Truth: This myth was debunked long ago. You do need a tulip shaped glass or a glass that tapers toward the top to concentrate the aroma toward your nose, but, different shapes to place wine on your tongue in different areas or to aerate the wine faster aren’t necessary. Get yourself a nice set of stemware and save the space in your cupboard.
Unless you are buying a wine made from a fruit other than grapes, it is made from the grape varietal on the label and not from fruit used to describe it. (e.g., black cherry, strawberry). It’s comparable to artificial flavors, i.e. they taste similar to whatever is being copied but do not contain the actual ingredient. So when you see, “hints of raspberry, cherry and vanilla” on the label, the producer is simply describing how the wine tastes similar to these components, they weren’t actually used in the production of the wine.
Wine Myth – Red wine causes more headaches than white wine because of its higher sulfites content?
Contrary to popular beliefs, sulfites (sulfur dioxide) do not cause headaches. Our bodies produce sulfites each day. Sulfites can also be found as a preservative in many common daily foods. However, to those with asthmatic issues, sulfites can induce an allergic reaction.Red wines have less added sulfites than white wines as their grape skins have natural preservative ability. Cheap, low-alcohol white wines require more sulfites to prevent oxidation.
False: “legs” or “tears” are the trails that wine makes on a glass after it has been swirled. The thicker or longer the legs, the stronger in alcohol and/or sugar the wine tends to be. In general, legs or tears indicate nothing about the quality of the wine.
Fredric Koeppel explains it well:
“It would require several paragraphs to explain this phenomenon fully, but the short version is this: The contention between the surface tension of the wine and the interfacial tension that acts between the wine and the inner surface of the glass draws the liquid up the inside of the glass to the point where, exposed to air, the alcohol evaporates, the surface tension of the remaining water intensifies, and the water forms a drop that clings to the glass and slowly slides back down.”
I often wonder, “wouldn’t it be nice if all I ever had to do to learn about wine was to drink it?” Drinking wine is definitely a big part of the learning process; but so is learning what some have termed “wine knowledge.” Some of the most popular wine knowledge out there is really only based on romantic myths rather than on scientific truths. Some never question the basis of these beliefs and just except them as truths. These truths are often derived from history. As the times change, what was once considered the gospel truth is now outdated, ancient and incorrect. This article is about “debunking” some of those myths. Since there are many myths out there, we will only hit on a few. However, you can enjoy learning a bit more in the months to come because we will have a new feature in this newsletter called “wine myth of the month.”
Myth: Wine Lovers are Snobs
True wine lovers are passionate about wine and they want to learn everything there is to know about it. Wine education is important to them and they enjoy sharing their knowledge as well as a glass of wine with others. It ‘s people that tend to mask their ignorance with arrogance, they are the true snobs.
Myth: Drink Red Wine at Room Temperature, White Wine Chilled
Many see this as letting the red wine sit out on the table so it can come to the current temperature of the room, and opening the white wine right out of the refrigerator. The ideal temperature for red wine is 60 degrees F. Most professionals agree, the best way to enjoy red wine is to refrigerate it for about 10-15 minutes before consuming, white wines should be refrigerated for about 30 minutes. If you are in the habit of refrigerating your wine, then take the red wine out at least 30 minutes before consuming and take the white wine out at least 15 minutes before consumption. A nice experiment is to enjoy the wine over the course of the evening as it sits out and adjusts to the temperature changes. You can observe the development of the wine through the night.
Myth: Smelling the cork will tell you if the wine is bad
False: We have all seen a person in a restaurant who looks at the cork and proceeds to smell it. Why? Doesn’t the cork just smell like….cork? This is no indication of the wines quality. It is the wine that you want to smell, not the cork. The waiter will hand you the cork and what you are looking for is to see if the winery’s name, logo or other branding information appear on the cork. Does the year stamped on the cork match the vintage of the wine? If not, ask for a new bottle because this one has be “doctored.” You are also checking to see if the cork has been damaged, allowing seepage in any way.
Myth: All wines get better with age
This just isn’t true. Most wines do not have the proper structure to hold up to cellaring. Most wines are made with the intention of being opened within a few years. A small amount of wines, often known as “trophy wines,” have been made with the intention of longer aging. Most people don’t buy these wines.
Myth: Old wines are better when they are opened long before you drink them so they can breathe. Decanting is even better.
The truth is that really old red wines are so fragile that opening them and letting them sit to breathe is really silly, especially after decanting. The wine will simply deteriorate before anyone has a chance to take a single sip.
Myth: Young wines benefit from uncorking the bottle to let them breathe.
A wine sitting in an open bottle on the counter essentially does not “breathe” in the way we think it does. Very little happens. Only decanting the wine really helps.
Myth: Old vines make better wines.
The fact is that typically the smaller the amount of fruit off of a vine the better the wine. More concentration of flavors comes from smaller production. Older vines usually produce smaller amounts of grapes. As vines age, they lose their ability to produce large crops, so they naturally produce smaller crops. There is no scientific proof that older vines always produce better fruit or better wine. However, many winemakers have put the label “old vines” on their labels because we have come to believe that old is better. This is really nothing more than a marketing and advertising ploy. We know that the older vines yield less fruit, but when young vines have been trellised and pruned and treated intentionally to yield only a fraction of the fruit it would have on its own, the result can be high quality fruit and wine. This clearly indicates that what is really important is not old vine production, but merely low yield. However, lower yield does not always lead to higher quality. The best fruit is produced from a well balanced vineyard.