It's easy to be intimidated by traditional wine rituals and rules instead of following your own intuition and palate to discover what you really enjoy. Fortunately, today almost anything goes, including many old myths, which are being busted by the modern wine industry. For instance, are you convinced that cork is better than cap? Unless you’re cellaring a wine for years, screw-tops and pop-off caps now preserve the product of many coveted wines, including countless Ontario VQAs. Still pairing only red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat? Sommeliers aren’t; most will now happily recommend white Burgundy or creamy Chardonnay with steak, or a Pinot Noir with poultry (or rosé with everything). If you’re drinking red wines at room temperature, the current consensus is that many of them are better served cool. Try putting your reds in the fridge for 30 minutes and, correspondingly, taking your whites out half an hour before serving to take off the big chill. There’s no right or wrong way to enjoy wine, but here are 10 new ideas to help you discover what’s new, exciting and worth trying.
