| Some Myths and Misunderstandings of Red Wine |
| Store-Long Wines� GOOD!! Now-Drink Ones� BAD!! There is also another common misunderstanding that more expensive wines that need to be stored for a longer period do indeed taste better than those that need to be drunk immediately. This is definitely not true. Wine is a complex thing and so is its taste. Some experts might have tasted a good variety of both young and old wines over many years and can then judge which wines are better. BUT the fact is that some of the great wines in the world do belong to the young and fresh category. In fact, some of them taste so good that they can beat many long-storing wines hands down. Hence great taste is not always dependent on its storage period but also in accordance to various complex qualities. My favourite young wine is of course none other than the French wine Beaujolais again. Most Beaujolais are at their peak when they are freshly produced from the winery and retain their delicious youthful nature within the newly sealed bottle... but for a limited time only. Especially made to be drunk young, beaujolais should not be left untouched for over five years or it would lose its appeal very quickly and become stale and uninteresting. But that doesn't mean that Beaujolais is the best wine in the world. Put it simply, Beaujolais is the best wine for ME. My taste tells me this and I shall stick to my opinion. Hence taste is up to your own preference and it develops after you have tasted different types of wines. Being a very subjective and personal issue, you can't equate taste of wine with its market value or the number of years that it can be stored. Hence you may develop your own tastes for different wines at a later stage after you have tasted a variety of wines. But take my advice: Don't be a wine snob!! Don't always go for expensive ones just because experts say so. You will lose out much if you ignore cheap wines whose taste might really suit your palates! Such is a big regret in your quest for wine tasting perfection. So what about those good old wines? In fact, old wines are simply red wines that are very exquisitely crafted so that they could mature in the cellar to develop totally new aromas that are very different from its young stage. These aromas are unique and difficult to achieve when wines are young. If you are to drink these wines early at an immatured stage, they will taste very tannic (bitter) and are quite horrible to say the least. But upon maturity over the years, the wines become less tannic and start to develop very much priced aromas that can bring ecstacy to many wine lovers with just one sniff of the liquid. These special aromas adds a brand new dimension to the wine and brings about a completely new wine-tasting experience. Hence due to the rarity of the tastes and their necessity to be stored for maturity, these wines naturally become very expensive and prized. But then I can't emphasize enough that taste is actually a subjective and personal matter in accordance to personal preference. Young wines may taste as good as old wines, or even better!! I would recommend that beginners drink fine young wines first before they have the experience to tackle older ones. |