A good Wine 101 education resource would tell you that to allow a wine to be fully appreciated, there are a few basic conditions which should be observed.

The first of these is the choice of glass. A good wine glass is sufficiently large and tapers slightly towards the top, in order to hold as much of the bouquet in the glass (tasting wine cannot be done without smelling it). A “normal” portion of wine is 125 cl.; thus a larger glass will not be more than one-half to two-thirds full.

Once the wine is correctly poured into the proper glass, it can be swirled around to release its aromas. This swirling promotes evaporation, which liberates the individual aroma molecules. It is essential that the bowl of the glass be crystal-clear and free of decoration so that the color of the wine can be judged properly.

But before the wine is even in the glass, the bottle must be opened. There is a huge variety of corkscrews on the market, some good and some bad. The coil or “worm’ should be helical; a bad coil will break the cork during removal.

Still, many people find that even using a good conventional corkscrew is a chore requiring dexterity and strength. More sophisticated wine openers, such as the wing and lever variety of cockscrews, are therefore becoming more commonplace.