Worth Opening

Fine wine, properly chosen.
Some bottles are kept. The right ones are opened.
↓ WSET Level 2, 3 & 4 Apps • Free Wine Quiz

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Sit the exam before the exam.

Our three study apps for WSET students are now on iPhone and Android.

▪ Level 2 & 3: twenty mock exams, every answer explained
▪ Level 4: Diploma, D1 to D5

First mock free in every app. No account, no subscription, no ads.

#WSET #WineEducation

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Blind tasting is not recognition. It is elimination.

High acid and low alcohol point to a cool climate: half the world, gone. Each clue removes options until few remain.

Teams, six wines, labels hidden: The Blind Tasting. Link in bio.

#blindtasting #winetasting

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Green, red, garnet, blue: Rioja's colour code.

The back label is colour-coded by minimum ageing periods, not quality grades.

What the ageing terms mean and where the value lies, in the Journal. Link in bio.

#rioja #spanishwine

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The first pour is not about liking it.

That small pour checks one thing: is the wine sound? The host's taste is a check for faults, not a vote on the choice.

Client evenings people remember: plan a corporate tasting. Link in bio.

#businessdinner #wineetiquette

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Saving that special bottle may be spoiling it.

Most wine is at its best within a year or two of release. Unsure? Open it sooner rather than later.

What to open now, what to wait for: request a cellar review. Link in bio.

#winecellar #finewine

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Is a 20 Years Old tawny really 20?

Apart from Colheita, tawnies are blends of wines of different ages. The number describes the style of the blend, not the age of every drop.

From Ruby to Colheita, the whole family in the Journal. Link in bio.

#port #tawnyport

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Tannin usually gets the blame. Iron may deserve it.

A study with scallops traced the metallic aftertaste mainly to iron in the wine, though the chemistry is not fully settled.

What to pour with sushi, tempura and wagyu, in the Journal. Link in bio.

#sushi #japanesefood

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

An open bottle that keeps for months.

Recorked in the fridge, Madeira keeps several months, as a rough guide. It is aged in contact with air, so there is little left for oxygen to do.

How long each style keeps, on one chart in the Journal. Link in bio.

#madeira #port

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Spätlese does not mean sweet.

Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese record how ripe the grapes were at harvest, not how much sugar is left in the wine. For dry, look for trocken.

German Riesling labels, decoded in the Journal. Link in bio.

#riesling #germanwine

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

A scruffy label can be the honest one.

Cellar-damp labels with lifted corners and a little mould suggest a cool, humid cellar, which is exactly where the wine should have been.

Put this to work on your own cellar: request a cellar review. Link in bio.

#finewine #winecollector

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

The wine most likely to struggle at a Cantonese table: the grand, oaky red. Umami makes its tannin taste harder and more bitter.

When in doubt at a Cantonese table, pour Champagne.

The wines lead, the menu follows: Fine Dining & Vintages. Link in bio.

#cantonesefood #champagne

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Yeast or air: the choice behind every dry Sherry.

Under flor: pale, crisp and dry. With oxygen: deep amber, powerful and dry.

Taste it rather than read about it: plan a tasting. Link in bio.

#sherry #jerez

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Your wine is climbing the glass.

Legs say nothing reliable about a wine's quality, age or grape variety. Physics, not quality.

Test your wine knowledge with the wine quiz, free. Link in bio.

#wine #winetasting

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Gevrey-Chambertin or Chambertin? Only one is grand cru.

Watch the hyphen. Gevrey-Chambertin is the village; Chambertin alone is the grand cru.

Burgundy's four levels, explained in the Journal. Link in bio.

#burgundy #bourgogne

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Buttery Chardonnay? Often, it is not the oak.

Buttery notes, which many tasters blame on oak, often come from malolactic conversion instead.

Test your wine knowledge with the wine quiz, free. Link in bio.

#chardonnay #whitewine

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

That minerality? You are not tasting the rock.

Minerality is a real sensation with a disputed explanation. The minerals in wine are present in minute amounts and generally tasteless.

Taste it rather than read about it: plan a tasting. Link in bio.

#terroir #minerality

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

A genuine bottle can hold a fake wine.

Codes and seals are worth checking, but they prove the bottle, not the wine: a genuine bottle can be emptied and refilled.

Looking for a particular bottle? Provenance checked before you commit. Link in bio.

#finewine #winecollector

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

The Champagne almost nobody waits for.

Non-vintage Champagne: good on release, better with two or three years and often best at five to eight. For well-stored bottles from good producers in decent vintages.

Build Your First Cellar. Link in bio.

#champagne #winecellar

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Toast flavour that never came from a barrel.

Hunter Valley Sémillon is usually made without oak. With several years in bottle it turns honeyed and toasty.

Taste it rather than read about it: plan a tasting. Link in bio.

#semillon #whitewine

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

iOS and Android Apps: https://t.co/3YF55epb4h

[Worth Opening @worthopening]

Sit the exam before the exam.

Our three study apps for WSET students are now on iPhone and Android.

▪ Level 2 & 3: twenty mock exams, every answer explained
▪ Level 4: Diploma, D1 to D5

First mock free in every app. No account, no subscription, no ads.

#WSET #WineEducation