Simple Tips For Enjoying A New Bottle of Wine At Home

Originally published September 29, 2017. Updated in 2026.

So you’ve been out tasting, visiting wineries around Georgia, and found a few wines you really like. You bring them home and want to make enjoying wine part of your everyday life.

You don’t need a wine cellar, expensive equipment, or a collection of specialized glasses. A few simple habits can make a noticeable difference in how your wine tastes and how much you enjoy it.

Keep Wine Away From Heat

Protect the wine you’ve just bought, especially on the trip home. Don’t leave bottles sitting in a hot car, and once you’re home, store them somewhere cool and away from direct sunlight or other sources of heat.

For wine you’re planning to drink relatively soon, you don’t need to build a cellar or buy a dedicated wine refrigerator. A cool, dark place with reasonably stable temperatures is a good start.

Start With a Clean Glass

Use a clean, dry wine glass whenever possible. Soap residue, dust, or lingering odors from a cabinet or dishwasher can interfere with the aromas and flavors of the wine.

You also don’t need a different glass for every grape variety. A reasonably sized wine glass with enough room to swirl the wine and gather its aromas will work well for most wines.

Pay Attention to Temperature

Serving temperature can make a surprising difference. White wines are often served colder than necessary, while red wines can be warmer than their best serving temperature, particularly in a warm house.

As an easy rule of thumb, try taking a white wine out of the refrigerator a little before serving it, or putting a room-temperature red into the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes before opening it. There’s no need to obsess over an exact number of degrees.

Smell the Wine, Not Just the Cork

When opening a bottle sealed with natural cork, take a quick look at the cork if you’re curious, but the wine itself tells you much more about what’s in the bottle.

Pour a little wine into your glass, give it a gentle swirl, and smell it. Much of what we experience as flavor begins with aroma, so taking a moment before the first sip can reveal things you might otherwise miss.

Give Some Wines a Little Air

Some wines become more expressive after they have been exposed to air, particularly younger or fuller-bodied reds. Simply removing the cork doesn’t expose very much of the wine to oxygen, so pouring it into a glass and swirling it, or using a decanter when appropriate, can make a bigger difference.

Not every wine needs extended aeration. Taste it first. If the wine seems tight or muted, give it a little time in the glass and see how it changes.

Take Your Time

Wine is something to experience rather than rush through. Notice how the aromas and flavors change as the wine sits in the glass, warms slightly, and interacts with the food you’re eating.

And if you don’t finish the bottle, don’t feel obligated to. Close it as well as you can and put it in the refrigerator. Refrigeration slows the changes that happen after a bottle is opened, whether the wine is red or white. You can let a refrigerated red warm slightly before drinking it again.

Most Important: Drink What You Enjoy

Wine can become complicated very quickly if you let it. Glassware, serving temperatures, aeration, food pairings, and tasting techniques can all enhance the experience, but none of them should get in the way of simply enjoying a wine you like.

Try different things, pay attention to what you enjoy, and don’t worry too much about whether you’re doing it the “right” way.