To serve wine perfectly, sommeliers use some tools of the trade, as in any other profession. We therefore take inspiration from the sommelier to know which tools to keep at home, to best serve wine. And to these we add the ability to use them, with lots of practice.
If the classic tastevin , today the symbol of the Italian Sommelier Association, is no longer used in daily activity because it has been replaced by the more practical tasting glass, many other tools are indispensable for serving wine, solving every problem and avoiding hand-to-hand fights body with cap.
Let's discover them together, taking inspiration from the sommeliers, to understand what to keep at home to be perfect winelovers.
Corkscrew
The corkscrew is an essential tool. We are talking about the lever one (true professional corkscrew), with a simple and easy to handle structure, made up of:
- Knife : necessary to cut and eliminate the capsule placed on the bottle cap
- Worm : to be inserted in the center of the cap, to extract it
Decanter and basket
Red wines that have undergone long aging or that present sediments are served with the decanter , which allows the opening of the broad bouquet of great red wines but also favors the volatilization of any possible olfactory imperfections even in younger wines.
For perfect service, the sommelier takes the bottle from the cellar and brings it into the room with the basket. In this way, the fund is not put into suspension.
Bucket, ice cube tray and quick-read thermometer
Do we serve a sparkling wine ? The bucket with ice is a must.
For white wines and rosé wines, it may be sufficient to use the glacette to place on the table. It does not cool the wine in the bottle, but keeps its temperature low. Sommeliers (especially at the beginning of their career) may need the help of a quick-read thermometer to check the temperature of the bottle.
Pliers and stopper cap
Have you ever been unable to remove the cork from a sparkling wine? Don't worry, if the cap resists extraction there are pliers, so you can be sure not to break it.
Another very useful tool for serving bubbles, to maintain their effervescence, is the stopper: essential because it guarantees the maintenance of internal pressure.
- Read also: how to taste wine
Wine cart
Serving wine by the glass is not very common but it is a nice system to encourage the tasting of different wines, paired with each course. If you are really a pro, you may want the wine trolley at home, to be able to put sparkling wines, whites, rosés, young and advanced red wines, dessert or fortified wines and offer your guests (and yourself!) a varied tasting experience and wide, without leaving the table. In fact, the trolley also provides a station complete with accessories: glacette holder, bottle holder, rack for glasses.
Drip-proof
To return to earth, we cannot fail to mention the drip catcher: it is not a tool of sommeliers (who, in addition to knowing how to pour perfectly into the service, use a napkin) but it is very useful for not spilling precious liquid and for not staining the tablecloth with wine. There are both ring -shaped ones (metal covered in felt), to be inserted on the neck of the bottle: it allows you to absorb the drop that may fall when pouring the wine; both in the form of a flexible foil to roll up on the neck of the bottle, to prevent them from coming out when pouring.
