The Art of Setting Up Your Perfect Kitchen
20/05/2021
Bertazzoni Heritage ranges are always on point
11/03/2022Just the right thing for dad
A Father’s Day Special
When you were little, you may have offered him a card signed in crayon, a carefully chosen coffee mug, or maybe that classic standby, the Father’s Day tie.
These were sweet, heartfelt gifts back in the day.
But for adult sons and daughters, finding a great Father’s Day gift . . . well, it’s not necessarily easy. Particularly when you’ve shared so many Father’s Days over the years.
If you’re looking for something special for your dad, going with a consumable gift is a good move. A really good bottle of your dad’s favourite libation certainly won’t collect dust!
If you’d like to find just the right bottle of just the right thing for you dad, read on!
If your father loves wine
If your father is a wine lover, you may already have a sense of which varietals he particularly likes. If you don’t and/or aren’t particularly into wine yourself, understanding just a few things will be helpful.
There are thousands of varietals (AKA, different types of wine making grapes). The grape varietal and it’s terroir — that is, the land it comes from — determine a wine’s colour, fragrance, mouthfeel, and aftertaste.
Approach wine labels with this in mind and don’t be dissuaded or distracted by any illustrations or visual branding. In other words, don’t just look at wine labels — really read them! The label should tell you where the wine grapes were grown. The better the bottle, the more specific this information will be. Reputable wineries take great pride in their product’s terroir.
When you want to find a really special bottle, look for wine made from grapes cultivated in a healthy ecosystem. Connoisseurs appreciate organic or biodynamic wines produced by vineyards that are cared for with great respect, without agrochemicals.
To find just the right special bottle for your dad without giving away your surprise, try to find out from family and friends whether there are any varietals in particular that he really goes for. If you come up short there, you could also just think of his favourite meals and dishes and ask for advice at your local wine store or do some research online. A good sommelier or store clerk should be able to suggest some bottles that will pair well with your dad’s favourite dishes.
When getting advice or reading wine reviews, you’ll come across these terms:
- A blend is a combination of varietals used in a particular wine.
- Body refers to mouth feel. Does the wine feel light, heavy, round, or full in your mouth?
- A dry wine is not sweet, whereas an off-dry bottle will be semi-sweet. A sweet wine will be sugary.
- Earthy wine has a vegetal, herbaceous, soil-tinged flavour profile.
- Tannins produce a tingly sensation resulting from evaporation.
- A wine’s finish is its after taste. It’s the residual impression that leaves you with a lingering sense of pleasure. A nice finish can feel as unforgettable as a perfume that speaks to your heart.
Last but not least, don’t fall for the idea that a good bottle must have a traditional cork. Though some wineries do still use bottle stoppers made of actual cork to let their wine breathe as it ages, many others have switched to twist-off caps or glass or plastic stoppers. These modern caps and stoppers do a more consistent job of protecting wine.
If your dad is more of a beer drinker
Craft beers are more expensive than the beer made by big commercial brands, but they’re also much more varied and flavourful. A selection of craft beers makes a great gift that beer-loving dads will enjoy sharing with their friends.
There are two kinds of beer. Light in colour and taste, Lagers are the most common type of beer. Ales are darker hued and taste fuller, stronger, and fruitier.
As with wines, beer is only as good as the ingredients it’s made from, and where it’s made will also tell you something. Microbreweries, AKA craft breweries use traditional brewing techniques that draw out all the flavour of the natural ingredients they use.
The basic ingredients that go into beer are barley, hops, yeast, and water. Microbreweries use additional ingredients to create beer with more unique flavour profiles. For instance, warm spices flavour winter beers, whereas wheat or fruit go into lighter summer beers.
If there are any craft breweries in your area, you may be able to tour them and drop in to taste their products. When you do, you want to observe their colour, body, scent as well as how they taste. (In that sense, beer tasting isn’t unlike wine tasting.) Use all your senses when you try out a craft beer.
How does it look? Even before you taste it, check out its colour and clarity. Beer ranges in hue from pale amber to red, brown, or black. Some are clear, others are cloudy. If the foam head trails down the sides of your glass when you swish your glass, that’s a good sign. That trail of foam tells you it’s a high quality brew.
Take in its aroma. Take in all its fragrant notes. Is it a hoppy, malty or fruity?
What about its mouthfeel? Does it feel refreshingly light or full bodied?
Finally, good beer is flavourful, striking a full chord of flavours with each sip.
Great bottles deserve to be stored properly
When you really get into wine and/or beer, you certainly don’t want any of your carefully collected bottles to be spoiled.
If your dad is a connoisseur or even just a budding enthusiast, you can really wow him this Father’s Day by setting him up with a wine or beverage cooler. These appliances are designed to preserve the full flavour profiles of wine and beer. That’s not just a matter of temperature, so a standard refrigerator simply can’t do this!
Wine coolers have to control three main environmental elements: humidity, vibrations and light exposure. Humidity is a big culprit when it comes to wine spoilage. If a cork becomes too wet or dry, it’ll become a breeding ground for wine-spoiling mould. The result is a “corked” bottle — and a terrible disappointment for Dad when he opens that bottle he was looking forward to! Vibrations disturb the contents of bottles, preventing them from developing their full flavour profile. Finally, if light is allowed to interact with the phenolic compounds in your wine, it’ll ruin its flavour with “wine faults.”
Wine-loving dads aren’t the only ones who would love to have a beverage cooler. Beer also should be stored properly. It will go bad if left on the shelf indefinitely, and — just as with wine — storage temperature isn’t the only thing that can ruin it. “Light struck” takes on a nasty skunky smell.
To get all the flavour of craft lagers and ales, follow these rules of thumb:
- Keep beer refrigerated to preserve its freshness, flavours and aromatics.
- Store cans and bottles upright and minimize light and vibrations.
- Maintain a steady storage temperature.
- Keep corked bottles in an environment with controlled humidity.
When stored in the right conditions, excellent craft brews such as vintage beers, barley wines, imperial stouts, lambics, and old ales develop palate pleasing complexities. In fact, you can store some of these brews — when they’re kept in the right conditions — for anywhere from one to ten years.
With all this in mind, you can see why this Dual-zone Wine & Beverage Presrv French-Door cooler would be ideal for any dad who likes to have a choice of wine and beer on hand.
Of course, having a wine or beverage cooler doesn’t just keep wine and beer from spoiling. It also makes it a lot easier to enjoy the full flavour profile of every glass you serve.
Best serving temperatures for wine
Serving temperatures are so important when it comes to wine. Fuller flavours are cut off at the pass at cooler temperatures, and light flavours lose their sparkle when served too warm. As a rule, the lighter the wine, the cooler the serving temperature, as you can see in these serving guidelines:
- Sparkling Wine (Asti, Prosecco, Champagne): 45-48 °F (around 7-9 °C)
- Light Whites (Rose, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio): 45-50 °F (7-10 °C)
- Full Bodied Whites (Chablis, Chardonnay, Viognier): 50-55 °F (10-13 °C)
- Light Reds (Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, Barbera): 55-60 °F (13-15.5 °C)
- Full Bodied Reds (Bordeaux, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah): 60-65 °F (15.5 - 18°C)
The Presrv Dual-Zone Wine Cooler is perfect for wine connoisseurs who love whites and reds alike. Its PreciseTemp™ feature and Active Cooling Technology maintain consistent temperatures in two individual zones — keeping both whites and reds at just the right temperature.
Similarly, different serving temperatures bring out the full flavour profiles of different kinds of beer. The ideal serving temperature for a light and zingy pilsner won’t do much good for a full bodied caramel stout!
- Light bodied beer should be served at between 38-45 °F (3-7 °C).
- Lighter lagers, pilsners and wheat beers are best served between 45-50 °F (7-10 °C).
- Standard ales like Bitters, IPA’s, Doppelbocks, Lambics, and stouts are most flavourful when served anywhere between 50-55 °F (10-12 °C).
- To bring out all their aromas and full flavour profile, strong bodied beers, dark ales, and triples can be served from 55-60 °F (12.7-15.55 °C).
A precisely controlled cooler is a real must for keen craft brew lovers!
Presrv Beverage Coolers are designed to provide just that kind of control. They maintain accurate temperatures and super precise cooling with their PreciseTemp™ feature and multiple internal sensors. Active Cooling Technology ensures temperature stability and even cooling throughout their interior. On top of that, their adjustable transparent-gray glass shelves are designed with openings that keep air flowing smoothly.
If your dad collects craft beer, he’ll definitely appreciate how the retractable shelf in the Presrv Beverage Cooler accommodates bottles and cans of every height and size.
Father’s Day may just be the perfect time to treat your dad — or maybe your own household! — to an excellent wine cooler or beverage unit. We’re certainly seeing lot of interest in these types of appliances. Maybe that’s because we’re all looking forward to the day when we can toast family and friends at our homes, in person.
As it so happens, now is an excellent time to check out the Presrv Collection. Each of these models comes with a five-year limited warranty on the compressor, a two-year limited warranty on parts, and a one-year limited warranty on labor.
Which means that gifting your dad with a Presrv Collection cooler — whether or not you stock it with some fine wine vintages or craft beers — will make you the apple of his eye for years to come.
Last but not least, the Presrv Collection is on sale now. Don’t wait to check them out, though! This promotion is for a limited time only.
