Order Wine with Confidence

It doesn’t make sense then to compare it to wines grown elsewhere. It’s like saying that Palm Trees are better than Maple Trees. When in Florida, enjoy the Palm Trees; when you’re in New England, enjoy the Maples. Sampling the wines of a particular area lets us actually “taste” that region. Mike Doyle, owner the Pleasant Valley Wine Company in near Hammondsport, in New York’s scenic Finger Lakes Region, also advises not to let the many wine myths keep you from enjoying wine as well.

Established in 1860, the Pleasant Valley Wine Company, is the oldest winery in the region, the first bonded winery in the country, and the home of eight buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s also known as the Great Western Winery because this is where Great Western Sparkling Wine is produced.

Wine is meant to be enjoyed, Doyle says, and encourages people not to let these myths get in their way:

 MYTH: “Cork is the only thing to cap a bottle of wine or Champagne” - Really tests have shown that a small percentage of even the best corks have imperfections that allow air to enter the bottle and spoil the wine. The 100% air-tight closure is the screw top cap. Even the newer plastic “corks” that some wineries are going to in order to maintain the mystique of opening a wine bottle allow some spoilage.

 MYTH “Extra Dry” Champagne is the choice of gourmets” – “Extra Dry” is actually the sweetest, “natural” is the driest with “brut” in between. U.S. citizens are thought to prefer sweet wines and the sparkling wine industry’s advertising developed the name “extra dry” to make them feel sophisticated.

 MYTH: Older wines are not necessarily better. Mr. Doyle has been at tastings of very old, highly praised (“What a delicate bouquet!”) wines - that were obviously oxidized.

 MYTH: Expensive is not necessarily better. He has also tasted some $350/ bottle that he wouldn’t “pour down my neck.”

Mr. Doyle’s advice, “ If it tastes good to you, drink it, and enjoy.”

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