8 Wine Myths Debunked

The world of wine has a vast and rich history. It is said that during ancient Roman times, women could be put to death if their husbands caught them drinking wine. And yet, due to its anti-bacterial properties from natural fermentation, wine was also the drink of choice centuries ago when clean water wasn’t always available.

But one thing that has remained common till now is that people love good wine. And if you’re a casual wine drinker, you may get confused by contemporary myths (and misconceptions) about what makes a wine good. To aid you on your wine discovery journey, here are some wine myths, debunked.

Many factors can add to the cost of a bottle of wine – from grape variety, the type of barrels used for ageing, and whether the wine is imported. While expensive wines are mostly made with hand-harvested grapes and aged in French oak, the quality and taste of a bottle of wine is entirely subjective.

The type of wine matters when it comes to personal preference. If you dislike a certain kind of wine, chances are that you will not appreciate even a very costly bottle of it. Once you get your preferences sorted, an average-priced bottle of the wine that you like can be enjoyable.

You may have heard that only cheap, low-quality wines come in bottles with screw caps, while better wines are usually corked. This stigma could have come about since bulk-produced wines often come in screw cap bottles.

However, screw cap wines are not necessarily inferior to corked wines. In fact, screw caps have an added advantage. Besides being less fiddly, especially for those who’re not good with a wine opener, they don’t leave broken bits of cork which will taint the wine.

So, don’t judge a wine by its cap. Screw caps have now become mainstream in numerous wine-producing countries, particularly in New World countries such as Australia and New Zealand. 

Most traditional food pairings recommend that red wine be drunk with red meat and vice versa. However, pairing food and wine is a little more flexible than you think. You should always consider the weight, intensity and flavours of both food and wine. For instance, fish and seafood, when cooked in a robust and hearty sauce that contains heavy meat stock or red wine, will complement an equally full-bodied red.

Oily fish like salmon or mackerel are good examples of white meat that can pair nicely with red wine. As these are fatty fish, the high-acidity of a red like a Pinot Noir will be able to cut through the flavours better, balancing the oiliness of the dish more effectively than a buttery Chardonnay, which tends to be lower in acidity.

By now, you’d have realised that wine appreciation is more nuanced than you think. And when it comes to the serving temperature of wines, red wine can be drunk chilled.

Although in many cases, the characteristics of red wine are best appreciated at warmer temperatures compared to the ones of white wine, there are always exceptions. In fact, red wine tastes best when chilled to about 15 degrees Celsius, also known as the room temperature of a draughty old castle. When red wine is served too cold, it can taste sharp and acidic. When it’s served too warm (i.e. not refrigerated in tropical weather), it can taste flat and lifeless.

The dribbles that cling to the sides of a wine glass after the wine in it has been swirled, are known as ‘legs’ or ‘tears’. Contrary to popular myth, they are not indicative of good quality wine. These great ‘legs’ indicate the wine’s alcoholic strength, not its quality.

Wine ‘legs’ occur when alcohol in wine evaporates, changing how the liquid reacts to the glass surface. A wine with a higher alcohol content will have more ‘legs’ or ‘tears’ running down, due to the fact that more alcohol will have evaporated as the wine in it is swirled. That’s also why, if you swirl your wine in an airtight bottle, you won’t see any ‘legs’, because no evaporation can take place.

On the contrary, wine, when drunk in healthy doses (a glass a day with meals) is good for the heart and blood sugar.

Red wine contains polyphenols, which is a type of antioxidant that prevents blood vessels from hardening and reduces the formation of blood clots.

Darker wine grapes have higher levels of resveratrol and proanthocyanins. These are antioxidants that boost your overall health by strengthening your cardiovascular system and protecting you from diseases like cancer and diabetes.

Antioxidants in red wine also regulate cholesterol levels – it may increase levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) and protect against bad or low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the ‘bad’ cholesterol) from building up.

Moderate drinking of red wine can even help you maintain a healthy weight. What happens is that the chemical compound piceatannol, converted from resveratrol, latches onto the insulin receptors of fat cells and stops the immature ones from growing.

A study conducted at Washington State University and Harvard Medical School claims that resveratrol changes white fat, which are larger cells that store energy and expand as we gain weight, into obesity-fighting beige fat (through a process called browning), which converts more easily into energy that you burn and lose. This is also a process that happens when you’re exercising.

Actually, it is. If you want to enjoy the best of each wine, you need to drink it out of the right wine glass.

The shape of the vessel is instrumental. While the stem of a wine glass isn’t as important, the orb is where aromas and deposits meet your nose and lips when you’re taking a sip.

The simple rule of thumb is to drink reds, especially full-bodied ones, in glasses with wider rims and large, deeper orbs. Such glasses let the wine ‘breathe’ and smooth out, so it’s less bitter or spicy.

Or you could also allow a full-bodied red to breathe in a decanter. Look for one that has a wide body, as this allows for ample surface area and a narrow pour-spout for easy serving.

Light- to medium-bodied whites that tend to be more refreshing and citrusy, should be drunk from smaller orb-ed glasses. This helps to preserve delicate floral aromas, maintain the cooler temperature (since white wine, sparkling wine and champagne should be served chilled), so the white wine doesn’t lose too much of its character by the time you finish a glass.

Specialty wine glasses, however, may be necessary for specialty wines like Port and other sweet dessert wines. Such glasses are small and have narrow mouths to reduce alcohol evaporation. Similarly, champagne is best drunk from fluted glasses with stems, so that it stays effervescent and chilled for longer.

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