preparing for dinner party

[Anonymous]

ok I am one of those I don't drink people-bought some wine-both red and white-do I open a bottle or two before guests are here or wait for their arrival? Thanks for not laughing

[Anonymous]

honestly, it really doesn't matter. do what's convenient and have a great dinner.

[Anonymous]

Not all wines need to breathe. White wines rarely do. With red wine fruitier wines (merlot, syrah, pinot noir) don't need to breath usually. Bolder wines like a cabernet will benefit from breathing, but you need to pour it into a decanter or something to help it (just opening the bottle won't help).

Regardless, none of it really matters. The wines will be fine w/ or w/out it.

[Anonymous]

Wait till your guests get there. Most wine is ready-to-drink when poured.

If you're not a person who's into wine, and you didn't spend a bunch of money, then you probably didn't buy anything that really needs to breathe.

If you don't have one, spend $9 or $10 on a good "waiter" style corkscrew. (They'll know what that is at the wine store. They also sell them a little more cheaply than that ($5 to $7) with the utensils at Giant or Harris Teeter, though you get what you pay for--the Giant ones are just ok, not great.) The $1.50 plastic corkscrews from the wine store are hard to use if you're not used to them. And the "wing" kind that everyone thinks look easy to use are actually pretty good at shredding cork. A "waiter" style takes 30 seconds or so to figure out, and once you've got it figured, is definitely the most reliable and user-friendly.

[Anonymous]

Put the white one in the frig a couple hours before dinner!

[Anonymous]

thanks all, my "alcoholic" friend came early and helped me out. Happy Mother's Day!