Best Way to Serve a Cabernet Sauvignon Wine | Hope Family Wines

Best Way to Serve a Cabernet Sauvignon Wine
Cabernet Sauvignon wine is one of our favorite wines. Austin Hope has been perfecting his cabernet sauvignon for years and it continues to outshine many of the other wines available in the United States, as well as the world.
Wine Enthusiast Magazine ranked the Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 as the #7 on The Enthusiast Top 100 of 2020, which marks the 2nd time in two years that his wines have made it into the top 10. And on top of that, it’s the only wine from Paso Robles to break the top 10 overall.
Austin Hope is clearly doing something right when it comes it comes to their wine, but you should also know how to properly serve specific wines to truly experience what the winemaker intended.
Serving Cabernet Sauvignon
What Temperature Should Cabernet Sauvignon Be Served At?
We’ve all heard the saying that red wine should be served at room temperature while white wine should be served chill, but did you know that’s a myth?
Red wine is best served slightly cooler than room temperature, but not at the low temperatures that normal refrigerators are typically set at.
The ideal serving temperature for a cabernet sauvignon wine is going to be around 60-degrees Fahrenheit, but Austin Hope likes to suggest serving it at 57-58 degrees for the best flavor. So if you’ve been storing your wine in a wine fridge you may have to let it warm up just a bit before serving and if you’ve been storing it at room temperature, a quick rest in your kitchen refrigerator for about 30 minutes should bring the wine down to the ideal temperature.
There’s nothing wrong with serving cabernet sauvignon at room temperature if that’s what you’re used to, but if you really want to get the full experience and the full flavor profiles, it’s best to chill it for just a little while before serving.
Decant Your Wine
After the cabernet sauvignon has been brought to the correct temperature, the next thing you want to do is aerate the wine. This can be done with a wine decanter or by just opening the bottle and letting it sit for a little while.
Which Wine Glass to Use for Cabernet Sauvignon?
Once the wine has been properly decanted or aerated it’s time to pour.
Cabernet sauvignon is best served in a taller red wine glass with a larger bowl. The larger bowl allows for the oxygen to touch more of the surface area of the wine, while the height of the bowl allows for the wine to take longer to reach your lips. By having the wine take longer to reach your lips with each sip you’re allowing for the aroma of the wine to enter your nose before the wine reaches your mouth.
Your sense of smell deeply affects your sense of taste, so by using a glass that helps promote the use of both senses you can get a better feel for the full flavor profile of the wine.
The final thing you want to make sure you’re doing when drinking a cabernet sauvignon, is to hold the wine glass by the stem.
We’ve talked about stemless vs. stemmed wine glasses previously and if you’re truly looking for the best wine drinking experience, especially with our Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon, then you’ll want to do whatever you can to prevent the wine from heating up too much from your body heat. So, holding the glass by the stem will prevent this.
Drinking Cabernet Sauvignon Wine
If you adhere to the tips above when drinking a cabernet sauvignon wine, you will get to experience exactly what the wine maker intended when they produced the wine. The wine will be at the ideal temperature, it will be decanted to perfection, and you’ll get to experience the wine with both your sense of smell and taste. But even if you’re in a situation where you are unable to follow all these tips, you’re still going to be getting a great glass of wine with a cabernet sauvignon.