TWELVE

Join us at Twelve for an after work drink, a date night or a casual lunch meeting and sample the wines we have carefully selected. We will happily help you choose the perfect one to accompany your occasion, and anything delicious you choose to nibble on too.

Matching wine with your mood or dish is a fine art and we hope we will be able to do just that. To help you get started on thinking about what you might like to order, here are a few top tips and facts to bear in mind. They should also help you become a little more knowledgeable about this revered beverage:

The wine you choose should have the same flavour intensity as the food you have ordered. White wine is delicious on its own or paired with pasta, chicken and seafood dishes. It is important to make sure it is chilled for 30-45 minutes before drinking.

In contrast, red wine is more of a bold flavour so works best with red meats. This is partly because its bitterer flavours best balance fats.

It is often thought red wine should be drunk at room temperature but it should actually be drunk when it is at a temperature of between 12-18 degrees. There is variation in the optimum temperature for different reds though too. For example, a Pinot Noir, a light red, should be served when at the cooler end of the scale, while a full bodied red, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon, should be served at the warmer end.

Wine glasses are designed in such a way so as to focus and enhance the different styles and characters of wine. Red wine needs to ‘breathe’ so you’ll often find that glasses for red are larger in shape than those for white. This is because they allow more oxygen into the glass to help with aeration and the release of aromas.

Red wines benefit from being decanted. Old and/or unrefined/unfiltered wines, including some Ports, should be carefully decanted. This allows the sediment within them to be separated. New wines should be decanted in a way which allows more aeration – basically a little more clumsily.