Wine myths

Wine myths

“Serve red wine at room temperature”

The idea that red wine should be served at room temperature was formed when wine drinkers lived in draughty old country houses without central heating. No red should be served over 19 degrees. Big, alcoholic New World reds in particular taste clumsy when too warm; don’t be afraid to whack them in the fridge for half an hour before serving. The colder a liquid the less you taste, so chill rather than freeze your whites.


“Open a bottle to let breathe before drinking”

The purpose of letting a bottle breathe is to open up the wine’s flavours; a big powerful red might taste flat when first opened. Give it an hour to breathe and you will be able to appreciate all of its subtleties. But simply opening the bottle and leaving it on the side is a waste of time as you are exposing so little of it to the air. The best way to open the flavours is by putting wine in a decanter. If you don’t have one, pour it into some glasses well before you drink it.


“The older the wine, the better”

Over the years we have developed a peculiarly British attitude to ageing wine. The world’s top regions – Bordeaux, Burgundy – do indeed make bottles that require cellaring (less so though today as producers are intentionally making their wine more accessible when young). But don’t leave it too long. As a wine ages the fruit in it diminishes, being slowly replaced by added complexities. Too often we stash away our booze in the belief it’s getting better, leading to dirty brown reds and stinky vegetal whites. The French are mystified by our attitude and drink their fine grapes young. If you have case of something special don’t be afraid to break into it early. In fact, try it at different stages of its life, to ensure you catch it at its best.


“Corks are better then screwcaps”

For many years the perceived wisdom was that screwcaps were naff. Actually, they’re the best thing that’s happened to wine since the goat skins were replaced with the glass bottle, eliminating the problem of wine being ruined by bacteria that is inherent in corks. The worst will taste musty and have an aroma of cardboard. About 1 in 15 bottles are ‘corked’, a failure rate you wouldn’t accept in any other product.
The jury is still out on screwcaps used on wines that require ageing, but for the other 98 per cent of wine we drink they are the best closure. And don’t even go there with plastic corks. Not only are they impossible to remove from your corkscrew but their efficiency as a seal is dubious.