I don’t want to disappoint anyone, but those that buy into the notion that Spring arrives around these parts in March is either new to the neighborhood or sadly deluded. The calendar may say Spring, but the thermometer will more often than not that say 40 degrees and the Weather Channel will say “cold and rainy”. So what’s a wine drinker to do?
Not care.
The wine doesn’t care about the temperature outside. Why should you?
If fact, as the weather begins to change from what it was yesterday to what it might be tomorrow, it’s the perfect time to forget all about the silly wine rules that govern your wine choices. Most of them have no real meaning or basis in reality. Stop listening to your brother-in-law or nephew or the guy down the street with the ‘awesome’ collection of ‘great wines’. The fact that they know a bit more about wine than you do, doesn’t give them the right to dictate what you should drink.
So, with that in mind, let’s debunk some more wine myths!
Myth #1: All Merlot Sucks
Truth: So, in the bad movie ‘Sideways’, Paul Giamatti keep saying terrible things about Merlot. This allegedly turned the wine drinking public against Merlot. No so. The movie merely reflected that already well-known fact that an ocean of bad Merlot was being produced and the marketplace was was not having it. The principal reason that so much bad Merlot was being produced was that the wine industry was trying to make Merlot fit the false premise of the grape; namely, that it was a softer, lighter version of Cabernet Sauvignon. The truth is that cool climate Merlot is structured and tannic with earthy flavors that vie with its dense plummy flavors. Warm climate, riper Merlot is fruitier, less tannic and less interesting. Both are more similar to Cabernet than different.
Myth #2: Chardonnay is passe
Ok, so Chardonnay no longer outsells all other grape varietals. Its now merely second to Pinot Grigio. The sneering, self-righteous lunkhead that disses Chardonnay, likely has no idea that the sweet, over oaked Chardonnay that he loves to hate is merely one small subset of the ocean of truly fine and interesting Chardonnay made around the globe.
Truth: Myth #3: The ‘legs’ on a wine glass means it’s a great wine
Truth: Legs suggest that the wine is thicker, or sweeter, or higher in alcohol or served in a dirty glass. They are not a sign of quality.
Myth #4: Blended Wines Are Not As Good As Non-Blended Wines
Truth: To be perfectly frank, most wines are blends. Just because your California Cabernet doesn’t list the additional grapes that are blended with it doesn’t mean they don’t exist, it merely means that US labeling laws don’t make the winery list all the various grapes. The list of wines and wine regions that don’t allow for any blending is minute.
Myth #5: Red wines are more ‘serious’ than white
Truth: This is really a very dumb myth. What makes a wine ‘serious’? That ‘serious’ people talk ‘seriously’ about it? Who are these so-called serious people? And do they know anything about wine? (A serious question for the serious wine people…how much oxygenation and in what increments are best if one wants the resulting wine to age well? No clue, right?) Serious wine people, like those of us that actually learn and study and think and write about wine for, you know, a living, think that people that only drink red wine are ridiculous, not serious.