Top 10 Wine Myths That Won't Die

Even if wine has become more and more demystified and accessible over the past several years -- there are still a few lingering myths out there. Let Tim Elliott from Honest Cooking debunk the 10 most frequent ones for you.

Cheers!

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Comments

[boyfromafrica]

06:39 AM on 02/18/2012

Don't believe the "decanting makes no difference" story. I've witnessed, at several blind tastings how so-called pro judges and experts were fooled with before and after decant scoring of the same wine.

[Andres64]

01:37 PM on 02/17/2012

Challenge to all wine "experts": I'll put my favorite wine, Boonesfarm Strawberry Hill against *ANY* wine in the world. Your task is to prove *objectively* that your wine is "better".

Please proceed.

[LibertarianCentrist]

10:25 AM on 02/20/2012

Boonesfarm Strawberry Hill is not wine, it's a flavored Malt Beverage. Look it up.

[LibertarianCentrist]

10:30 AM on 02/20/2012

http://everydaydrinkers.com/2008/06/11/boones-farm-a-malt-liquor/

Here, I'll save you the time.

[Cedar Edge]

09:14 AM on 02/16/2012

Can't beat Ripple or Dego Red

[Common Sense 69]

08:22 AM on 02/16/2012

The best wine of all comes in a box.

[Common Sense 69]

11:24 AM on 02/16/2012

I believe it's called Franzia

[raker]

09:59 PM on 02/15/2012

Red wine, even the cheapo stuff I drink improves from having been poured and allowed to "breathe." No doubt about it. And smelling the wine tells you if the wine is spoiled before you taste it. If the wine is corky and moldy, you will smell it.

[RichardinJax]

02:58 PM on 02/17/2012

If that red is old..you will probably ruin it by decanting. Most wine, like this bit says, do not need that nor is it really perceptible when it is done.

You don't smell wine "take the nose" in order to see if it is fit to drink. That is usually done to perceive character.Yes, if the stuff is corked or cooked or madurized you might pick it up with your nose. But really you taste it..to see if it is drinkable.

[LibertarianCentrist]

10:28 AM on 02/20/2012

You can pick a corked or cooked wine up with your nose, both VERY noticeable aromas.

[Parkite]

06:27 PM on 02/15/2012

I'd like a source for England "inventing" Champagne. I saw that claim once before and tried to nail it down. The closest that I could come is that someone in England was able to describe the process or some such nonsense, not invent the process.

[ARTIST50]

04:04 PM on 02/15/2012

I can't help but laugh at my generation of Boomers who have become such wine connoisseurs. I remembered the era of Vietnam, and one particular close friend coming home from Okinawa to a party where we consumed 80 cases of Strawberry Boonesfarm. We weren't so picky back then! I think it was under a dollar a bottle.

[Out to Lunch]

03:42 PM on 02/15/2012

I've always wondered how some of the more expensive ($40++) wines taste, if they are actually much tastier. Typically, I stick to anything $25 or less.

Two of my favorites at an affordable cost are Chateau Ste. Michelle and Clos du Bois - preferably merlot or cabernet sauvignon. Alexander Valley wines are some of my favorites, but at a bit higher cost though.

[TwoZeroOZ]

04:20 PM on 02/15/2012

Most people tend to prefer the inexpensive wines. I've tried my share of expensive wines, and still my preferred wines are only $10 a bottle.

[Ariana Avitia]

05:54 PM on 02/20/2012

Same here!

[Parkite]

06:17 PM on 02/15/2012

Appreciating fine wine is a learned experience. When you regularly drink $20 wine and you taste a wine that is a lot more expensive you may not notice that much of a difference. But if you drink those for a while and then go back down, that's when you notice the difference. I'm not being a snob. There are plenty of good wines in the $20 - $25 category. It's just that I've been on both ends of the wine spectrum more than once. I really miss those fine wines.

[slejames]

03:35 PM on 02/15/2012

Unfortunately the sections about aging wine and decanting wine are true because of mass production methods relying on technological & chemical trickery that produces inferior wines to those that might be less consistent but that, when good, blow the lesser ones away.

[Mr Crabs]

03:33 PM on 02/15/2012

Wine is overpriced at most American restaurants. If you're lucky enough to travel to Europe on a regular basis than yeah wine is cheap, but it's also subsidized heavily to the point where there's such a thing as the European wine lake. A luxury few Americans can rarely sample from and get to comment that restaurants don't really mark up wine. They do, just not in Europe.

[raye1]

06:13 AM on 02/16/2012

Mr crabs, I don't know which restaurant(s) you dined at in Europe; but I have been living in Europe (Switzerland ) for over 20 years and have yet to find inexpensive wines IN a good restaurant !

The price of wine whether bought in the States or Europe are about the same. If you would like to have a quality wine you pay more. There are very very good inexpensive wines , these are called table wines . They are meant to be consumed with meals, daily.

One of the few things which is MASSIVELY less expensive Stateside is gas! We pay triple the price over here! Cheers!

[kmchambers]

08:35 AM on 02/16/2012

Actually Americans pay a lot more for heir gas than what they pay at the pump. We just pay it toward or military and healthcare costsso it's spread around.

[jl4141]

03:22 PM on 02/15/2012

I'm surprised not to see the myth that all good wines are in corked bottles while screwtop bottles mean cheap wine.

[Common Sense 69]

08:28 AM on 02/16/2012

I've been drinking a brand called 'Livingston' and it comes in a screwtop bottle -- it is delicious and tastes as good as expensive restaurant wine at $7 a glass. I get it at my local grocery store for like $10 for a LARGE bottle - the Merlot and Pinot Noir are wonderful. All restaurants in America always screw you on drinks - even soft drinks, unless it's happy hour pricing.

[LibertarianCentrist]

09:57 AM on 02/16/2012

Just be advised, regardless of whether there is a cork or a screwtop, once you open a bottle of wine, regardless of how large it is, you have 3-4 days to consume it before it's shot.

[bigredsuperjock]

03:15 PM on 02/15/2012

As someone who has managed a few restaurants and wine bars, I can tell you that the mark up on wine (in the US) is generally between 100%-300% given the State it's sold in. Liquor, soda, and bottled water have an even higher mark up. It may not be cheaper, but wine is often the better value (if you like wine).

[Nec V20]

03:08 PM on 02/15/2012

Back when I was at University in Bonn my friend's father, who was the first German to be accredited as a wine taster in France taught me a simple rule of thumb that has stuck with me ever since.

This tip will not get you the best wine, but it will help you eliminate the crud.

Red wine: Look for alcohol content of between 12.5% and 13.5%. The alcohol content reflects the oechsle degree (or sugar content) of the grape. Under 12.5% the grapes used were inferior. Above 13.5%, if you do not know that you are dealing with a quality wine it usually means that it was artificially sugared.

White wine. Nothing below 11.5% and be suspicious of anything above 12%.

My favourite red wine is Côtes du Rhône

[Aries Warrior]

03:29 PM on 02/15/2012

Thanks for the info.....interesting.

[Out to Lunch]

03:34 PM on 02/15/2012

Funny, I've always noticed higher alcohol content wines are my favorite, but never knew why.

[bigredsuperjock]

03:03 PM on 02/15/2012

The one thing people should know about wine, is that how "good" a wine is can only be determined by a subjective analysis. If you like to participate in wine culture, great. If not, just drink what you think tastes good.

[LibertarianCentrist]

10:00 AM on 02/16/2012

Flavor it completely subjective, quality however is not.

[WarrenPease]

02:48 PM on 02/15/2012

Slide #6 -- The temperature in the storage area should not exceed 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Wines that are stored at higher temperatures will "cook" and the flavors will be ruined. This is especially true with regard to red wines. At 80 degrees, wines "cook" in less than an hour.

Slied #9 -- Ordinary, high-production wines do not benefit from aging. On the other hand, why drink ordinary, 1-dimensional wines? Many red wines that are produced from the best grapes (low yields) and traditional methods (no high tech tinkering) are usually aged in barrels, barriques or foudres before they are bottled and may benefit from additional bottle aging. Results may vary, as one vintage may not be the same as another, even from the same vineyard. A trustworthy reviewer (see Wine Advocate or Wine Spectator) or an educated wine retailer who tastes what she sells can give a good estimate regarding a wine's maturation.

Traditional-style wines are more interesting and not necessarily beyond the average wine budget.