{"id":1464,"date":"2020-07-11T06:46:28","date_gmt":"2020-07-10T20:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travisschultz.com.au\/?p=1464"},"modified":"2022-01-21T12:18:48","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T02:18:48","slug":"fools-gold-old-wives-tales-and-debunking-wine-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travisschultz.com.au\/fools-gold-old-wives-tales-and-debunking-wine-myths\/","title":{"rendered":"Fool’s Gold, Old Wives\u2019 Tales and Debunking Wine Myths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve all heard them, often believed them and sometimes even republished them; but the sad reality is that urban myths about wine seemingly spread faster than coronavirus in a Wuhan wet market!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the lines my dear sister comes up with have made me choke on my chardonnay over the years, but the one I loved the most was her pontification that \u201cI drink organic wines because they don\u2019t give me a headache!\u201d. Really sis? I guess you also think that wines made using biodynamic practices in the vineyard make for happy tasting wine in the bottle? What bunkum, bollocks and BS!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I think there must be more old wives\u2019 tales about wine than my good friend John Eastham has conspiracy theories about politics, but I realise that\u2019s just not numerically possible. So I thought I\u2019d highlight just five of the fables that I most frequently hear during dinner table conversation at catch-ups with my family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. \u201cI only drink white wine because I\u2019m allergic to sulphites.\u201d <\/strong>Really? In fact, all wines contain sulphites at some level because they are naturally occurring compounds in all sorts of foods that we regularly eat \u2013 such as dried apricots, eggs and even sultanas. Do you get a headache Sis, after eating eggs benedict? Sure, some wines have much lower levels of sulphites than others but there would be less sulphites in a bottle of wine than you\u2019d ingest eating a cup full of dried fruit.<\/li>
  2. \u201cWhen I need a good bottle of wine to take to a friend\u2019s place, I only buy wine that\u2019s closed with a cork because screw-cap ones aren\u2019t as high in quality\u201d<\/strong>. There will always be traditionalists who will disagree with me, but I really can\u2019t say that I\u2019ve found any difference when I open a ten year old wine that has a screw-cap. Sure, screw-caps might slow the aging process down a little as they provide a much tighter seal than cork, but at least there are less bottle losses due to bottle taint. One of the early adapters to move over to screw-cap were Taylors Wines in South Australia. At the price point, their St. Andrews Clare Valley Cabernet is up there with some of the best going around. I opened a bottle of their (screw-cap) 2005 St. Andrews Riesling last weekend, and guess what – it was perfect even after 15 years laying on its side.<\/li>
  3. \u201cI put a silver teaspoon in my opened sparkling wines to keep them bubbly and fresh in the fridge\u201d.<\/strong> The theory goes that the spoon keeps cold air inside the bottle and that preserves the bubbles. Hmmmm. Using a vacuum seal device will work, but Mum I\u2019m sorry, the teaspoon may as well stay in the top drawer of the kitchen bench!<\/li>
  4. \u201cOlder wines are always smoother and better to drink\u201d<\/strong>. I\u2019m sorry to say that old wines can be fool\u2019s gold; depending on what they are and how they\u2019ve been kept. Personally, I prefer to drink my cellar-dwelling wines before they start to smell like my old man\u2019s chicken coop. Sure, the tannins in wines will soften with time but softer tannins in a wine that is devoid of fruit and smells like a barnyard, won’t really be palatable. I\u2019d suggest that if you have a bunch of really old bottles you are worried about, just do what I do \u2013 find a good mate (like my good friend, Rick Chapman) who thinks a bit of age is impressive and sell him the whole lot so you can re-stock your own cellar at lower risk.<\/li>
  5. \u201cI prefer organic wines because they don\u2019t give me a hangover\u201d<\/strong>. I\u2019ve got nothing against organic wines; and there are some rippers out there (like the Angove Organic 2019 Shiraz Cabernet and their Organic 2019 Chardonnay $14.99), but the notion that drinking two bottles of an organic wine yourself and expecting to wake up feeling better than James Brown (\u201cI feel good\u201d), is palpable nonsense. Some organic wines will be lower in sulphites but at the end of the day, it\u2019s the alcohol that will cause you to wake up with photophobia, nausea and the sensation of a vice compressing your skull. Just drink a glass of water after each glass of wine and you\u2019re less likely to be reaching for the medicine cabinet when you wake up.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    There are dozens of myths, fables and story tales that circulate during conversations about wine; and it seems my family are disciples to most of them. How about yours?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We\u2019ve all heard them, often believed them and sometimes even republished them; but the sad reality is that urban myths about wine seemingly spread faster than coronavirus in a Wuhan wet market! Some of the lines my dear sister comes up with have made me choke on my chardonnay over the years, but the one…
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