7 things you know wrong about wine

Written by: Cameron Ward

Published: 12/05/2019

Reading time: 3 mins

There are a plethora of wine myths that have been circulating through society for years.

  • 1. Red wine should be served at room temperature

    This is a funny one because yes generally speaking red wine is best served warmer than white, however who is to define room temperature? In the Australian summer room temperature may be as high as 30°C, far too warm for any wine! Unless you’ve been storing your red wine in a temperature-controlled environment, such as a wine fridge, don’t be afraid to pop your red in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool it down to a better drinking temperature.

  • 2. Fancy wine decanters make wine taste better

    There is certainly something to be said about the benefits of decanting wine. However, what you decant in doesn’t actually change the decanting process. Decanting is about exposing the wine to oxygen, and while it might look nice to use beautifully blown decanter, realistically you could pour your wine into a saucepan and it’d still decant fine.

  • 3. Wines with a screw top are cheap/low quality

    While this isn’t as common in Australia, around much of the world this is treated as a rule of thumb. However, there is no correlation between wine quality and its closures. In fact, 80% of Australian wines have screw tops and in New Zealand 95% of wines do! As technology has changed and evolved screw tops have become the preferred closure for many producers, in fact some of Australia world-renown wines are screw tops.

  • 4. Box wine is bad wine

    In a similar vein, the vessel that holds wine rarely affects the quality of the wine it contains. Yes, generally box wines aren’t the world’s best wines. However, their low price tag is a reflection of boxes being cheaper than bottles.

  • 5. Wine gets better with age

    If you’ve been saving that bottle of Pinot Grigio for three years, just waiting for the right time to drink it, we’re sorry to say it’s well and truly passed. While some wines do benefit from ageing, most don’t and are best drunk within two years of bottling.

  • 6. Expensive wines taste better

    Ah the grip of capitalism has us all. The price of a bottle of wine can be influenced by a number of things, however the most common influence is undoubtedly supply and demand. If a producer makes only 500 bottles of their best wine for the year, it’s easy to see why prices might skyrocket. You can very easily get a great and affordable bottle of wine. Plus, there is no way to guarantee that a $500 bottle of wine is 5 times more delicious than a $100 bottle.

  • 7. Certain wines require certain glasses

    Capitalism strikes again! You might be surprised to know that the idea wines required individual glasses only came about in 1973 when the Riedel glassware company created a line of stemware based on wine type. It was claimed the glasses assisted the drinker in tasting the wine, however it has been proven time again that the shape of your wineglass isn’t really changing much, so drink out of whatever you like!

Many of the myths around wine relate back to its perception of luxury. So next time you want to pop your red in the fridge on a long summer day, go for it!

Related article: How to Speak Wine?

Cameron Ward
Cameron Ward
Managing Director at Sightseeing Tours Australia

Cameron Ward turned his travel passion into a thriving Australian tourism business. Before he co-founded his own business, Sightseeing Tours Australia, he was enjoying being a Melbourne tour guide. Even now, Cameron delights in helping visitors from all around the world get the most out of their incredible Australian trip. You’ll see Cameron leading tours or writing about his favourite Australian places where he shares his local insights.