A safe space to ask questions, talk about what you’re drinking, or make disparaging comments about the mouth breathing fuckwits who still haven’t opened up their ‘61 Jaboulet Ainé Hermitage La Chapelle because, “the tannins still haven’t come around.”
Tonight’s menu is grilled pork chops with beet salad accompanied by a bottle of my 2019 Coombsville Syrah. Getting over a nasty cold from last week, so this is the first wine we’ve opened in awhile (and one of my favorites). I’m looking forward to it.
I’ve been enjoying buying wine from LastBottle.com, which provides a good variety of daily opportunities of all sorts of quality wines at a wide array of price points, but without any type of obligation to purchase. My question is what tips do y’all have for building a wine collection because I keep trying to buy more wine than batgirl and I can drink and yet am constantly facing a deficit.
So what do y’all use to clean your wine glasses? I mean, I wash them obviously, with a microfiber swab thingie, but they still end up with stains over time.
I just use soap and hot water and then immediately dry and polish them with a soft cotton towel (not microfiber). Works great for me on my Riedel glasses. After breaking a couple over the years, I make it a policy not to wash them until the morning after. I’ve had them easily 20 years and have zero stains.
Huh. I more or less do the same with mine, also good quality Riedel. Mine all have stains at the bottom. I should add they are used pretty much every night. I may try the old baking soda and vinegar paste.
My problem is with an Orefors decanter that I love. Something happened years ago that rendered the inside a little cloudy. I’ve tried all manner of bendable brushes to try to clean it but had zero success. I’ve tried denture cleaner and I’ve tried vinegar, but had no success with those either. I’ve pretty much reached the conclusion that the inner surface got etched somehow, and there’s not actually anything to clean off. The good news is that it’s not really noticeable when there’s wine in the decanter.
I love using a decanter, especially because Mrs Hawk likes setting a nice table for special occasions. But they are a pain in the ass to clean.
On a side note…growing up we never poured directly from a container. Whether it was iced tea, milk, juice, water…my mom always poured it into a pitcher and we filled our glasses from that. As a kid who had to wash dishes I hated it, but I’ve come to appreciate that she did that.
When I worked in restaurants, we would clean stained coffee pots with ice and salt. It would scour coffee stains away reliably with vigorous shaking and swirling. Wine is probably a worse stain, but perhaps worth a try.
Riedel and just about all high end stemware these days is dishwasher safe. Kara and I have some hand blown glasses that we use almost daily and have never had a problem cleaning them in the dishwasher.
If I’m cleaning by hand, warm water and soap is all I need. I dry them on our dish rack and then buff/polish them with a microfiber towel. And I second the idea of cleaning wine glasses the morning after.
As for your decanter issue (well done for using one, btw), try bleach. We had two decanters that were slightly discolored and nothing worked until we tried bleach. I tried soaking them with TSP and Sodiul Percarbonate, which is what we use at the winery, but nada.
Oh yeah, if you’re buffing/polishing wine glasses, unless they’re hand blown and one piece, don’t hold them at the base and twist. The bowl can easily separate from the stem. I actually have a nifty scar in my palm to remind me how easily.
My partner Kara and I opened our annual Spring Release last week. If anyone is interested in some wine, feel free to pm me. You can also sign up for our Mailing List HERE and receive an allocation (there’s no obligation to buy as a member of the ML - you just get first crack at the wines).
ETA: Just realized it might be helpful if I included the wines we’re offering:
Chenin blanc from the Chalone Vineyard in Monterey County (planted in 1919)
Mataro from the Del Barba Vineyard in Contra Costa County (planted in the late 1920’s)
Carignane from the Spenker Ranch in Lodi (planted in 1900)
Yes, this is a blatant attempt to influence your drinking habits and sell some vino. Mods, if that type of post is verboten, totally understand and feel free to delete this.