The Ten Commandments Of Wine

Most of the societies on this planet observe the Ten Commandments in some form or other. They have become the almost universal direction of life, are inviolate and written in stone. There are also Ten Commandments of wine written in stone and are considered by some, unimaginable to violate.

Welcome to the 21st century, where the old wine laws are no longer valid; and the stone that they were written in is now pebbles. Let’s take a look at them and see what has happened,

First Commandment: Thou shall not serve red wines with seafood: That commandment may have worked in the old days but today, we enjoy such gifts from the sea as sword fish, shark, squid, octopus etc., which are too strongly flavored to be accompanied by the average white wine. Some of the less tannic red wines such as California Merlot, Zinfandel, or Petite Sirah work and work well with these foods.

Second Commandment: Thou shall not serve white wine with red meat: This commandment still holds for Grilled red meats, but for the more delicately flavored red meats or veal, lamb, pork or fowl dishes, Riesling, Viognier and Pinot Grigio work in their countries of origin, so why not here .

Third Commandment: Thou shall serve white and sparkling wines ice cold: Who ever dreamed that one up was an idiot. Too cold and the wine looses most of its flavor and aroma attributes. One half to three quarters of an hour in the fridge should make it perfect.

Fourth Commandment: Thou shall serve red wines at room temperature: The rooms that were etched in stone were French rooms of the 1800’s; without central heating or cooling. Red wines are perfect after about 15 minutes in the fridge, but do not uncork them until they are at the table to prevent the wine from picking up fridge odors.

Fifth Commandment: Thou shall never serve a sweet wine with dinner: Forget this law; with the explosion of sweet and semi-sweet wines in the marketplace and the American palate enjoying sweet wines; go for it.

Sixth Commandment: Thou shall drink the wine ordered at a restaurant without question: A decent server will pour a bit of wine into your glass for you to sample. You then have the opportunity to accept or reject it. Once you accept that wine, you have bought the wine but, if you reject it, you do not have to pay for it, and don’t.

Seventh Commandment: Thou shall respect the suggestions of the sommelier: Never even ask the sommelier for suggestions. He/she is a sales person and will direct your choice towards wine they want to get rid of or make the most profit on.

Eighth Commandment: Thou shall store your wines lying down: Unless you plan to keep the wines for an inordinately long time (collecting?) nothing will happen to wine if stored upright in the short time it will be in your hands, even a long as a year.

Ninth Commandment: Thou shall never buy a wine with a screw top: Again phooey; there are some very good wines now being sold with screw tops. Screw tops are no longer the indication of a cheap wine. Clichésville: never judge a book by its cover or a wine by its stopper.

Tenth Commandment: Thou shall allow the guest to fill his/her glass: That is the province of the server in a better restaurant and he/she should be aware of what is going on at the tables they work and when a glass should be filled. If they are not observant, let the tip indicate your displeasure.

There are many other myths about wine but we have listed only some of the more common ones. In any and all cases you, as the customer, are in charge. If you allow someone else to make your choice, you have lost your individuality and probably, your courage. PROVERB: True joy is achieved by blowing the mind of a know-it-all wine person.