20 things not to know about wine

1. France and Italy account for 40% of the world's wine production. But these two countries also… drink most of it and export only about 1% of their output. Of the English-speaking countries, Australia is the most wine-consuming country.

2. We tend to drink white wines at cold temperatures and red wines at warm temperatures. In fact, if you drink it too cold, the flavor of the grapes will be suppressed in the oak aroma of the barrel and the tannins secreted from the bark will be exaggerated. Drinking too hot is also not good because it increases the alcohol but reduces the taste of tannins, which give the wine a very characteristic taste in the mouth. The most suitable temperature for red wine is 15-18 degrees Celsius and the temperature for white wine is 8-12 degrees Celsius.

3. Letting the wine "breathe" is the way it exudes charm. But if you simply flip the button and stand the bottle upright, you won't be able to feel it all. You should ventilate it by, preferably, pouring from the bottle into another vessel.

4. The average Chinese person drinks only 0.3 liters of wine a year. This figure of the French is… 59 liters!

5. There are nearly 60 delicious grapes that can be used as ingredients for fine wines. It is quite special when the popular shiraz grape (in France and the US called Syrah) was once believed to have originated from… Iran, a Muslim country with few wine drinkers. The theory that shiraz originated in the Rhone valley of France seems more reasonable!

6. The type of grape does not determine the sweetness of the wine, it is the producers who decide. Any type of grape can produce a sweet or astringent wine.

7. The most expensive bottle of wine is a 1787 bottle of Chateau Lafite that sold for $160,000 in 1985. Of course, it's too old to drink the Bordeaux wine inside, but it's still expensive because it was once owned by the former General. Thomas Jefferson and had his initials engraved on it.

8. Shaking a glass of wine not only makes you look more stylish, but it also helps your sense of smell to taste better. Wide shaking increases the contact area, the fragrance will be more fragrant.

9. Today, about 52% of wine consumption in Australia is canned or bag wine. 20 years ago, the rate was 64%.

10. Every bottle of wine has a dent in the bottom. There are many theories about its origin and effects. The three main theories are:- To facilitate stacking.- Wine bottles stand more stable with concave bottoms than flat bottoms.- Concave bottoms helped settle sediments in old red wines and aid in pouring out easier.

11. The largest wine company in the world is Constellation Wines, headquartered in Fairport, NewYork (USA). The company sells more than 9 million barrels a year.

12. Grapes and wine share flavors when combined with a variety of herbs, spices, vegetables, fruits and other organic matter. That's why appraisers often use terms like "peach", "vanilla" or "chili".

13. Why are wine bottles "sticky" with the smell of cork? Is it because while opening you accidentally broke the cork into the bottle? That is a misconception. In fact, the flavor destroyer is a chemical compound from the cork itself.

14. Champagne is usually white, but mostly from red grapes.

15. Why does the poured champagne bubble? It looks spectacular, but the explanation is quite simple: When alcohol ferments, carbon dioxide is created. When the wine is bottled, the gas is also sealed. Turn on the cork, the pressure is released causing the gas to dissolve to form beautiful sparkling wine glasses.

16. If wine were a living thing, it would quickly rot. Winemakers don't want live bacteria active in their wine.

17. The juice from all the grapes for making wine is very clear. Red wines are fermented with the rind to create color.

18. Only a relatively small number of wines produced each year have an increase in sweetness with aging. Mostly fine reds, high-sweet whites, and a few famous acrid whites.

19. The average lifespan of a French oak tree (used for wine storage) is 170 years.

20. Wine has very natural ingredients compared to other alcoholic beverages.