Wine myths, corked
By Adam Scoppa |
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Sometimes, when drinking wine, things can get, er, fuzzy, and require clarification. All wine drinkers are experts, and the sniffier they are, the more subject to wine mythology they are liable to be. Allow me to tie up loose ends, squash rumors, and put some prevalent half-truths, fallacies, and misguided generalizations to bed for you. After all, stomping all over your favorite wine aficionado mid-snobbery is both fun and satisfying.
MYTH #1
I'll start off by saying that glass swirling is more than just a fanciful trick. It opens up the aromas and flavors of the wine by aerating it, expanding the surface area and getting some oxygen into the liquid. Dangerous after the second bottle, certainly for those wearing white, the action is best performed with a clever flick of the wrist, ho ho.
MYTH #2
What happens in France stays in France: Americans have been copping French wine nomenclature as long as we've been producing wine. Perhaps you've seen Burgundy or Chablis on bottles of Carlo Rossi? These titles are stand-ins by producers to simply indicate generic red and white wines, respectively. Burgundy is a wine-producing region of France renowned for its world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Chablis is an appellation inside of Burgundy producing white, 100% Chardonnay. Champagne is a victim of similar treatment, as the word has come to be a blanket term for all sparkling wines, much like Kleenex is a blanket term for facial tissues.
MYTH #3
Fume Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc are the same grape. In the late 1960s, Robert Mondavi's winery coined the term Fume Blanc, referring to Pouilly Fume, a French wine made with Sauvignon Blanc. It was a clever effort intended to disguise the then-unpopular varietal, which is often described as tasting like cat piss on a gooseberry bush.
MYTH #4
A rose by many other names would not taste as sweet: Rose is a style of wine in which the white juice from red grapes is processed with only brief contact with their skins, as opposed to longer contact for red wine production. The short interval of time spent with the skins imparts a pinkish hue to the wine, along with some berry flavors (think fresh strawberry and cranberry). Unless the winemaker decides to retain some of the juice's sugar or sugar is added, these wines will end up dry. Thanks to Sutter Home and its White Zinfandel, many people still think all pink wines taste like bubblegum. Zinfandel is a red grape more commonly made into dry, often spicy red wines.
MYTH #5
Syrah and Shiraz are the same grape. It came from France as Syrah and made its way around the world because it's tasty. Leave it to the Australians to put their own zany spin on it. However, Petit Sirah is different and was so named because of its similar characteristics and diminutive size. Similarly, Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are different names for the same berry. It's a regional thing. Pinot Gringo does not exist.
MYTH #6
Screw it: Stelvin enclosures, or screw caps, are nothing to be afraid of. It doesn't mean the wine is cheap. Long-term aging is not recommended, but it's still significantly more reliable for preserving drink-now wines than corks. New Zealand is all over this innovation.
I hope this list clears up any misunderstandings. Commence drinking with more insight! Oh, and that "red wine headache" the morning after? It's probably just a hangover.
Originally Published: May 1, 2009
