12/06/2021
4 WINE-RULES YOU BROkE UNWITTINGLY
These rules you've been utilising since the day you turned 21 (who are we kidding, 18) but don’t really work. Nah, don’t feel like a dummy. There is a lot of misconception when it comes to getting the most out of wine -so don’t fret. We are going to hot potato these tips on to you QUICK. To keep you… your guests… and even our winemakers SMILING.
1. PRICES of wine rarely reflects their quality.
A lot of hullabaloo really, from the cost of the vineyards land to the reputation of specific regions can cloud one’s judgment. A lot of the quality is down to the craft and skill of the maker. Truth be told, wine is almost never priced for the real value of what’s in the bottle.
There are many examples of wines that overachieve (from places like South Africa, Australia, Chile, the lesser known properties of Bordeaux) whose prices smash what is offered by California “cult” wines, some top Burgundies, and so on. We all want to be on the first half of this equation, but there are times when spending a pretty penny makes sense.
A few things to keep in mind...
It’s difficult to find wines under R70 that are exquisite or made with care; it’s even harder under R50, a devision in which most big corporations focus on producing wines. But it’s easy under R150.
A small group of Estates in the world can justify a wine over R1400. Homework must be done before you consider buying them (and I’m not talking about just checking wine scores).
The best values often come from smaller boutique like estates. Friends may question you, but once the bottle’s open, your highly developed palate will be evident.
2. NEVER judge a bottle by its wrapping.
Once, corks were judged the best (and for many centuries, the only) way to seal a bottle. Yet today good wine come from all varieties of screw caps, crown caps, and more. In Australia and New Zealand, for example, screw caps are so common now that cork seems the unusual choice for many. The cork industry faced some heat due to cork taint, although it’s made huge progress now. But it’s not a guarantee anymore that a wine with a cork is the best thing on the cabinet.
3. TEMPERATURE maters. You’re likely serving your whites too cold and your red wine too warm.
It’s enticing to leave that white wine in the fridge and plonk the red wine on the counter, but neither will be the correct temperature. Serving wine too cold will subdue its full aromas and texture, while serving wine too warm can make it taste indistinct and plain—this applies to both white wines and reds. Bare in mind that the moment you pour it a glass, a wine’s temperature rises—that’s expected, and it’s a chance for you to enjoy the wine as it evolves.
In a perfect world, we’d all store our bottles in a wine fridge (or a temperature-stable cellar, if you’ve got one at your disposal). Clearly most of us can’t do that. Alternatively, keep all your wines slightly chilled, and take them out in advance to warm up. Roughly, a half-hour should be plenty for most reds and 5-10 minutes for whites. And if it gets too warm? Just pop it back in the old fridge, or even toss it in an ice bucket (Simples).
4. BIG is better. Drink your wine out of big bottles.
In this cause bigger really is better. We are all accustomed to wine coming in standard 750-ml bottles, but most of the best wines also come in magnums, or 1.5L bottles. ‘Magnum,’ is your friend—because he’s got twice as much wine, of course (thus the adage, “Magnums show you care”), but also, they age wine slowly, thanks to the lower ratio of wine to glass surface, which results in less wine in proximity to air or glass. They store wines in a state more similar to what they were at the cellar, a more clear snapshot of what a wine was meant to be. You don’t have to stop there either, there are: Jeroboams (three liters), Salmanazars (nine liters), and so on.
