Who is not confused about the world of wine? To confuse you even more, just FYI, there are over 10,000 grape varieties of wine grapes in the world, some of which are better for winemaking than others. But let’s start by debunking some common wine myths
ALL WINE GETS BETTER WITH AGE
Some wines are meant to be consumed fairly quickly, within an year or so, others to bottle-age for decades; it all depends on how they are made. Anyone must have encounter at least one in their lifetime the saying: ‘The older the wine, the better it tastes’ but actually there are some important factors that makes a wine age, which usually has to do with tannins, acidity and wine-making but that’s a subject to uncover in another post. Believe it or not 99% of the wine made all over the world is meant to be drank within 5 years of bottling, which leaves as little as 1% that can go above and be kept for years and years. So it’s about time to forget the myth that all wines improve with age.
THE MORE EXPENSIVE THE WINE, THE BETTER IT TASTES
Truth, Myth or marketing?Professor Jens Gaab, of the University of Basel’s psychology faculty, told Decanter via email that he was interested in the study as a placebo researcher. What professor Gaab found is that people enjoyed a wine more when told it was four times more expensive than it really was.To actually keep this simple; people can’t really tell the difference between expensive and cheap wine. But at the end of the day, the price of a wine is subjective to every each one of us budget.
BOTTLES OF WINE SEALED WITH A CORK ARE BETTER THAN THOSE WITH A SCREW-CAP
This is a never-ending debate within the wine industry and a war in our heads when we are trying to purchase a bottle of wine. Screw caps were first introduced in the late 1950’s, the new closure was widely adopted in Australia and New Zealand. The study found that screw caps best preserved the fruit aromas and flavours in wines. Let’s not complicate this topic further because what matters most is the quality of the wine that it’s in the bottle. If we could just get over the shame that a screw cap offers inferior quality, life would be easier.
RED WINE WITH MEAT, WHITE WINE WITH FISH
It sounds like a rule when you say it out loud, however, this is perhaps just half correct. There is no right or wrong when it comes to food and wine matching because it’s all down to personal experience and taste.
THE CORRECT SERVING TEMPERATURE FOR RED WINE IS “ROOM TEMPERATURE” AND FOR WHITE WINE IS COLD
Another myth that probably goes half way. What is the perfect ‘’ROOM TEMPERATURE’’? For me it’s around 21-23 Celsius, but yours might be 18-21 or 23-26 Celsius. When we talk about room temperature, it’s about what we like and feel comfortable, however, when it comes to room temperature for red wine, we are talking around 16-18 Celsius, and that’s mainly for full-bodied red wines. As a general rule, lighter styles of red wine can be served at lower temperatures and they actually benefit from that. At the other end, chilled doesn’t really mean, straight out of the fridge or ice bath. Some white wines benefit from being served at room temperature. Do some experiments with wine temperature and you will discover the temperatures that give you the best experience with your wines
''At the end of the day, you really can’t make a wrong choice.
As long as you pay attention to what it is that you don’t like about a wine
each bottle will get you closer to what you do like.
Take it one glass at a time!''