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THE GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION
A PROPER CARE
&
HANDLING ROUTINE for the MosT
TWEAKY WINE
of
.ALL-CLARET
I.
Claret must always
be
handled like a new born babe.
2.
Remove claret from the cellar at least
1
day ahead o.f time.
3. Stand
uncorked
in a slightly warmer than dining room temperature,
but
do not heat.
4.
If
fairly young wine stand uncorked for one hour,
if
older, for up to
eight hours. This process is called
"chambre,"
or fetching it to "room"
condition.
5. Draw corks ourself, carefully. Sediment kills claret, and ninety Ameri–
can bottles out of a hundred are killed, my friends. . . .
6. Have decanter a couple of degrees warmer than dining room, and put
wine into it slowly but continuously from bottle to
decanter-against
the light.
7. When we see sediment flowing toward bottle neck, stop pouring. That
lost glass of wine may pain us, but will ruin the rest.
8...Put decanter on dining room sideboard with the
stopper out.
9. Drink claret out of large,
thin,
plain glasses.
A new or young claret will show a purplish bubble as it first strikes
the glass, and is unrecommended for internal consumption.
If
the
bubble is a rich red, it is matured, ripe and sound.
If
bubbles are rich
tawny brown it is over twenty years old, perhaps more. We may then
sit back and brood upon the delicacies of a truly worthwhile wine.
This simple routine actually takes only a few moments of our time.
The reason we never do it properly is that it requires the mental effort
of thought about a fine point of good living, which many otherwise
important and influential people think foppish, fussy, European, and
highly unnecessary. . . . These above 9 rules must be observed
if
our
claret is worth the bringing home from the shop. Think it over. How
many of us have ever had decent claret, either in a restaurant, or at
home.
The average American restaurant's technique on wine is crude and
brutally simple. It is snatched off the rack when ordered, and either
served cellar (or rack) temperature for most red wines, or chilled
more or less. It is handled roughly, carelessly. The cork pops, curious,
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