Pouring Wine

Whether you’re serving wine at home or keeping your guests glasses full at a restaurant, you need to know how to pour a glass of wine. There are three “nots” to pouring: not splashing, not dripping, and not over filling.

Not Splashing
Hold the mouth of the bottle no more than and inch or so above the glass when pouring. Any higher and the wine will splash as it hits the bottom of the glass or the wine remaining in the glass.

Not Dripping
There is something of an art to pouring a glass of wine without dripping it on the table. It takes a bit of practice but it is worth the trouble. As you finish pouring you must simultaneously lift the neck of the bottle while twisting it clockwise about 1/4 turn or so. This will make that nasty little drip fall back into the bottle rather than on the table cloth.

Not Over Filling

For red wine between 4 and 6 ounces and for white wine between 3 and 4 ounces would constitute a full glass of wine. If you use a properly sized and proportioned glass, filling the glass to the point where the bowl begins to curve inward will provide just about this quantity of wine. Over filling the glass reduces the area in which the aromas concentrate, reduces the surface area of the wine exposed to the air and hinders the ability to swirl the wine without spillage.