RSA Online Australia: Top Common Mistakes of Wine Serving

There’s no wrong way to drink wine. However, the way wine is served may alter one’s tasting experience, but know that there are ways on how to provide the best wine service. You can learn to serve wine through booking a class online or through face-to-face training courses. Specifically, the RSA Online Australia training course can help you acquire the correct knowledge regarding wine service and avoid making common mistakes wine servers and even experienced wine enthusiasts could make.

Serving wine at the wrong temperature

This is considered one of the most significant factors that can influence the wine drinking experience.

As a general rule, white wine should be served chilled, while red should be served at room temperature. However, if you are serving red wine during a hot summer, you can put the bottle or bottles to chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so before serving. If you are serving a white wine that has been in the fridge for more than a few hours, have the bottle rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before serving. Serving white wine too cold will only reserve the acidity and not its full fruit flavour.

Failing to decant or aerate a wine

This is usually done to full-bodied wines and aged with high tannin content. Decanting is the process of transferring the liquid from the bottle to decant before serving it to the guests. By doing so, the amount of sediment in your wine is reduced.

Decanting not only filters sediments in wine but it also helps in aerating the beverage. Since you pour the wine into the decanter, oxygen is introduced into the wine allowing the flavours and aromas to surface. Letting the wine sit in the glass for 15-20 minutes will allow you to enjoy a tastier and smoother drink.

Decanting white wines helps bring forward the fruit flavours. On the other hand, decanting champagnes helps to soften the tipple’s effervescence.

The kind of glassware

Did you know that the shape of the glass for a specific wine helps bring forward the flavours and aromas of the wine? You can learn to choose the best glass for wine serving through an RSA Online Australia training course

The slight difference in the rim size and shape of the bowl are designed to intensify the aromas and the flavours in the wine. The aroma and flavour can be altered by way the wine is swirled in the glass, hits the tip of the tongue and then consumed. Even the appearance of the wine in the glass prompts you to prepare for what flavour to expect.

The use of corkscrew in opening wines

Gone are the days where wines were cork-sealed. Many are now sealed with screw caps. Cork-sealed bottles allows a certain amount of oxygen into the wine over time.

In the 1970s screw caps were tested on Australian Rieslings, and in the mid-1990s screw caps we distributed across Australia. It is not only easy to use but the risk of cork taint is also eliminated as it creates an air-tight seal allowing less to no oxygen at all coming into wine. However, this has slowed down the maturation process of wine.

How can corks be removed?

Carefully cut the seal of the bottle, this could be the top rim of the capsule or covering, which can be made of plastic, wax, or metal. Once it has been removed, point the corkscrew into the cork and twist in the centre until there’s enough room for the arm of the corkscrew to sit on the mouth of the bottle and act as a lever. This will help in levering the cork out of the bottle. If the corks are tightly sealed, you need to hold the corkscrew from above and then pull up firmly. If the cork breaks or crumbles, repeat the corkscrew process and use a tea strainer to remove the particles.

Some people also sniff the cork to check there is no cork taint contamination.

To avoid making these mistakes, you can try our RSA Online Australia course and start your career as a wine enthusiast.