Whether you’re hosting guests or playing bartender, pouring wine is a vital part. When done well, it ensures you’re serving the right amount of wine without spilling. Otherwise, you might want to have a good wine stain remover handy.

Before I get into how to pour wine, let’s first look at how much to pour, and then I’ll cover the technique.

Pouring wine can be complicated so, I’ll break it down into steps so you can avoid spilling any. Here’s how to pour wine into a glass or decanter:

#1 Leave the glass on the table

#2 Hold the bottle on its lower half

Some servers will place the bottle on the palm of their hand and pour with their thumb in the wine’s punt or the indentation on the bottom of the bottle. Others wrap their hand around the lower part of the bottle as if it were any other bottle. Both get the job done. Both techniques are gripped on the lower half of the bottle and they only use one hand. To prevent dripping, you’ll need your other hand to use a cloth napkin.

#3 With the uncorked bottle in your hand, you’re ready to pour

Now, tilt the bottle opening down over the wine glass and pour the wine relatively slowly into the glass. When pouring, aim for the center or along the side, but in truth, it doesn’t really matter.

If you pour along the inside of the glass, it will rush around the glass more violently which is great for aeration. Most people will 100% swirl the glass anyway, and that will aerate the wine far more. In short, doesn’t really matter where you pour the wine into the glass.

How to Pour Red Wine

The only real difference with pouring red wine is that vintage reds should be decanted. Learning how to decant wine is the same as learning how to pour wine correctly into a decanter and pour wine out of it.

How to Pour White Wine

Before pouring white wine, you should consider if it needs to be chilled in an ice bucket. If so, prior to pouring, wipe it down with a cloth napkin before pouring. Beyond that, you’ll use your normal wine pour just like you’d pour red wine.

How to Pour Sparkling Wine

Pouring sparkling wine is very similar to other wines, except that you run the risk of the wine bubbling over. And that goes for just about anything you serve in a flute glass. When pouring sparkling wine, you should pour more steadily and slowly than you would for other wines to avoid it bubbling over.

Pouring wine doesn’t have to be so hard. Basically, if you hold the bottle at the bottom half and you don’t have any drips when you pour, you’re 98% pro. If you’re curious about the other 2%, stop into our tasting room to learn more. But, seriously don’t stress too much over your pour.

Cheers,
Natalie