The New Year is upon us, and with that comes New Year’s resolutions. To help you out, Mt. Vernon Winery has compiled five resolutions for wine lovers because we want you to have the best experience with your glass of wine!

Swirl Your Wine

For the maximum flavor, especially for a recently opened bottle of wine, you will want to properly swirl. The reason being is that swirling wine allows the compounds of the wine to disperse and oxygen to seep in, which opens up the true flavors. This process also releases the unique smells of a wine. Hold your glass by the stem or base and swirl the wine for 5 to 20 seconds.

Properly Seal Open Wine

You usually have two to three days of premium flavor for an open bottle of wine if stored properly. If it is left too long without a proper seal your once delightful wine will eventually turn into something similar to a disappointing cup of vinegar. If you re-cork it, use the stained side of the cork to seal the bottle instead of the unstained side. Put the bottle upright in the refrigerator. You can also purchase a pump or a vacuum to suck oxygen out of the open wine bottle and seal it.

Keep Wine Away From High Temperatures

Leaving wine in direct heat for an extended amount of time can alter its balance and, and as a result, its taste. Some wines that get too hot can seep out of the cork, which is referred to “cooked” wine. A study in 2014 showed that “a relatively small difference in the temperature speeds up several chemical reactions associated with wine aging and even promotes new reactions that are not observed at lower temperatures.” Many suggest the ideal temperature to store wine is around 55 degrees, with 77 degrees and above often cited as the high that you should stay away from.

Pair With a Cheese

Did you know there is scientific proof that wine enhances the wine experience? A study completed by the Centre for Taste and Feeding Behaviour in Dijon, France, asked 31 regular wine drinkers to sample four wines with four cheeses. What they found was that cheese improved the taste of the wine and it also had an impact on the preference.

Visit Mt. Vernon Winery

At Mt. Vernon Winery, we are proud to be a part of the great tradition of California wines and enjoy serving those in the Auburn area and across Northern California. The Mt. Vernon Winery tasting room is an old restored milk house originally built in 1950. We are committed to meticulous vineyard management resulting in a small, but spectacular production of estate bottled wines. Many of these estate wines have won very prestigious medals (Gold & Above & 95 + Points) at three of the highest-ranked wine competitions in the world. And in case you hadn’t heard, Mt. Vernon Winery has been named the Best Winery for 13 years in a row by the Auburn Journal! In 2016, Mt. Vernon Winery also was named “Best Local Red Wine”, “Best Local White Wine”, and “Best Wine Maker”.

Feel free to come by and taste. Our tasting room is open Thursday to Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.