10 things you always wanted to know about wine (but were afraid to ask)
1. What's the difference between shiraz and syrah? (While we're at it, what's the correct way to pronounce shiraz?)
Que syrah, syrah: it's the name by which most of the world knows the gutsy red grape usually described in Australia as shiraz. Syrah wines hail from France's northern Rhone region: they're typically savoury and peppery, more restrained than the fruity, dense reds traditionally associated with Australian shiraz. The word syrah on an Australian label flags the style you're likely to find in the bottle – the winemaker will have tried to make something more reserved than a classic shiraz. Pronouncing shiraz? This is a tortuous aitch-versus-haitch conundrum – good luck finding a definitive case for either of the two usual pronunciations. But with no disrespect to people who like to crack a bottle of "sheer-arse", this distinctively Australian wine style deserves a dinkum pronunciation. That means rhyming it with Shaz.
2. What is orange wine if it's not from Orange?
Orange, some say, is the new rosé, occupying the demilitarised zone between red and white. The colour crosses a spectrum – from pale apricot to enraged Trump, all the way to amber – but what's really different about orange wine is the way it's made. Traditionally, red wines are made from the juice of red grapes plus grape skins. Whites are made without skins. Orange wines are made from white grapes but get the red-wine treatment – the juice is macerated with the skins, a technique dating back 8000 years to wine's birthplace, Georgia. The resulting texture, tannin and colour means these "skin-contact" wines have more in common with reds than whites; styles vary from fruity, floral or earthy to sour and funky.
3. What is natural wine and why are people so excited about it?
Natural winemaking is a broad church in which wines are generally (purists say must be) made from grapes grown without commercial chemicals. Processing takes place with minimal "intervention" – so, for example, the wine may not be filtered to remove cloudiness. Additives, such as sulphur dioxide – used for centuries to keep wine tasting fresh – are shunned or kept to a minimum. It's a departure from the kind of large-scale industrial winemaking that values hygiene and consistency over quirks and imperfections. As with conventional wines, quality varies hugely. There's no regulation of what's called natural, so if you're going that way to avoid chemicals, look for certified organic or biodynamic wines – they're more likely to be what you're paying for. When made by winemakers of skill and integrity, the best natural wines celebrate quality, individuality and character – hallmarks of all great wines, regardless of whether they're pitched as natural.
4. What's better – pinot gris or pinot grigio?
Same grape, different name – one name is French, the other Italian, with "gris" and "grigio" both meaning "grey". In Europe the French approach to making gris produces a highly perfumed wine with plenty of mouthfeel; grigio from Italy is often (not always) a crisper, lighter wine. In Australia we've seen some local producers try to differentiate between these two styles and label their wines as gris or grigio accordingly, but not across the board. A lot of Australian gris/grigios have a style all their own and fall between these extremes. "Better" is in the eye of the beholder – good news is they're all food-friendly styles.
5. Why might some wines contain traces of eggs, fish or milk?
Egg whites with fish bladders and milk: a dish that might make guests at a Game of Thrones banquet actually welcome the post-dinner massacre. Yes, it's medieval stuff – each of these has been used for centuries to "fine" wine. Fining is a process in which one or more of these proteins is dropped into unfinished wine to bind with components that taste bitter, astringent, or are likely to make the wine hazy. They are then removed. Traces, as the label states, may remain. If any of the above have been used you'll find them listed on the label as allergens. The fish bladder derivative also goes by the name isinglass and is rarely used in Australia but egg whites and milk products are still common.
6. What's the best way to store wine in the house? Do I need a wine rack?
To show your best bottles a really bad time, store them on top of the fridge. Between the constant vibration and bursts of warmth from the coils, those babies will age faster than a '70s sunbather drenched in tanning oil – badly. Wine likes to be kept still, at a cool, consistent temperature, ideally in the dark. No cellar? Cardboard wine cartons laid on their sides in a closed cupboard will do the job. Open wine racks make browsing your collection easy but if you're featuring them as living-area decor, place well away from sunny spots, heating or air-con vents, and use for bottles you're planning to drink soon, not long-term ageing. If the budget allows, consider specialist wine fridges.
7. Can wine go "off" if you age it too long?
Not in the way a carton of milk will, but yes. Wine aged too long won't kill you but it won't taste good. Most bottled wines are sold ready to drink but many benefit from being carefully stored for a year to upwards of 20 years. It depends on the individual wine and storage conditions. People in the wine trade say that, after a long time, "there are no good vintages, only good bottles", meaning the longer you keep a wine, the more difference you'll see in every bottle. If you're planning on cellaring a wine, read the 'best before' advice on the label and from wine critics, and consume within that time. Ageing too long is a road to dull wine that contains more disappointment than life and vigour.
8. How is a wine's price determined?
In much the same way as a loaf of bread, a shirt or a car – the opaque combination of how much it cost to make and how much the producers reckon people will pay. Let's just talk cost for now: grapes from hand-tended vineyards cost the producer more than those maintained and harvested with machinery. Some grape varieties produce bigger crops than others (pinot noir, for example, produces fewer quality bunches per vine than sauvignon blanc). It's generally more expensive to grow grapes in cool climates than warm ones. Once the grapes get to the winery, ageing in French oak barrels costs more than oak chips in a steel tank. Come bottling time, a heavy, fancy bottle costs the producer more than a standard one. It'll cost you more, too. Economies of scale mean it's cheaper to make a lot of any given wine than a little.
9. How long will a wine keep after it's been opened?
Like fish and houseguests, opened wine smells less appealing after three days. Aim to finish an open bottle over no more than two nights. As a rule of thumb, red wines stay in condition for longer than whites (some robust reds taste better on day two). Exposure to air changes the aroma and flavour of opened wine, so reseal a bottle you're not planning to finish in one go. A bottle that's mostly full will last better than one with only a glass or two left. It's about the proportion of air to wine – more air in the bottle means faster deterioration. Store an opened bottle upright, not on its side. If you keep a clean, empty half-bottle handy, decant unfinished wine into that – it will stay fresher than in a full-size bottle. Otherwise, start scouting wine-saving devices.
10. I'm keen to know more about wine but it seems like such a daunting world. What's the best way to improve my wine knowledge – courses, books, tasting dinners or summer holidays to Burgundy?
Drink often and widely. Talk to staff in wine shops, bars and restaurants about what you like, and what they think you might like next. Courses are a great fast track but need to be your kind of thing – word of mouth is best but the language and style of a wine education website will tell you if what's on offer is going to be fun, hardcore or both. Tasting dinners are often oriented to a single maker or style of wine. Holidays in Burgundy? They'll teach you lots about the wines of Burgundy but next to nothing about the wines of anywhere else. Awesome, certainly, but hold off until you have a grip on the broader wine world – you'll get more from it that way. If you're embarking on a bit of global drinking there's no better beginner book than Jancis Robinson's The 24-Hour Wine Expert.