8 Wine Myths That Still Make You Overspend (and Drink Worse)

In the shop aisle, someone puts a fairly priced bottle back on the shelf and walks off with the pricier one, just so as not to look bad. At the next table, another person decants a young red that never asked for it, and a third apologizes for wanting red wine with fish. Wine myths travel like this, from one long dinner to the next, and they almost always charge something: money, pleasure or both.

Here are eight that are still alive, each with what the studies say and with the story on this site where we explain it in depth. The health myths, like sulfites and hangovers, have their own guide on sulfites and headaches. These ones are about drinking habits and money.

011. Does wine always get better with age?

Only a minority does. One estimate repeated by wine encyclopedias and guides, with no census behind it, puts about 90% of wine as made to be drunk within its first year and nearly all of it within the first five. Whites, rosés and young reds are best enjoyed within a year or two of the harvest. Reds with oak aging last longer and sometimes reward it, as we explain in our guide to reading the label and the vintage. Cellaring a simple rosé just for the sake of it only strips away its fruit, and in a shop an old vintage on an everyday white or rosé is a bad sign, so ask for the most recent one.

022. Is an expensive wine always better?

A study published in 2008 in the Journal of Wine Economics pulled together more than 6,000 blind tastings and found that, without seeing the price, people with no wine training did not enjoy expensive bottles more. The link between price and rating came out small and even negative. Among people with training, the link was positive or at least not negative.

In Mexico, Profeco, the federal consumer protection agency, found something similar in 2015. Two L.A. Cetto reds that cost 95 pesos at the time came out rated very good, and one that cost 202 pesos came out merely fair. What is left of that study and how to find good domestic wine today without overpaying is in our guide to Mexican wines for the money. Part of what you pay is also taxes that grow with the value of the bottle, as we detail in why Mexican wine costs more.

033. Is it a sin to drink red with fish?

It is a simplified rule. What matters in a pairing is tannin, oak and alcohol, more than color. According to the principles of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, umami hardens a wine and makes it feel more astringent, while the salt and acidity of the dish soften it. That is why a very tannic red clashes with a delicate fish, and why a pescado a la talla or zarandeado (fish grilled over embers with a chile marinade) takes a light red without trouble, as we recommend in our guide to pairing wine with Mexican food.

044. Do you have to decant every wine?

No. A decanter does two jobs: it separates the sediment from older reds, which is natural but feels rough and bitter if it reaches the glass, and it gives air to a young, tannic red that shows closed when first opened. A fresh white, a rosé or a light red does not need it, and a very old wine can lose in the decanter the aromas it gained in the bottle. To air a young red without a decanter, pour it, swirl the glass and give it a few minutes. Oxygen helps at first and then costs you, as we measured, style by style, in how long an open bottle of wine lasts.

055. Is Mexican wine not up to par?

International juries say otherwise. In the Peñín Guide to the wines of Mexico 2026, three reds reached 94 points: the Sol de Noche 2023 from Bodegas del Viento, in Coahuila, the Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 from the Guidova winery, also in Coahuila, and the Gran Ricardo 2023 from Monte Xanic, in Guadalupe Valley (Valle de Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico. At Bacchus and at Decanter, where tastings are blind, there were Mexican medals too, and at Bacchus Guanajuato was the state that led the country's count. The full tally is in what the 2026 awards say. A medal does not guarantee that you will like a wine, but it does disprove the idea that the country cannot compete.

066. Does it not matter which glass you serve wine in?

Something matters. A clear glass shaped like a tulip and filled to a third lets the wine swirl and concentrates the aroma, and you do not need a whole collection. The rest is in our guide to tasting wine.

077. Is natural cork better than a screw cap?

Not always. Natural cork can be tainted with TCA, the compound that leaves wine smelling like wet cardboard or a damp cellar. The cork industry puts the problem at 1 to 2% of bottles, and in 2005 a review of about 2,800 bottles tasted at the Wine Spectator facilities in Napa found the flaw in 7%.

If a bottle smells musty when you open it, ask for a replacement. In a restaurant or a serious shop it is a recognized defect. A screw cap almost eliminates that risk, although a tainted winery can pass it on by other routes. Cork still makes sense for wines meant to age, and for a wine drunk young, a screw cap is a trustworthy choice. There is one practical difference: a corked bottle is stored lying down, as we recommend in our guide to Mexican wines to give as gifts, so the cork does not dry out, while a screw-cap bottle can stand upright.

088. Is canned wine poor quality?

A can is a container. The quality depends on the wine inside and how it was packed. Studies from Cornell University showed that, with the right interior lining and few active sulfites, wine keeps well in a can for months. It is a format for young, chilled wines, not for keeping. Which Mexican wines come in a can and what a serving costs are in our story on canned wine in Mexico.

There are more table customs that deserve a second look, like serving red at room temperature, which on a hot day does the glass no favors. We explain it in why red wine is worth serving cold.

And to disprove the fifth myth on its home ground, nothing beats a tasting in the vineyard where the wine is born. The wine routes of Mexico, state by state tell you where to start.