A Winesitter's Manifesto
Whether your rich friend just gave you a couple bottles of Château Latour to wine-sit or you've decided to start a modest wine collection of your own to keep for a special occasion, knowing how to keep your vintages properly is essential knowledge for any budding oenophile. Two Shanghai wine distributors decant their practices on keeping wines and offer advice on how you can be a wine connoisseur.
When it comes to wine, Pierre Monie of Enoterra and Zeon Chow of Napa Reserve Fine Wines have legs to stand on, or rather, to drink on. Monie's Enoterra recently celebrated five years as one of Shanghai's stand out wine bars and Chow's store draws exclusively on some of the best wines around from California's famous Napa Valley, including his family's own Howell Mountain Vineyards. And when discussing keeping their wines in good condition both of these wine men are ready to admit that an essential part of their business is keeping their wines happy and healthy, especially as they make their way across oceans to faraway China. "We try to treat our wine like a baby," says Chow. Winesitters, listen up.
Monie says "There are three things that wine doesn't like: light, vibration and temperature." And in transporting and keeping wine, both do their best to address all of these issues. When shipping bottles across the sea to China, Chow and Monie use 'reefers' - sealed, refrigerated containers which prevent the wine from being exposed to too much light or changes in temperature. Monie even goes so far as to make extra efforts to ship his wines in full container loads, finding that if the wines shift or move too much at sea, it can affect the taste later on. Both wine experts ship their wines in spring or autumn to avoid the chance of exposure to summer heat which might cause the wines to "cook". A word to winesitters, if you're keeping your wine in your house this summer, think twice before flipping off your A/C when you go out.
When wines arrive at their stores in China, both Monie and Chow take care of their wines by paying close attention to their storage on site. Although both have their own warehouses in Shanghai where they can ensure optimal conditions, they also keep wines on site. Almost all of the wines in both shops can be seen tipped on their side or at an angle. "You always want to let fluid touch the cork, otherwise it can dry out," says Chow. And both vendors rotate their wines away from displays every two weeks in order to make sure that they aren't getting too much light. So make sure you keep your wines on a slant, winesitters, and if you do want to show off a bottle or two for your neighbours, make sure you don't keep them upright for too long.
As for chilling wines in your refrigerator, almost everyone knows that this is okay for whites, but a big no-no for reds. The reason? Reds just don't need it. "Reds are higher in tannins [a chemical found prominently in the skin of grapes], which act as a natural preservative," says Monie. He also points to the importance of moderating your whites, as even though you can keep a bottle of white chilled in the refrigerator it doesn't mean you can sit on it forever. “Keep an eye on the colour. If it starts to turn dark, it's time to drink.” And if you really want to keep your wine like a pro keep an eye out for how your refrigerator vibrates. If it rattles too much at night, it might not only wake you up, winesitter, it might spoil your precious libation as well.
Now let's say you've successfully stored and protected your precious vintage from the elements for a year or two and it's time to celebrate. You're getting married, you got a promotion, or maybe you just bought another fantastic bottle of wine, whatever, you want to savour the flavours in this bottle as long as possible, you don't want to sling it back like some dipsomaniac on a bender. But how do you go about doing so, and keeping your wine fresh for multiple sittings? "I recommend using a vacuum pump to keep the wine. It allows for less exchange of oxygen and keeps your wine fresher longer," says Monie. And how long can you keep it? "You can keep your wine up to a week. And if it's a red, don't put it in the fridge after you open it. You lose a lot of what you’ve worked towards when you do that."
Napa Reserve Fine Wines, 383 Weihai Lu, near Shimen Yi Lu, 6340 0418
Enoterra, 53-57 Anfu Lu, near Wulumuqi Nan Lu, 5404 0050
