Drink enough red wine and you are going to spill red wine. On clothes, tablecloths, rugs, maybe all of the above in one big, dramatic cataclysm.
What do you do?
• Old salt trick. Works best on carpets: blot up as much wine as possible as quickly as possible; cover stain with salt until you can’t see stain. Allow salt to soak up wine and dry, then vacuum it all up.
• Boiling water. Tablecloth cleaner: boil water, secure stained part of tablecloth over a bowl, stretch cloth taught (secure with rubber band or some other means), and pour boiling water on stain from a height of about a foot above stain.
• Dishwashing detergent and hydrogen peroxide. Good for clothes; mix equal parts and pour over wine stain, let it soak, then launder normally. Works best on lighter colored cloth as hydrogen peroxide has a bleaching element.
• White vinegar and laundry detergent. Works on darker clothes; cover stain in white vinegar then rub in the detergent and launder in hot water.
• Bleach. Works best on white fabrics. Soak fabric in bleach for 15 minutes, launder in hot water.
• Go pro. If above don’t do it, take cloth or garment to professional cleaner. They’ll do the best they can, and if that doesn’t work, enjoy your new wine-stained rag. Try one of the first five tips first as soon as possible—the first line of defense is attacking the stain as quickly as possible.
Tasting notes:
• Giesen New Zealand Riesling 2013: Past off-dry and moving into medium-sweet; crowd pleaser to those who enjoy a blush of fruity sweetness; acidity will placate those who prefer drier style. $14
• Pedernales Cellars Texas Tempranillo 2012: Seriously good serious red wine at a fair price (which doesn’t always happen with Texas bottlings). Enjoy. $17
• Alexander Valley Vineyards Chardonnay 2012. Solid, vividly clean expression of chardonnay. Robert Parker wrote: “This well-made chardonnay is a steal at $18 per bottle.” I agree. $18
• Messina Hof Pinot Noir Barrel Reserve NV: Rich, jammy, sweet fruit-forward. If you are Apothic-Yellow Tail fan, this will please you. $14
Last round: I enjoy surrounding myself with people who share my love of wine, inappropriate comments, sarcasm, and random foolishness.
Email Gus at wine@cwadv.com. Follow tasting notes on Twitter @gusclemens. Website: gusclemens.com. Facebook: Gus Clemens on Wine.