WINE crosses all social, cultural, religious, and geographic boundaries. Drinking wine and eating food with family and friends as a social act became the basis of civilisation that was part of learning, socialisation, religious life and also significantly, philosophy in ancient Greece. Wine helps to facilitate a connection of people to each other, an ideal, and a sense of place. The buzz (technically — euphoria) from enjoying wine results in you being in a better mood, it releases you from being stressed about yesterday and worrying about tomorrow, it promotes increased self-confidence and decreased inhibitions (can be good and bad). Small wonder that so many people want to learn more about wine.

This week we sat with a number of wine lovers at the Wray & Nephew Academy, and here were some of the questions:

Q. What is all this swirling and sniffing about?

A. The purpose of swirling wine in a glass is to aerate the wine and release vapours from the sides of the glass for you to smell. We smell because 80 per cent of our sense of taste is actually in our nose. The aromas can be quite different depending on how far into the glass your nose goes. What do you smell? There is no proper sniffing technique. Some wine connoisseurs prefer to sniff by quickly inhaling two or three times. Others prefer one deep sniff or smelling with one nostril at a time. The point behind this whole ritual of swirling and sniffing is that what you smell should be pleasurable, maybe even fascinating, and that you should have fun in the process.

Q. I thought screwcaps were only for cheap wines, but I notice many more wines with screwcaps on the supermarket shelves. Has something changed?

A. Screwcaps are no longer the sign of a cheap wine. Screwcap closures or “Stelvin caps” are closures made from aluminium material that threads onto the bottleneck. Screw caps form a tighter seal and can keep out oxygen for a longer time than cork. These benefits help to maintain the wine’s overall quality and aging potential.

Q. Why do some red wines give me a headache?

A. No one know exactly what causes red wine headaches. With that said, they are lots of theories. Some of the components that are said to cause these headaches are sulphites, tannins, or histamines. Small groups have done research and each group might show some reason why these components might cause headaches in some people; however, no all-encompassing conclusive evidence exists as yet. My recommendations: (1) Raise the quality level of the red wine that you drink. (2) Drink a glass of water with every glass of wine.

Q. The cork crumbled when I opened the bottle, does this mean the wine is bad?

A. Absolutely not. While a crumbling cork might cause some concern, it is not a definitive indicator that the wine is bad. The only way to find out is to taste the wine. A crumbling cork only means that the cork has dried out. A number of factors can contribute to a dried-out cork, including the wine’s age (older corks will be drier) as well as how the wine was stored. If the bottle was stored in an area with very dry air, that could dry out the cork. In addition, if wine is stored upright rather than on its side, the cork could dry out more because it is not being kept moist by having contact with the wine.

More popular questions and answers next week!

Christopher Reckord — Entrepreneur & Wine Enthusiast. Send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. Instagram: @chrisreckord Twitter: @Reckord