Top 10 Wine Myths That Won't Die

[Runningwolf]

Good slide show here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/honest-cooking/wine-myths_b_1262677.html#s684025&title=Decanting_Wines

 

[tonyt]

Good stuff. Thanks.

 

[ibglowin]

I guess I must have a "different" taster than the author!

 

[joeswine]

To breathe or not to breathe?

I was always under the impression that decanting wine at its proper temperature would allow the wine to breathe or in other words , to allow the pouring motion of the wine from the main vessel to the decanting bottle allowing oxygen to mix with to start opening up the flavors of wine when you decant the wine . You also can separate any the sentiment that may be in am older bottle. When wine is breathing it's also allowing the different pholincs ,if I spelled that right,this activates the aromas to expand and the tannins also, have you noticed, when ordering a glass of white wine anywhere for dinner its cold, even bad white wine you can't taste what was bad about it when it's cold for the most part .in most cases people prefer decanting, over a straight pour.

 

[jswordy]

Good slide show here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/honest-cooking/wine-myths_b_1262677.html#s684025&title=Decanting_Wines

Hey Dan, you did not WARN that if someone is a wine snob they had better not look at this! My gosh, #10 alone could cause considerable consternation.

 

[robie]

I think most homemade wine falls into the "small percentage" category that needs decanting.

I think I disagree about smelling the cork. I haven't ran into very much corked wine, but if I remember correctly, the bottom end of the cork smelled like wet cardboard - corked wine.

I agree with #10. When you get a really good glass of wine, you know it!!! And it doesn't matter how much it cost, either. I have had some $12 wines that I feel fall into that category.

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed it.

 

[deboard]

I'd say #9 has to be the most often cited myth, by wine drinkers and non wine drinkers. I've met so many people that believe that the older the wine, the better it is (regardless of the quality of the wine). Most commercial wine is not meant to be aged any longer than it already was before bottling.

Nope, that 10 year old Yellow Tail Shiraz that you've been saving is not going to be better than it was the day you bought it. (Probably worse).

And I can definitely tell a corked wine by smelling the cork, but I still go ahead and taste it just to be sure.

 

[robie]

The wine expert at a tasting I go to almost every week has a saying.

All wine benefits from aging. It is just that much of it only requires aging while lying in the front seat of the car on the way home from the store.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

I would agree with most of it. Most people don't know about cooling a red slightly, but I also think it depends on the red. Some are soft enough, that 70F is fine. I would also say that there are many reds that can age, although he did say some need it. My father likes to get a case of wild horse merlot a year. He drinks about a case from years earlier and stops when it's out, or sometimes before to get more age. Has another the next year. He's got them as old as 2004 now and they are still getting better.

One big thing I would say about #10 is that many people just don't know how to drink wine. Most of them are younger adults, but many people take a larger drink and swallow quick. If you really want to taste wine, you sip, breathe a little and slowly swallow. It slows the speed of tastes down, so you can get all the complexities. The other thing is if you drink too fast, you taste more acidity and then more alcohol on the end. It's a lose, lose drinking it fast. I would agree that you don't need to know much about wine to enjoy it, but you do need to know how to drink it.

Lastly, getting some air or even shaking a bottle can help on some wines. I have noticed many commercial wines have carbonation/bubbling, some more than others.

Saying most of this stuff on here though, is like preaching to the choir. lol