🍇 Uncorking Wine 🍇
Tradition dictates that white wines should be served chilled and that red wines should be served at room temperature, or so we’ve always been to ld. Before we go into whether or not this still holds true, let’s first talk about why that is…
Red and white wines are structurally different - whilst white wines rely on acidity for their backbone, red wines lean on their tannins (the drying, grippy elements) instead. Chilling white wines helps to unlock their acidity and aromas, whilst the fruit in red wines really comes out at slightly higher temperatures.
That said, the old axiom of serving wine at room temperature is somewhat outdated these days, given that our houses are better insulated and jammed full of heat-generating electronic equipment. So unless you live in a draughty old pile of bricks or a crumbling European château with a large cellar, the conversation around how to serve red wine and what room temperature actually means becomes more and more relevant.
With the average UK house temperature supposedly sitting between 18 - 21C and our knowledgeable friends over at the WSET recommending that full-bodied reds should be served at 15 - 18C, light-bodied reds between 13 - 18C and white wines between 7 - 13C, it suddenly becomes apparent that we probably want to be applying some level of cooling to all of our wines. And from there, it’s an open book, you’re free to flex your approach however you please.
Lighter reds have higher levels of acidity and knowing what we know about chilling whites, all of sudden it makes sense to stick your summer Beaujolais on ice for a little bit. What’s more and ultimately most important is that you serve and drink your wine however you or your friends like it, because if you do that, you’ll never go too far wrong.
🥭 Palate Cleansers 🥭
#1 - Eating the world’s “destination dishes”
#2 - “Two pints of lager and a Michelin star”
#3 - Chris Martin making waves in Somerset
📚 Who Knew That Was The Story Behind?! 📚
Wimbledon began on Monday and with it, the [sometimes] Great British Summer is here. Whilst The Championships are synonymous with many things - queues, sunburn, unexpected early exits - strawberries and cream have to be top of the pile. Each and every year, images of visitors working their way through punnett after punnet of strawberries are beamed across the world, showcasing this uniquely British occasion on the global stage.
Word has it that each year around 28,000 KG of strawberries and 8,000L of cream are consumed across the two weeks that Wimbledon takes place. Strawberries are picked early each morning and transported to South West London to allow punters to gorge on them that very same day.
Is there a better summertime combination?
If you want to know how all this began, you’ve got to cast your mind back to the early 1500s, when Cardinal Wolsey supposedly dished up strawberries and cream following a real tennis match. Strawberries were at the time believed to provide relief for labour pains and that almost uniquely British phenomenon, bad breath. Their appearance at Wolsey’s soirée changed the trajectory of the humble strawberry forever and supposedly inspired The All England Club to serve strawberries at the very first Wimbledon back in 1877.
Come the early 1900s, King George V was spotted chowing down on them during a visit to the tennis and there’s only been one direction of travel ever since. So whilst Wimbledon tickets may be rarer than hen’s teeth, strawberries certainly are not at this time of year. So go on, flick on the tennis, grab yourself a bowl of strawberries and settle into summer, you know you won’t regret it.
🍷 What News From Wednesday's Domaine? 🍷
Today marks the beginning of the end of the beginning. The next two days will see us complete our first full scale bottling run, meaning that come next Wednesday, you should find a link allowing you to get your hands on our wines for the very first time, and wow, are we excited!
When the time comes, we’ll be making plenty of noise about it, but please do spread the word and follow along on Instagram for all the latest. Equally, just hit reply if you ever want to get in touch directly.
Thanks for all the love and support to date,
Luke
PS. Don’t want to wait a week for our next edition?
Check us out on Instagram (@wednesdaysdomaine).
