Don't let fine wine be a regret, check out the misconceptions you may have about wine.
N Misconceptions About Wine
Do you refer to wine simply as red wine? Do you believe "the older the wine, the better"? Are you overly fond of the oak flavor in wine? Any of the following N misconceptions could cause you some embarrassment at a banquet.
Referring to Wine Simply as Red Wine
Calling all wine simply "red wine" leads to absurdities like "Chardonnay red wine." Even a genius winemaker couldn't possibly make red wine from Chardonnay white grapes.
In fact, red wine is just one type of wine. Wine also includes white wine, rosé wine, champagne, sparkling wine, sweet white wine (noble rot wine), ice wine, sherry, port, Madeira, and various aromatized wines (such as vermouth).
Adding Sprite to Wine
After the premiere of "The Banquet," director Feng Xiaogang said: "I wanted to make a movie that shows how China's rich people quickly split into two groups: the overseas returnee group and the local group. The overseas returnees like outdoor activities and going to the gym; the locals prefer nightclubs and saunas. The locals drink red wine with Sprite, while the overseas returnees say, Europeans have studied for hundreds of years, and the hardest thing is to remove the sugar from red wine, but our Chinese compatriots have added it back."
If you think it's not sweet enough, why not switch to a sweet white wine? If you find it too strong, you can switch to a lower alcohol content wine — red wine already has a relatively low alcohol content, usually only 12%-14%.
Serving Six Bottles Without Variation
During a meal, serving six bottles of the same wine without knowing that you should serve six different types of wine.
According to the Western dining banquet system, before the meal, an aperitif should be served, such as champagne, sparkling wine, dry sherry, or vermouth; during the formal meal, food pairing wine should be served. The basic principle is: white meat (seafood) pairs with white wine, red meat with red wine, and rosé wine can be flexible between the two. When dessert is served, pair it with sweet wine, such as noble rot wine or ice wine; after the meal, a digestif should be served, such as port, Madeira, or brandy.
Of course, the principle of "white meat with white wine, red meat with red wine" is based on Western cuisine, and there are significant differences between Chinese and Western cooking concepts, so we don't necessarily have to stick to this rule. Pairing wine depends not only on whether it's red or white meat but also on the cooking method and seasoning ingredients. What we need to match is not the color of the food but its taste. For example, West Lake Vinegar Fish doesn't necessarily require white wine. You might try a Pinot Noir red wine, which could be quite surprising.
Believing "The Older the Wine, the Better"
CCTV's "Weekly Quality Report" once reported that a Beijing-based wine company started production in 2001, but the vintage on the label was "1992." Even more ridiculous was that the "1992" sold for 198 yuan, the "1998" for 42 yuan, and the "1999" for 23 yuan. They established a mathematical relationship between vintage and price: the older the vintage, the higher the price.
The "premature aging" phenomenon of domestic wines caters to consumers' ingrained thinking - "the older the wine, the better." In reality, the quality and price of wine fluctuate in a curve depending on different vintages, not in a straight upward line with age. Because the quality of wine does not depend on its age but rather on the soil of the vineyard and the appropriate and timely sunshine, rainfall, and temperature during the grape growing and harvesting year (the vintage on the label refers to the year the grapes were grown and harvested, not the bottling date). On the same piece of land, due to varying climates each year, the quality of wine will also vary accordingly. Therefore, a case (12 bottles) of Chateau Latour red wine from 1981 sells for over 1000 pounds now, while the 1982 version sells for over 9400 pounds.
Believing Wine Gets Better Over Time
(To be continued, excerpted from Garden of Wine http://www.wanzui.com)