While conducting various wine appreciation programmes and interacting with wine lovers, I have realized that many people in India and in fact even around the world believe in dozens of myths, half-truths and have many misconceptions about wine. Let me share a dozen of them. 

1. Wine gets better with age

 Years ago, at a friend's party I was asked to look after the wine service because of my passion and love for the moniker. His cabinet was stored with wines over five and some bottles even 7-10 years old vintage. Bottle after bottle I opened, turned out to be vinegar and not drinkable. 'But wine gets better with age. That is why we are storing it,' said the surprised couple.

The truth is that over 95% of the wine produced is meant to be drunk young. A maximum of 1-2 years after the harvest keeps them fresh and drinkable after which it starts losing freshness and fruitiness. It holds more for whites but most reds suffer from this factor too.

Unless you know specifically, about the aging capability of a wine, resist the temptation of storing it and simply waiting for it to turn into a great wine. Generally, all low-end, inexpensive wines are meant to drink young and don't improve in the bottle after release.

Only about 1% of wines have a potential to get better, more mellow and complex where they may reach their peak in 10, 20, 30 years or even more. Mouton- Rothschild 1945 is still drinkable whereas any Beaujolais Nuoveau released in November, 2007 is past its prime.

2. Bordeaux wines are the best

Although some of the world's best wines continue to be crafted in Bordeaux, some of the worst are also produced there. In fact a barrel of bulk wine from Bordeaux can cost less than a Euro. There are hundreds of cheap white wine labels available.

It is no coincidence that over 200 million liters of wine from this region is in excess and a majority of it awaits conversion into industrial alcohol.

Same is true of wines from Burgundy, Barolo and Barossa.

3. Drink red wine at room temperature

Most people now understand that room temperature recommended for red wines does not imply 40°C in Delhi, but the underground cellars of Europe, which are normally at around 14°C. It is equally important to appreciate that light reds ought to be served cooled to get the best flavours and avoid nosing the evaporating alcohol at higher temperatures. This is especially important in the Indian summer.

Full-bodied reds like Californian Cabernets, Shiraz or Bordeaux classified Chateaux wines from  should be served at 16°-80° C. Medium bodied Burgundy reds, Chiantis , Valpolicella or Merlots at 14°-16° C while light bodied Beaujolais, and  light Loire or Zinfandel should be cooled down  to 10°-12° C.

4. All White wines need to be chilled

This is only half the story. Its true that white wines are best enjoyed chilled but not near freezing temps, like sparkling wines, champagne and icewine which are best enjoyed between 5° – 7° C (Vintage Champagnes should be served at 10° C ). Light bodied Rieslings, Pinot Grigio, Spanish Albariño and Sauvignon Blanc are best drunk at 7°-10° C while full-bodied Chardonnays are best at 10°-12° C with aged white Burgundies or Italian full bodied Chardonnay are ideal at around 14° C.

Rosés are best enjoyed at 10°-12°. It is always better to err at the lower side by a couple of degrees.

5. Wines should be stored in the air-conditioned room

Though certainly better than leaving them to die in a hot living-room, wines are stressed with temperature variations; they should be stored at a constant temperature of 12°-15° C. If a wine cellar assuring correct storage is not available, it is best to store the bottles horizontally in a dark corner of the house where the temperature is the lowest.

Another alternative is to store in an old, inefficient refrigerator past its prime with insufficient cooling. Avoid storage in the kitchen fridge. Smell of vegetables and fruits will eventually permeate through the cork. Long term storage will dry out the cork and may result in oxidation of wine. Besides, the temperature of 4°-8° C is ok for a few weeks but wine does not evolve at that temperature.

6. Wine with off-flavours can be used for cooking

Many people leave the opened bottles which have left-over wine for use in cooking a few weeks later. The off-flavours get concentrated in the food and may actually spoil the dish.

General rule is that if the wine is not good for drinking, it is also not good for cooking. Left-over wine, properly corked and stored in the fridge, preferably the freezer, can be used for cooking a few days later, though.

7. Wine does not go well with vegetarian meal

Nothing can be farther than the truth. Many of the delicious Italian dishes are vegetarian, including pastas and pizzas. Yet they taste a lot better with Italian wines. Though powerful, tannic wines like Cabernet may not be a proper match for vegetarian dishes, light reds and several whites, especially slightly spicy wines go very well, provided the food is not chilly hot.  

For hot vegetarian meals off-dry German Riesling can be a perfect match. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc would be a flavourful match too.  

8. Wine should breathe in the bottle before drinking

Most white wines and young reds do not require any breathing, unless they are not clean (with slight off-putting smell that goes away when wine comes in contact with air). Same goes for very old and fragile wines. But fine wines will open up on breathing for an hour or two. Cheaper, tannic wines may also become less astringent with oxygen coming in contact with wine.

However, it is a fallacy that wine can breathe in an open bottle, because of very small surface area in contact with oxygen. It should be decanted into a decanter or a plain jug or kept in a proper Bordeaux wine glass for some time.  

9. Imported wines are better than Indian wines

Obviously with centuries of wine making experience, coupled with facing and surviving global competition, majority of international wines have an edge over Indian wines which are still at a nascent stage.  However, with the quality of many Indian wines going up and a continuing influx of cheap and bulk wine at the low price points, Indian wines can hold their own.  

Grover and Sula make some very palatable wines and many new producers like Chateau d'Ori, Vintage Wines, Nine Hills and Indus have entered the fray with some quaffable offerings.

10. More expensive the wine, better it is

While it is true that cheaper wines cannot be fine wines due to the inherent higher cost of production of quality wines, they can also command prices due to the branding and market perception. A positive rating by a well known wine expert like Robert Parker can result in the price shooting up overnight and vice versa. One has to consider one's own budget and seek the best wine suited to his own palate, provided it has been developed by tasting  different level and variety of wines.  

11. All that sparkles is Champagne

A few years ago, at an Indian wine tasting, I was appalled to see the bottle of sparkling wine named as 'Champagne.' When I told the owner it was illegal to call it champagne, he looked surprised. I have since seen the word removed from his sparkling wine labels. 

According to the EU laws, no sparkling wine outside Champagne can be labelled as such, which of course, can always be called a sparkling wine. Not only is the flavour typical because of its terroir, it is illegal to label wines as such unless they follow  strict criteria of production from grapes produced in the specified areas of Champagne.

12. You cannot mix your wines

At a recent tasting where we started with a Sauvignon Blanc, one participant refused to taste it because he loves red wines and felt that if he took the white wine, he couldn't drink red and thus mix his wines. 

Unless hard liquors where mixing different type of alcohols might give you a hangover, wines can be interchanged at will. In fact, it is very common to go through a meal sipping through a sparkling, white, rosé, red and even a sweet dessert wine like Sauternes followed even by a fortified wine like Port or Crème Sherry without any problem.

The only factor one needs to keep in mind is that after drinking a hearty and powerful red, your palate may not be impressed with a light wine, howsoever elegant or fruity it might be. 

Sorbet served during the meal is meant to cleanse your palate and help you change direction and colour of the grapes or varietals, if you like.

Subhash Arora