1939 The Gentleman's Companion volume II Beeing an Exotic Drinking Book

THE GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION

A PROPER CARE & HANDLING ROUTINE for the MosT TWEAKY WINE of .ALL-CLARET I. Claret must always be handled like a new born babe. 2. Remove claret from the cellar at least 1 day ahead o.f time. 3. Stand uncorked in a slightly warmer than dining room temperature, but do not heat. 4. If fairly young wine stand uncorked for one hour, if older, for up to eight hours. This process is called "chambre," or fetching it to "room" condition. 5. Draw corks ourself, carefully. Sediment kills claret, and ninety Ameri– can bottles out of a hundred are killed, my friends. . . . 6. Have decanter a couple of degrees warmer than dining room, and put wine into it slowly but continuously from bottle to decanter-against the light. 7. When we see sediment flowing toward bottle neck, stop pouring. That lost glass of wine may pain us, but will ruin the rest. 8...Put decanter on dining room sideboard with the stopper out. 9. Drink claret out of large, thin, plain glasses. A new or young claret will show a purplish bubble as it first strikes the glass, and is unrecommended for internal consumption. If the bubble is a rich red, it is matured, ripe and sound. If bubbles are rich tawny brown it is over twenty years old, perhaps more. We may then sit back and brood upon the delicacies of a truly worthwhile wine. This simple routine actually takes only a few moments of our time. The reason we never do it properly is that it requires the mental effort of thought about a fine point of good living, which many otherwise important and influential people think foppish, fussy, European, and highly unnecessary. . . . These above 9 rules must be observed if our claret is worth the bringing home from the shop. Think it over. How many of us have ever had decent claret, either in a restaurant, or at home. The average American restaurant's technique on wine is crude and brutally simple. It is snatched off the rack when ordered, and either served cellar (or rack) temperature for most red wines, or chilled more or less. It is handled roughly, carelessly. The cork pops, curious,

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