# Two Questions About Wine. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859 "2016-05-04T06:13:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/21 "2016-05-04T22:37:52Z")
Haha! Never thought of a blender. Less foam my way. Unless you like that sort if thing. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/22 "2016-05-04T23:10:57Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Sounds a lot like a low-tech version of putting it in a blender for 30-60 seconds. I pour my wine, Turkish Coffee Style, by holding the bottle well above the wine glass and letting it spill slowly into the glass, sloshing around quite a bit in the process. As for aging, it is mostly reds. All wines have a “best if consumed by” period. That will generally be a time when the wine is “ready”, when it’s “at its peak”, and when it’s “past its prime”. When you see a fire sale on an older vintage, that’s probably because the wine is at or past the last point. Wineries that use corks and which don’t have a rigorous quality control system for the corks, can be hit with a significant amount of product being “corked”. That’s a bacteria that causes the wine to taste like wet cardboard. No cork = no “corked”. And you don’t have to worry about storing the wines to keep the corks moist. Some winery were experimenting with glass, press-fit stoppers for awhile, but you almost never see those anymore. Some wines go for synthetic corks, and many (esp Australian and New Zealand wines) are sold with screw caps. Other than having “the cork ritual”, there is no advantage to using cork, and some liability. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/23 "2016-05-05T08:38:11Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Minor correction to \*\*Mr. Dibble’s \*\*post - champagne is bottled with a _crown cap_, not a screw cap. This cap is discarded and the bottle is corked as the final step in champagne production. Whoops, yes, that’s right. I knew that 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/24 "2016-05-05T13:26:31Z")
Now that natural corks and breathing have been dispensed with for most wine consumption, it should only be a matter of time before someone breaks another wine tradition and starts selling it in 6-packs! More convenient serving size - No more worry over needing to drink a full bottle, or having to use one of those pump thingys. Edit: I see [someone has tried](http://www.cnbc.com/2014/08/15/pinot-noir-in-a-can-forget-wine-bottles-think-six-pack.html)! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/25 "2016-05-05T13:39:01Z")
One advantage that cork has (and this is more for very expensive wines) is that you need a cork stopper to use those new-fangled pouring devices that allow you extract wine without removing the stopper. Once you open a bottle of wine, it’s going to go bad in a few days if can’t reseal it properly. I use those little hand-pump mechanisms which work pretty well, but the newer systems are the best in terms of preserving the wine for an extended period of time. They might work with synthetic corks, but not with screw-tops. Of course, this is for people who take more than a week to consume a bottle of wine, which has never been an issue at Casa de Mace. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/26 "2016-05-05T13:41:47Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Now that natural corks and breathing have been dispensed with for most wine consumption, it should only be a matter of time before someone breaks another wine tradition and starts selling it in 6-packs! > > More convenient serving size - No more worry over needing to drink a full bottle, or having to use one of those pump thingys. > > Edit: I see [someone has tried](http://www.cnbc.com/2014/08/15/pinot-noir-in-a-can-forget-wine-bottles-think-six-pack.html)! I’ve seen little 4-packs that have the equivalent of a glass in each bottle. Great for sneaking booze into a theater (not that I would ever do that) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/27 "2016-05-05T17:32:35Z")
- Aging is completely different from opening a bottle and letting it breathe. - Letting a wine open and breathe - you are letting the wine “oxidize” a bit and burn off some of the more volatile chemicals (doing this too long allows the wine to go/taste bad). In the case of a Cabernet or other wine heavy with tannins, per **RealityChuck** , you can take the edge of that tannic mouthfeel. For a great Burgundy (typically a red Pinot Noir) - man, the first 30 minutes you have the bottle open/wine decanted, the taste really changes. IANAWine Snob, but that movie Sideways where Paul Giamatti’s character waxes all snobby about the delicacy in a Pinot Noir. Cuteness aside, the difference is noticeable. - Corks - meh; who cares? It was a point of tradition for the longest time; now moving to non-cork is a sign of being environmentally conscious. So it goes; as long as I like the wine. Hope that helps. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/28 "2016-05-05T19:46:20Z")
I’ve been at dinners where the winemakers just put the glass to the side and say “Wait.” After 30 minutes or so they’ll sniff, nod and start sipping. The difference really can be amazing. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/29 "2016-05-06T00:18:34Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > If I remember correctly, the theory is that younger red wines need exposure to air to “open up” and improve their flavour. > Old wines are more delicate and should not be exposed to too much air before drinking (the decanting there is done to get rid of possible sediment). > So maybe he was asking for an older wine or simply wanted it faster? > > Regarding the cork issue, there are many fantastic wines out there with a screw cap nowadays and I think the difference is that wines that are meant to age, age better with a cork, but most wines (90% or so) are intended to be drunk within a year. This is pretty much it. Huge alcohol-bodied, tannic wines (reds) like Barolos or very structured wines like stellar vintage top chateau Bordeaux can often have mouth-puckering tannin levels that resolve phenolically into esters over time, which not only softens the tannic mouthfeel over time but adds dimensions of flavor and aroma not present in the finished wine at bottling or within a couple years of bottling. The jury used to be out on ageing with a cork versus other closures like screwcaps and it’s still a bit muddied as to oxygen transfer with a more porous closure like a cork versus a screwcap but most screwcaps are made with a plastic liner that allows miniscule amounts of oxygen into the wine just like corks do so most folks now tend to agree that screwcaps are just as good in that regard as well. Purists and fear keep people clinging to corks. For instance Penfolds’ Grange bottlings are only sold with cork closures for the American market for that very reason. Otherwise they use screwcaps for all the other markets for their $100 a bottle plus range of wines. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/30 "2016-05-06T00:20:47Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > As much as I enjoy the ceremony of the corkscrew, I do love me some _boxed_ wine. There’s something to be said about aged cardboard and plastic, y’bet. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/31 "2016-05-06T10:15:33Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > There’s something to be said about aged cardboard and plastic, y’bet. 🙂 I’ve taste tested five day old Pinot Grigio box wine with a freshly opened bottle of the same wineries offering and couldn’t tell the difference. Most dinners at home we go through a bottle of wine, so the four-bottle box is a great deal. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/32 "2016-05-06T14:04:43Z")
There are getting to be some really [pretty decent](https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/the-benefits-of-boxed-wine) boxed wines out there. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/33 "2016-05-06T14:59:53Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > There are getting to be some really [pretty decent](https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/the-benefits-of-boxed-wine) boxed wines out there. Exactly. Absolutely nothing wrong with boxed wine these days (well, depending on what you’re buying, of course. Franzia is still just Franzia. That is still around, right?) The reputation of boxed wines is slowly being rehabilitated, similar to (though not quite as extreme) how canned beers have come back and become popular among craft brewers and drinkers. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/34 "2016-05-06T15:07:07Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > I’ve seen little 4-packs that have the equivalent of a glass in each bottle. Great for sneaking booze into a theater (not that I would ever do that) Even better for cooking, if you don’t habitually drink wine. My wife is more of a wine drinker than I am, and when she was pregnant, we’d use these little bottles for cooking- they were just about perfect- she’d use it in the beef stew/shrimp/whatever, and I’d drink the swig or two left in the bottle. We didn’t have most of an entire bottle left over, and we didn’t have to get wine we actually enjoyed in order to cook with. (We did get “drinkable” wine, but not necessarily the varietals/blends we typically enjoy) The blender trick I mentioned upthread is courtesy of Nathan Myhrvold and his Modernist Cooking crew. It’s still controversial in the wine world, but I can attest that it does work extremely well on the rougher red wines in the $8-$25 range. Things like Chianti Classico tend to lose a lot of that harshness that they can have, for example. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/35 "2016-05-06T15:12:39Z")
I actually **like** the roughness that chianti can have. And yes, [Franzia](https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/sommeliers-drink-franzia-the-world-s-most-popular-wine-boxed-wine) is still around. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/36 "2016-05-06T15:15:05Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I actually **like** the roughness that chianti can have. And yes, [Franzia](https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/sommeliers-drink-franzia-the-world-s-most-popular-wine-boxed-wine) is still around. Hmmm…looks like a couple of them are actually reasonable. I might have to pick up a box of burgundy to have around. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/37 "2016-05-06T15:17:08Z")
Burgundy seems to be the best bet for any “jug” wine. I know for a fact that Gallo Hearty Burgundy is the best cheeseburger/camping wine there is. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/38 "2016-05-06T15:29:47Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Now that natural corks and breathing have been dispensed with for most wine consumption, it should only be a matter of time before someone breaks another wine tradition and starts selling it in 6-packs! > > More convenient serving size - No more worry over needing to drink a full bottle, or having to use one of those pump thingys. > > Edit: I see [someone has tried](http://www.cnbc.com/2014/08/15/pinot-noir-in-a-can-forget-wine-bottles-think-six-pack.html)! I’ve seen 6-packs of wine quite often, although it’s usually full sized bottles. Seen them with benjamines (2-glasses bottles of cava). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/39 "2016-05-06T16:01:53Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I’ve seen 6-packs of wine quite often, although it’s usually full sized bottles. Seen them with benjamines (2-glasses bottles of cava). [http://firstwefeast.com/drink/2015/10/best-canned-wines-to-crush](http://firstwefeast.com/drink/2015/10/best-canned-wines-to-crush) Canned wine is slowly gaining market share, but it’ll probably be pretty niche player for a while. There’s also wine in [aseptic](http://www.ciaowines.eu/our-wines_1395018.html) packaging which is great for backpacking. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859/40 "2016-05-06T21:36:30Z")
And lots of wines bars now have “wines on tap”. A great way to cut down on cost! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-wine/753859.md?page=3)