There is an alarming amount of pompous ceremony associated with the rituals of wine drinking. While some of the old practices are helpful in getting the maximum enjoyment out of your favourite bottle, there's also a lot of superfluous etiquette perpetuated by wine snobs who want to look like they are 'in the know'. This handy little chapter is here to help you cut through the crap!

Serving Wine

Serving wine is like serving food. You wouldn't serve your guests cold steak for breakfast in soup mugs. You know that timing, temperature and utensils are all an important part of the dining experience, and the same principles apply to wine.

Opening Wine

Opening a bottle of wine does not require some ridiculous ritual with a fancy napkin and elaborate corkscrew. It's not as hard as some people make it look. To remove a cork, your first objective is to get your hands on a good corkscrew. There are plenty of strange contraptions out there, but many are guaranteed to make for hard work before you even start. Our favourites are the straightforward "waiter's friend" and the up-market "Screwpull."

First, cut off the capsule (we prefer to remove it completely) and screw the corkscrew vertically, straight and all the way through the cork. Then lever or pull using constant pressure rather than a nervous jerk. This will prevent the cork breaking and you elbowing somebody into next week! Always taste the wine yourself first to check that it's not "corked" (musty/cardboardy).

Screw Caps

To open a screw-capped bottle, hold the entire cap and sleeve firmly in one hand, and twist the body of the bottle with the other. If only every bottle were so simple! Screw caps are our favourite closure because they don't have the detrimental effect on wine that many corks have.

Opening Champagne

Opening a champagne bottle is pretty easy, but many people make such a fuss about it that they end up stuffing it up altogether. There are a few basic points to grasp before showering your friends with a bottle of fizz. First, ensure that nobody has shaken the bottle before you get hold of it (not funny!). Always have a target glass nearby to pour the first gush into, and hold the bottle at forty-five degrees. Check the firing range for chandeliers and unsuspecting passers-by and re-aim if anything fragile is within range. Remove the capsule, but keep your thumb over the end of the cork as you remove the wire, in case the cork attempts to fire out of the bottle and lodge itself into someone's eye. Twist the bottle (not the cork) slowly and ease the cork out gently. When the cork is almost out tilt it sideways to release the gas slowly. This maintains the maximum bead (bubbles) in the wine. It should make a gentle hiss like a fine lady's fart, not an ostentatious pop (unless you're in a particularly vulgar mood, in which case the record to beat is 41400km/h). Check that the wine tastes right, then pour half a glass for each drinker, and top them all up after the 'mousse' has subsided.

How Much Should I Spend?

'How much should I spend?' is an important question. The Best 365 Wines of 2008 cover everything from $5 to $500, so you have every base covered. One rule that we use is to always aim to serve a better wine than your guests would expect. This doesn't necessarily mean spending more. If you stick with The Best 365 Wines of 2008, you'll nail this every time. Another rule of thumb is that the fewer the number of people you're sharing the bottle with, the better the wine should be. Save your most exciting purchases for special moments with your nearest and dearest. No one will care if you spend less on that bottle for your extended family reunion BBQ.

Glassware

Good glassware is essential for fully appreciating wine. An ideal selection to have on hand would be a white wine glass; a red wine glass, a Champagne glass and a smaller glass for sweet wines. If you're: tight for options, 'one medium-sized 'glass would cover all bases except Champagne. All good glasses curve in slightly at the top. Ironically, the finer the glass, the less likely that it will break when polished and the better it will look on the table. Avoid cut, engraved or coloured glasses as these make it harder to appreciate the colour of the wine. It's most important that there is not even the slightest residue of detergent in the glasses as this will destroy the taste and smell of the wine. When pouring, never more than half-fill a glass.

Timing

Timing is important and if you follow the guidelines in our Food and Wine section, you'll have this nailed. Start with Champagnes and lighter, unoaked whites and work your way up in colour and intensity through caked whites and into reds, finishing with sweeties and fortified styles, There are, of course, exceptions to this progression, but we'll leave it to you to find these in our Food and Wine chapter.

Decanting

Decanting is the process of pouring a wine from one container to another. It serves the dual purpose of leaving any sediment behind and allowing the wine to "loosen up" through contact with air.There are all sorts of exotic decanters available, but any glass jug will do the trick. We tend to use very cheap, plain decanters because we're terrified of breaking expensive glassware! To decant a red, stand it upright for a day to allow the sediment to settle, open it carefully without stirring it up and then pour it into the decanter slowly and evenly. Look through the neck of the bottle to watch the flow of the wine and stop pouring as soon as you see sediment creeping near the neck. Looking through the neck at a candle can make this easier, but any light will work (a Dolphin torch is great!). You can then pour from the decanter, or double-decant back into the bottle (after rinsing the sediment out of the bottle).

Serving Temperature

Serving temperature has a big impact on the aromas and flavours of wine. Whether it's white or red, the exact same wine poured at fridge, cellar or room temperature will taste completely different. Fridge-cold whites taste flavourless and acidic, while warm reds tend to become soupy and undefined.

Our simple rule of thumb is to take a white wine out of the fridge and leave it sit for a little while before you serve it, but put a red wine in the fridge for a little while before you serve it. An hour might suffice, but it depends on a few things. Lighter, unoaked whites can be a little cooler, caked Chardonnays a little warmer. Lighter, fruitier, young reds like roses and some Pinot Noirs are content in the fridge for a little longer than big reds. Sweet whites are the only wines that should be served really cold, since even Champagnes benefit from a spell out of the ice bucket. If it's a hot Aussie summer day, serve everything a little cooler and it will soon warm up. Don't be afraid to order an ice bucket with your red wine in a restaurant (we do!). You might cop a strange look from the waiter, but trust us - it will be worth it.

Following these principles can seriously add to your enjoyment of wine, so stick with these basic rules, but don't be afraid to experiment a little, and do have plenty of fun along the way.

* Sourced from TASTE by Tyson Stelzer and Matthew Jukes, and reproduced with their kind permission.