Selecting the correct glassware is a great place to begin and you can find out all about this right here. Once you have chosen the perfect receptacle, grab yourself a cloth or napkin which you can have on hand to catch any drips. This is crucial as one of the arts to pouring properly is not letting the wine drip. Once you have this at the ready, crack open that bottle of wine.

Once the wine is open, pick the bottle up from the bottom half. Some may choose to wrap their hand around the bottle, whilst others may wish to place their thumb in the punt (the big dimple on the bottom of the bottle) and hold the bottle this way. Either is absolutely fine, just make sure your hand goes no further than halfway up the bottle – holding the wine bottle around the neck is a definite no no. It’s also important to be aware of the positioning of the label. It’s best to keep this facing outwards so your guests can see which wine is being poured.

Now you are holding the bottle correctly, it’s time to pour the wine. Make sure you are standing to the right of your guest as this is the traditional side in which wine should be served. Leaving the glass on the table, tilt the bottle and gradually begin to pour the wine into the glass aiming for the centre. This can be difficult, however as long as the wine doesn’t splash as it’s poured then you’re all good. Aim to fill the glass with around 150-180ml of wine as this is an appropriate measure. It may be worth practising this with some water first to work out a rough level you should be looking for in the glass. Of course, the size of the wine glass may affect this, for example if you only have small glasses then a smaller measure may be more suitable.

Once you are ready to finish pouring, rotate the bottle a quarter turn away from you whilst simultaneously tilting the bottle upwards quickly, but gently. This should prevent the wine dripping – there is a bit of a knack to this skill so it may take a few practice go’s to perfect this. As you move the bottle away have the napkin at the ready just in case their are any unwanted drips from the mouth of the bottle.

• If you are serving a chilled bottle of wine, make sure to dry the bottle first to prevent the condensation dripping on the table.
• If you are serving a bottle of sparkling wine, pour slowly to prevent the wine fizzing over the rim of the glass.
• Pouring wine like a true professional takes practice, so crack open another bottle and get pouring!