Ten Myths And Misconceptions About Wine That You Probably Believe

‘Ageing like fine wine’ is a popular saying that has left everyone believing that every wine becomes better the longer it stays in the cellar; but is it true? Is it true that the best wine is the most expensive one? These are just some of the facts you hear about wine from the media and history and many people have come to believe them over time. However, when you talk to any wine expert, they are likely to tell you otherwise about the taste and quality of wine and what the best wine for you should feel like. Whether you love the warm and leathery taste of vintage reds or the bubbly sparkles of sour whites, you probably believe these 10 myths that we are debunking in this list.

All Wine Gets Better with Age

This is one of the oldest wine myths in the book and many buy wines from the store and keep them in their cellars for decades only to discover that they can’t be consumed when they finally open it. For a wine to be better with age, it has to include the flavours (acid and tannins) that it requires to be better with age. However, once you find it bottled on the shelf, then it is ready to drink at that age. Many modern wineries make wine that is ready for drinking once they leave the barrels. So, unless there are recommendations on your bottle to age your wine, drinking it in its youth may just be the answer to the best of its taste. If you’re looking for some fine wine, you could check out this wine delivery in Denver or anywhere near your home.

Great Wines Only Come with Corks

It is always amazing to pop the cork, but that only works in the perfect world where counterfeiting, contamination, leakages and other issues associated with corks don’t exist. Wine sealed with a screw cap is no less valuable than one sealed with a cork. If anything, screw caps secure the bottle better from elements and helps bottlers trademark better than corks which can be easily counterfeited. So, don’t let your love for the pop deny you the chance to drink great wine.

You Should Always Decant Red Wines

Red wines are the subject of most myths, most of which have been debunked. The most common of them is that you always have to decant them which is not true. If your wine doesn’t have any sediments, decanting it is just a waste of time as it would be decanting bottled water or a whisky. It is also not written in stone that your red wine has to be served at room temperature. You can serve it however you enjoy it best.

You Should Always Sniff the Cork

After popping the cork, you will notice that many people including experts sniff the cork and look up as if it gives them some revelation about where the wine came from and it’s quality. You can try it at one point but you will realize that all you smell is a little ester and the taste of wood and nothing more.

Always Swirl the Wine When Tasting

It is bothering sometimes to see people swirling their glasses all over the place at the dinner table and discovering nothing after it all. Many people also believe that slower legs are an indicator of high-quality wine but they are only slower or faster depending on the alcohol content of the wine and it is not a determinant of quality. So you don’t have to swirl your wine to know its quality, just sip it.

Expensive Wines Always Taste Good

Now, every extra dime you pay for any wine should be worth it, but when it comes to the world of wines, this rule doesn’t always apply. The price of wine is just a reflection of the costs that went into its production and distribution as well as the forces of demand and supply. Winemakers add the cost of land, labour, bottling and labelling as well as shipping the wine to you. Wineries also cash in on the popularity of their best wines no matter the taste, so if there are only 1,000 bottles of a popular Italian wine made every year, you are likely to pay a premium for it because there just isn’t enough for everyone. As a result, some of the best wines you can drink are still averagely priced and readily available on shelves. You don’t have to break the bank for a bottle to enjoy wine, just buy one that pleases you.

Blended Wines Are Not Great

Wines made from a single species of grape are easy to pinpoint and many people tend to identify with such but they are not necessarily the best. Most of the top-rated wines in the market are blends and most wineries from Europe and even the US now make their best wines with a mixture of their best grapes. You will find a wine blended with up to 16 grapes nowadays and it may taste was better than any single grape wine you will ever find. The blending of wines help wineries deal with shortages and also improve the quality of wine without affecting quality and it is no indicator of inferior quality.

Best Wines Come In Heavier Bottles

The shape, colour and weight of the bottle have fooled many people into picking the wrong wines for decades if not centuries. The practice of using dark and heavier bottles to stock classy wines is long outdated and many people now bottle even the lowest quality wines in heavy bottles. The only thing they do is transfer the price of the bottle to you forcing you to pay more for the wine. The same myth usually associates deep punts with quality wines but this is also false because the punt is only determined by how the bottle was blown and it has nothing to do with how your wine will taste.

Red Wine With Meats And Whites With Fish

This is one of the oldest rules of drinking wine that you will come across and many people assume that they are hard rules. Well, the truth is that red wines have more tannins that are associated with the breaking down of fats in red meats but you can drink it with your chicken and fish if you like since it doesn’t change or affect the taste. The same goes for drinking white and sparkling wine with your steak.

You Shouldn’t Use Ice Cubes In Your Wine

Dropping ice cubes into your glass of wine will likely earn you lots of judgmental stares because “that is no way to drink wine,” right? Well, no. If you find your wine too alcoholic for your liking in the current state, there is no harm in toning it down a little bit with ice cubes. Ice cubes that work perfectly with your scotch will chill your wine and give it some extra flavour that you will still enjoy. You should probably do this only in the privacy of your home if you don’t want to attract stares in a restaurant.