Microwaving wine?
aec
Is there any problem with microwaving wine for a few seconds to bring
it up to room temperature?
I have a friend who does this, and another who says that saw a
restaurant do this.
I find the mere idea of it almost sacrilegious and can't even imagine
asking my French friends about it (someday I'll gather my courage and
ask, but for the moment the ridicule would be too much to bear!)
My friend reckons that this does not alter or harm the wine in any
way.
What do you think/know?
Thanks
Anne
st...@temple.edu
> A question...
> Is there any problem with microwaving wine for a few seconds to bring
> it up to room temperature?
> I have a friend who does this, and another who says that saw a
> restaurant do this.
Where food and drink are concerned, all that matters is that the
result is safe to consume and that you enjoy it.
L. Hutz
When i was a waiter ( a really bad waiter) we used to do that all the
time, anything that a valued customer sent back as too cold went in the
nuker.
--
Lionel
Rory
This is unquestionably sacriligious, but it doesn't sound crazy.
Given that most red wines should be served between 60 and 65 degrees
F, with some as low as 50 degrees, I assume that you're storing your
wine on a short-term basis in the refrigerator and want to raise the
temperature to wherever the particular wine should be in this range.
If you keep your refrigerator at a constant temperature, and your home
at a constant temperature, it is possible to figure out how long it
takes for a bottle of wine, taken from the fridge and put on a
counter, to reach drinking temperature. Or alternatively, you can do
short-term storage in a cupboard and determine how long it takes for
your fridge to get the bottle down to drinking temperature.
Similarly, you could carry out some experiments to determine how much
microwaving is required to bring wine to the right temperature. You
could go through quite a few bottles of wine figuring out the
microwave timing, although I suppose that you could do the experiments
with a few bottles of water contained in used, but corked, wine
bottles. I'm not sure what the advantage of microwaving would be,
unless you're in a hurry, but I don't see any reason why you shouldn't
try it.
Here's an experiment that you might like to try if you are drinking a
good, comlex wine. Open the bottle when it is a little below the
theoretically desirable temperature, serve it and taste. Because it's
too cold, it will probably have a simple, uniform taste with no
complexity. Use your hands to warm the glass, then taste again. At
some point, the wine will quite suddenly open up. It will be both
refreshing and significantly more complex in flavour. You've just
discovered the right temperature for that particular bottle of wine.
When I drink really good wine, which I should add is not a regular
event, this is in fact how I go about serving it. Putting it on the
table a bit overchilled means that the average temperature through the
meal will be better.
Alan Zelt
And from you, who lives in France. Your walls must be crumbling by now.
Quite possibly you will be stoned in the town square for your
sacrilegious activity.
Yes, Anne, you can do so. Just be damn sure that you don't make a
mistake and go too far.
--
Alan
"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
avoid the people, you might better stay home."
--James Michener
aec
> aec wrote:
> >
> > A question...
> >
> > Is there any problem with microwaving wine for a few seconds to bring
> > it up to room temperature?
> >
> > I have a friend who does this, and another who says that saw a
> > restaurant do this.
> > I find the mere idea of it almost sacrilegious and can't even imagine
> > asking my French friends about it (someday I'll gather my courage and
> > ask, but for the moment the ridicule would be too much to bear!)
> >
> > My friend reckons that this does not alter or harm the wine in any
> > way.
> >
> > What do you think/know?
> > Thanks
> > Anne
>
> And from you, who lives in France. Your walls must be crumbling by now.
> Quite possibly you will be stoned in the town square for your
> sacrilegious activity.
>
> Yes, Anne, you can do so. Just be damn sure that you don't make a
> mistake and go too far.
Needless to say, I will never! do this. I think I would be thrown out
of the country - Le Pen or no Le Pen. But it's an English friend of
mine who does it and challenged me when I was shocked and horrified.
I can think of no reason why one cannot do it - except that "it is
just not done"! Not the most convincing argument...
Anne
aec
> >
> > A question...
> >
> > Is there any problem with microwaving wine for a few seconds to bring
> > it up to room temperature?
> >
> > I have a friend who does this, and another who says that saw a
> > restaurant do this.
> > I find the mere idea of it almost sacrilegious and can't even imagine
> > asking my French friends about it (someday I'll gather my courage and
> > ask, but for the moment the ridicule would be too much to bear!)
> >
> > My friend reckons that this does not alter or harm the wine in any
> > way.
> >
> > What do you think/know?
> > Thanks
> > Anne
>
> And from you, who lives in France. Your walls must be crumbling by now.
> Quite possibly you will be stoned in the town square for your
> sacrilegious activity.
>
> Yes, Anne, you can do so. Just be damn sure that you don't make a
> mistake and go too far.
Needless to say, I will never! do this. I think I would be thrown out
aec
Thanks for this - I just posted an answer and then "bam" and I don't
know if it posted. So, at the risk of repeating myself....I'll try
this out (even if I'm not the one who wants to do the microwaving, but
a friend. And I am looking for a reason why one should not microwave -
so far I haven't found any, much as this idea is repulsive to me!!)
Anne
aec
Huh - even wine, eh? Well - live and learn. I can't see doing it,
but have no logical reason why not.
Anne
Rory
> Needless to say, I will never! do this. I think I would be thrown out
> of the country - Le Pen or no Le Pen. But it's an English friend of
> mine who does it and challenged me when I was shocked and horrified.
> I can think of no reason why one cannot do it - except that "it is
> just not done"! Not the most convincing argument...
Your English friend just doesn't understand the foundations of French
culture. "It's just not done" is a perfectly convincing argument,
indeed the very foundation of politesse. You're in Verseille, not
Newcastle.
blake murphy
>Alan Zelt <alz...@worldnet.att.netFINNFAN> wrote in message news:<3CD079CC...@worldnet.att.netFINNFAN>...
>> Yes, Anne, you can do so. Just be damn sure that you don't make a
>> mistake and go too far.
>
>
>Needless to say, I will never! do this. I think I would be thrown out
>of the country - Le Pen or no Le Pen. But it's an English friend of
>mine who does it and challenged me when I was shocked and horrified.
>I can think of no reason why one cannot do it - except that "it is
>just not done"! Not the most convincing argument...
>Anne
...but still it's an argument. some things just *aren't* done.
your pal,
blake
spam]@world.std.com Blair P. Houghton
>
>...but still it's an argument. some things just *aren't* done.
Wine contains alcohol, which creates a volatile and flammable vapor.
Putting it in a device that can create point temperatures
of several hundred degrees and may spark internally is not
done by people who like to keep their houses from burning
down.
--Blair
"Besides that, just 'yuck'."