MANILA, Philippines – To enjoy good wine, one must use all the senses – and check the weather.

Wine is not gulped down like beer. One must swirl it in the glass to let it “breathe,” sip it, and swish it inside the mouth to get its full flavor, wine connoisseur Katherine Yao-Santos says.

“To appreciate wine, to enjoy wine, it involves a lot of senses. You also use your brain. So it’s not just a beverage but really involves the whole person,” she says.

In tropical countries like the Philippines, Santos says wine should be chilled longer than usual, but kept at a temperature of around 10 to 13 degrees Celsius. Red wine, she says, should be chilled to around 16 to 18 degrees Celsius.

“If you drink wine in the wrong temperature, the wine becomes bitter and the taste of alcohol becomes very strong,” Santos said.

To slightly warm over-chilled wine, Santos says one must hold the wine glass by the bowl, not by the stem.

Red wine has a more mellow taste while white wine is “funkier,” she says.

But whether you prefer Chardonnay over Merlot, or Savignon blanc over Cabernet Sauvignon, Yao-Santos says it is also important to know how to store wine.

Unfinished wine bottles should be covered with the cork and kept chilled. White wine stores for three days while red wine can store for five days without affecting its flavor, she says.

Santos says the best wines don’t come cheap and come from places where the best grapes grow, like in Napa Valley, California.

“If the weather is too cold, it stagnates the grapes and the wine becomes less flavorful,” she says.

Santos offers tips to better appreciate wine:

When pouring wine, be it white wine or red wine, don’t let the bottle’s rim touch the wine glass;

Hold the wine glass either on the stem or the base. “Touching the bowl of the wine glass will only warm the wine,” she says.

Check for the wine’s clarity. Make sure it is neither “hazy nor muddy.” Santos suggests viewing white wine against a white background such as a plain white table cloth to better see the color.

Before tasting the wine, swirl it gently first to “let the wine breathe.” Santos says swirling the wine helps release the aroma and taste of fermented grape since wine has been stored in bottles for a long time.

When tasting the wine, sip it, and let it “swish” inside your mouth. Santos says this will one better appreciate the wine’s taste, instead of just gulping it down. “You will get a different feel, a different effect,” she says.