It is 34°C on deck. You pour a Barossa Shiraz that has been sitting in the saloon all afternoon, and it arrives at the table at 26°C tasting of warm alcohol and stewed jam. The wine did nothing wrong. You did. Temperature is the cheapest, fastest lever you have, and on a yacht it is the one most often lost.
Storage
Wine has four enemies: heat, light, vibration and oxygen.
| Condition | Target |
|---|---|
| Temperature | 10–15°C, constant. Stability matters more than the exact number |
| Humidity | ~70% — dry air shrinks corks and lets air in |
| Light | Dark. UV strips wine and causes "light strike" |
| Position | On its side for cork-sealed bottles, so the cork stays wet |
| Vibration | Minimise — a real issue at sea, so keep bottles secure and away from engines |
Serving temperature
The single most useful table in this course.
| Wine | Temperature |
|---|---|
| Sweet wines | 6–8°C |
| Sparkling | 6–10°C — finer wines nearer 10 |
| Light, crisp whites; Fino/Manzanilla sherry; rosé | 7–10°C |
| Full-bodied, oaked whites | 10–13°C |
| Light reds (Pinot Noir, Beaujolais) | 13–15°C |
| Full-bodied reds | 15–18°C |
Two principles behind it: cold suppresses aroma and emphasises acid and tannin; warmth releases aroma and emphasises alcohol. So a delicate white goes cold to stay crisp, and a big red goes cool-ish (never "room temperature" — that phrase comes from unheated French châteaux, not the Med).
Practical fixes: an ice-and-water bath chills faster than ice alone. Reds are almost always too warm on board — twenty minutes in the fridge is often the right call.
Glassware
- Clear and unadorned, so you can see the wine.
- A stem, so the hand does not warm the bowl.
- A bowl that narrows at the rim, to concentrate aroma.
- Fill to the widest point only — roughly a third. A big glass is for swirling, not for a big pour.
- Sparkling: a flute or tulip, never a coupe. Coupes lose the bubbles and look dated.
- Store glasses upright or hanging, not rim-down on a cloth that can taint them.
Decanting
Decanting does two different jobs. Know which one you are doing.
| Purpose | For which wine | How |
|---|---|---|
| Separating sediment | Old reds, Vintage Port | Stand upright 24h. Pour slowly and steadily against a light until sediment reaches the shoulder. Stop |
| Aeration | Young, tannic, closed reds (young Bordeaux, Barolo, Syrah) | Pour freely, even splash. An hour or two before service |
Do not decant delicate old wines that may fall apart in air, or anything you have not been asked about. Old Burgundy in particular can fade within thirty minutes of opening.
Onboard Notes
- Reds on a yacht are the perennial mistake. If the saloon is warm, the red is warm — chill it, and no one will complain.
- Keep a wine fridge honest at 12°C and use it for everything. It is a storage cabinet, not a service fridge.
- Ask before decanting anything the owner has chosen personally. Some guests want the ceremony; some regard it as interference.