You’re a reader after my own heart! Yes, the wine industry seems to have made life more difficult for itself by inventing (and continuing to promulgate) a litany of “to dos” and “don’t dos.” Without further ado, dear readers, to follow are a few of my favorite wine consumer myths that are in need of dubunking.
“Serve reds at room temperature”
Though especially welcome in summertime, and especially tasty with regards to Pinot Noir, I break this “rule” year-round and with many varietals to boot. In the depths of December, you can still find me putting a slight chill on many reds, from a Beaujolais Nouveau at Thanksgiving up to some burly Syrah on Valentine’s Day. I just like my reds served a little cool and find that I prefer around 50–58 °F (10–14 °C) or so, far below “room temperature.” Summertime, however, is when I’m most likely to put a red on ice. “Room temperature” in our house in Napa doesn’t mean 68 °F (20 °C) like it does in November and as ambient temperatures rise, my tolerance for the more volatile components in red wines (i.e., alcohol, aldehydes, and volatile acidity) goes down. I find it hard to appreciate a red wine when it’s so warm even its modest 13.8% alcohol hits me like a ton of grapes. Solution? Use a tabletop wine cooler, an ice bucket, one of those stick-it-in-the-bottle gadgets like the Corkcicle or simply stick the bottle in the fridge for 30 minutes. A slight chill can focus aroma, tame the perception of alcohol, and can make a red seem more refreshing, especially when the weather heats up.
Anyone who doesn’t like this “cool take” will hate my next one!
“Never put an ice cube in your wine”
One of my favorite professors at UC-Davis, the late great Ralph Kunkee always said, “It’s OK to put an ice cube in your wine, as long as you know you’re really not supposed to.” What he meant was, it’s perfectly fine to increase your hedonistic pleasure in the moment, as long as you appreciate the chemistry behind it. By adding ice, you’re cooling it down as well as adding a little bit of water, so you’re making the wine’s serving temperature more to your liking while slightly diluting the alcohol, tannins, acids, and other flavor compounds. Interestingly, while chilling depresses the kinetic energy, and hence the availability of all aromas in the headspace, you also may be liberating additional aromas because of the changed isoelectric point, surface tension, and alcohol content of the libation. This is why adding water and/or ice to whiskey is such a hot debate, with proponents on either side.
OK, sorry to get all geeky on you, but the long and short of it is that adding an ice cube to wine subtly changes the chemistry of the beverage, beyond what the winemaker intended, and with consequences that are difficult to predict. However, adding that ice cube may increase your enjoyment of that glass of wine, and for those who knew Ralph, one of the things that made him so beloved was his unstinting pursuit of increased enjoyment in life. As a winemaker, I give you permission to stick an ice cube in your glass of wine (and to serve a Pinot with salad). I agree with Ralph: The world needs more enjoyment.
“Screwcap Means Cheap”
Approximately 30% of the U.S. wine market is packaged under screwcap, whereas in some countries, like New Zealand, they account for almost 90% of production! The cork is not threatened, but the screwcap is becoming very widely accepted in the U.S. (though the U.K. and Australia also have had us beat for a while). Especially in whites, pink wines, and Pinot Noir (which I believe has more to do with perceived consumer acceptance and conservative marketing than actual wine aging dynamics), screw caps (AKA “twist-offs”) are to be found everywhere and in every price point. In the past they were for commercial wineries only (you need a specialized machine to roll them on), but more and more home winemakers are giving new plastic hand-applied “twist and seal” screwcaps a try. I’m still not 100% sold on their long-term ageability but I do think they could work great for soon-to-consume wines.
We should remember that without the development of the cork and bottle combo in the eighteenth century we would not have been able to develop a taste for bottle-aged wines. I also think that while most winemakers will admit cork isn’t perfect, many feel that screw caps offer a viable and more consistent alternative, especially in a world where probably 99% of wine is consumed within a year of purchase. Then there’s the wine industry’s face-palm factor: Can you think of any other commercial sector that goes to such lengths to actively put barriers (the need for a corkscrew) in front of accessing and enjoying its product? I believe in convenience, and evidently so do a lot of other winemakers and wine drinkers. Anecdotally, in my house (and I bet in many others), more and more often, the first bottle out of the fridge or wine cabinet is one with a screw cap. As more and more of us in the wine business have had good experiences with using screwcaps for our wines and as more and more consumers get used to them, I think that 30% usage rate will continue to grow.
“Real (fill in the blank) don’t drink pink wine”
This ain’t your grandmother’s white Zin, kids, and there are so many great reasons to give pink a try that you’re missing out on a lot if you still think rosé wine is for little old ladies. Though we should give credit to Beringer White Zin for pioneering the category on the palates of the masses over 30 years ago, today’s crop of pink wines (AKA “blush,” “saignée,” or sometimes “oeil de perdrix”) are increasingly made in drier, more acidic styles that are appealing to wine geeks and wine newbies alike. Because they come from lightly pressed red grapes, they benefit from additional aromatic and textural complexity and therefore are very versatile when it comes to food pairings. Additionally, because they are early-release wines and don’t incur months’ worth of barrel age (and the associated costs), pink wines tend to be extremely affordable as well. So what have you got to lose except some preconceived notions?
“Great Wine is Expensive”
As recently as the 1970s there were under 500 wineries in the U.S. Now there are over 11,000. It should therefore come as no surprise that we as consumers have so many more choices than ever before, in many different styles, regions, and price points. Though I’m a California girl and tend to root for our domestic producers (go team!), I never hold back cheering on my international winemaking friends and acknowledge that globally, we’re one big international wine market. Because of currency swings, the variations in climate and season, and not to mention labor and production costs from place to place, someone’s always gonna have a tasty deal somewhere. Especially with fresher and earlier-to-bottle styles (meaning fewer storage costs and cheaper to produce) so enjoyable, whether it’s a racy Pinot Gris from Clarksburg, a Rhône-based red blend from Paso Robles, or a Grüner-Veltliner from Austria, it’s pretty darn easy to find a great bottle of wine for under $20. Online wine research is fine, but I believe nothing beats the personal recommendation from a friend or your favorite wine store employee. Want a big bang for your buck? Spend some of your time getting to know the staffers at a wine bar or wine shop in your neighborhood. They’ll get to know you and your preferences, and you in turn will reap the benefit of their experience as they “filter” their selection to your tastes and budget. In the search for great wine deals, face time still counts.
