1954 Practical Bar Management by Eddie Clarke

THE ART OF WINING

2. A light and delicate young wine should always come before and not after a full-bodied older wine. 3. Moselle and other young light wines are ideal for summer drinking. 4. White wines should be cold enough to cause a mist on the outside of the wine glass. 5. Should neither ice nor a refrigerator be available, there is a substitute way of cooling white wine by wrapping the unopened bottle in a wet cloth and standing it in a draught of air, which will cause evaporation from the wet cloth and a consequent coldness. 6. Do not commit sacrilege by using good wines in"Cups" or Champagne Cocktails—the cheaper variety will dojust as well. 7. It takes at least four years to produce and mature a good bottle of Champagne. 8. Before opening a bottle of Champagne, have a serviette handy—examine the wire securing the cork, then carefully untwist in the opposite direction. Should the wire break, use the wrench end, which is usually provided on folding corkscrews; hold the cork firmly with the serviette and then turn it in one direction only, never backwards and forwards, which is often the cause of breaking off the head of the cork. Should the wine be too lively after the cork has been removed, hold the bottle at an acute angle of, say, 20 degrees above the horizontal. This will allow the air to get into the neck and thus decrease the flow of mousse or frothy wine. Never try to prevent the flow of wine with the hand, as this only has the effect of making the wine more eager to escape. Pour a little of the wine into a spotlessly clean glass and examine for corkiness in the usual manner.

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