Unknown Facts About Wine

The Facts Everyone Gets Wrong About Wine 

   

What's the deal with "aromas" in wine?

Just because descriptors of fruits, flowers, spices, and vegetables are often used to differentiate wines does not mean that these actual products or their artificial flavour were ever added to the wine. Type of grape, combined with soil type and winemaking technique, are what create specific aromas in wine. Descriptors are simply a way to characterise a wine’s overall aromatic style, the same way you might associate a hot brunette’s spicy perfume with her eccentric personality. With time and practice you will soon be able to identify aromas and thus crack wine “lingo.” What may have once seemed like a fabrication of wine tasting, like detecting notes of dried leaves and rose petals, will soon become second nature. Ultimately, you’ll come to know what you like and how to find it on an otherwise intimidating wine list. And who knows? Maybe you’ll end up sharing a bottle with that spicy, eccentric brunette.Look out for these commonly used descriptors:
Fruit: Apple, cherry, plum, grapefruit, lemon
Non-Fruit: Violets, thyme, nutmeg, green pepper, tomato vine
Earth/Mineral: Forest floor, mushroom, limestone, wet stone
Oakiness: Cinnamon, vanilla, smoke, nut

What's the right temperature for wine? 

Everyone will have a different opinion about the ideal temperature that wine should be kept and served at, especially when you’re talking about reds. While it won’t ruin your evening if the temperature of your bottle is a few degrees off, there are general guidelines you can follow to help the wine express its highest potential. Good restaurant service will do its best to ensure these expectations are met with temperature-controlled wine fridges, for example. Alternatively, if you’re keeping wine at home, make sure you store your reds in a dark, cool environment like a garage or a basement, since sun exposure can cause permanent spoilage. Store your whites and sparkling wines in a refrigerator, and once you pop the cork, keep it on ice for optimal enjoyment. At the end of the day temperature is all about taste. Just please don’t drop ice cubes in that beautiful glass of white.Here are some ideal temperatures:
SPARKLING: 6-8 degrees Celsius
WHITE WINE: 9-11 degrees Celsius
LIGHT-BODIED REDS & FULL-BODIED WHITES: 12-13 degrees Celsius
MEDIUM-BODIED REDS: 14-16 degrees Celsius 
FULL-BODIED RED 17-18 degrees  

Why does wine need to be decanted?

Decanting, or pouring wine out of the bottle into another wine-holding receptacle (your wine glass, for example), is the process of “breathing” or oxygenating a wine to help its aromas and textures open up by transferring the wine from the bottle to a decanter. To decant or not decant is often an arguable topic, but there are a few situations when you can count on it to help open the wine to its full potential.

What's a "corked" wine?

A corked bottle of wine is hard to ignore. The smell of wet cardboard and moldy gym socks will make the wine completely undrinkable. A “corked” bottle is aptly named; it has been said that industrial pollutants found in many wood preservatives and pesticides can cause the cork to rot and hence is to blame for spoiling a bottle.

Don't sweat the myths

The enjoyment of wine happens from the moment you select a bottle to the last sip. Hopefully, learning the truth about common wine myths can help you embrace the journey. From the first taste of apples in a perfectly chilled wine to the last drop from the decanter, your wine experience is uniquely yours.