Article courtesy of Vic Raimo, VE Raimo Brands

OK, so you are at a cocktail party, your claws are sharpened and you want to show-up that  @#%^&**((&^%  person who thinks she knows a lot about wine. Well here is some ammunition.

Did you know? Headaches from red wine are NOT caused by sulfites. Sulfites occur naturally on grape skins and are necessary in the fermentation & preservation of wine. Been like that since the caveman days- just ask Alley Oop! The headaches come from the histamines that are found in red wine.

“I only drink wines without sulfites” (hit the gong and open the trap door). All wine has sulfites but sometimes a pinch more has to be added so that when you pop the cork you are not drinking vinegar. For those NO SULFITE wines- the vineyard simply lit a sulfite candle and coated the inside of the barrel with the soot. So, yes, powered sulfites were not added but they were there in another form.

“I just love Chardonnay with a strong oak flavor” (get the hook, off the stage with you…) there is no oak in Chardonnay. What you are tasting is what you THINK oak tastes like. What you are drinking is the result of a secondary fermentation that gives this illusion. The longer this fermentation the stronger the creamy quality of the wine (and alcohol content) and the stronger the illusion of oak. BTW- if you see a bottle labeled Italian Chardonnay- it means there was no secondary fermentation and all the processing took place in stainless steel tanks- what you are tasting is the Chardonnay grape itself.

Terrior- OK, that’s a draw, I’m not convinced the experts have this right. They use the example- if you bury a Snickers bar next to a grape wine the wine will not taste like chocolate. Agreed.  BUT, even the experts concede that certain factors such as salinity in the air, mineral content of the ground, and the processing of the grape into wine can play a role, even if a minor one.

Where does wine get its color?  Is it like, ‘ A cow gives milk but a brown cow gives chocolate milk’? No… the wine gets its color from the skins. White wine is fermented without its skins; red wine with the skins. So, red grapes fermented without skins will result in a white wine.

If anyone got this right, go to the head of the class, and have a glass of wine. If anyone got these wrong, go to the head of the class and enjoy a wonderful glass of wine with your classmates!!!  ENJOY !!

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Vic Raimo, owner of V.E.Raimo.Brands LLC, is an importer of Italian boutique wines. As a  young boy, born in America, Vic was raised with the ideals and customs from both sides of the Atlantic. Growing up he came to appreciate the value and quality of product made with pride.  His artisan mindset, an appreciation for ‘the not massed produced’ has led him to seek out small to medium size vineyards each renown in their respective region for quality and price; yet unknown to the US and Global market place. It is these ‘gems’ that compromise their client list: an ever growing one.  Their products are not for every table but for those who appreciate the artisan quality.  Learn more.