5 wine myths laid bare…
My friends at Hard to Find Wines passed this info about wine myths to me and I think they do a good job of busting them! Read on and tell me what you think….
Drinking wine is one of life’s little pleasures. When you learn to appreciate fine wine, the process of drinking is taken to a whole new level; it becomes an art form, like training your ear to appreciate great music and taking pleasure in great works of literature. In the bars, restaurants and kitchens of Great Britain, more and more people are starting to take culinary creativity seriously as we want our chicken local and organic, our pesto imported from Italy and our wine chilled, decanted and in a bottle with a cork!
There’s a lot of misinformation out there when it comes to wine though, which can lead many people to spend a lot more than they need to, or worse, shy away from wine all together, so if you’re on a mission to refine your palette, make sure you don’t fall into any of these traps.
Myth 1: Cost = Quality
As with many items in life, there is a myth that the more expensive it is, the better quality it must be. Although this is true for many things, with wine it is one of the biggest myths of all as choosing wine is very much about the preference of the individual. Often choosing an expensive wine is more about status rather than quality of what’s in the bottle and you’re never going to know that until you try it.
Myth 2: Certain wines only go with certain foods
We’ve heard the age old saying that red wine is for meat and white wine is for fish, however this is certainly not the case. As a general rule it works well, but is not to be taken as gospel. In fact, salmon is known for being a food that is perfectly accompanied by a red wine and likewise, many pork dishes suit a good, dry white wine. When cooking anything, do your research and produce wines which will compliment your courses based on ingredients, not generalisation.
Myth 3: The older the wine, the better the taste
We often hear about the ‘year’ of a drink, especially wine and whiskey, when someone is discussing the quality. The truth is that most wines are perishable, which is why a good vintage wine is so rare. Most wines are meant to be drunk within 1-2 years, so most don’t have a vintage year attached to them; arguably making a wine made 2 months ago no better quality than one made 2 years ago.
Myth 4: Screw-tops are cheap and nasty
Most wines need corkage – it’s part of the experience of enjoying a bottle over dinner orwith friends, but it doesn’t determine the quality of the product. Many people sniff at the thought of drinking wine from a screw-cap due to the fact that this used to be the storage method for large ‘jug’ bottles. However, recent studies have shown there is no change in the development of wine when stored either by cork or screw-cap, plus if you don’t finish it all, it’s easier to store.
Myth 5: Sweet wines are for amateurs
Alcohol isn’t normally enjoyed the first time it’s drunk as the taste takes time to develop. With this in mind, wine is one beverage which takes some getting used to, which is why many people start drinking sweeter wines, however this doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it later on. Sweet wines aren’t always seen as the peak of sophistication, yet it doesn’t mean a person is any less educated for drinking it. There are many great wines that are sweet and full of flavour that age just as well as their drier counterparts.
What do you think of the myths above? Are you guilty of believing them to be true? Are there any that you think are still the case? Leave your thoughts below.
Great post! I always like to break the “you must drink white with with fish” rule, so I’m glad you included that one.