Your most commonly asked wine queries, answered by food and wine writer Richard Ehrlich.

6. Is a ¡ê15 bottle of wine always better than one that costs ¡ê4.99?

Usually, the answer will be yes - a lot better. A fixed part of the retail price pays for things that have nothing to do with quality: bottle, closure, label, shipping, duty and VAT (around ¡ê1.25 per bottle). So the wine in a ¡ê4.99 bottle can represent as little as ¡ê1.30 of its retail price.

Since all those costs are roughly stable, however expensive the wine, every extra pound you spend means you're spending proportionally more on the wine itself. But the harder question is: how much better will the more expensive wine be?

Some wines come from expensive areas. To use just one example, a ¡ê15 Chardonnay from Burgundy (very expensive real estate) might not be 3 times better than a ¡ê4.99 Chardonnay from Chile¡¯s Curic¨® valley (cheaper real estate). And some sell for more because of prestige value. The bottom line is: do trade up to more expensive wines, but buy them very carefully.

7. Are there any foods that just shouldn't be served with wine?

Every wine drinker might have his or her own answers. Mine is threefold: first of all, green or mixed salads. Vinegar is too sharply acidic to flatter any wine you drink with it; though wine can work with salads dressed with strong-tasting oil and just very lightly with vinegar.

Second, very sweet things are a tough match generally, and worst of all is ice cream. Unless the frozen stuff is just one small component of a larger dessert, its profound cold (plus sweetness) will tend to mask the qualities of any really good wine.

Third, I've never had a wine that really did good things for chocolate. Chocolate is just too intense for most wine, whether in its plain state or in a dessert. Funnily enough, some beers (especially dark beers) go better with chocolate than wine. But I stress again that this is a personal view; others may disagree with me violently.

7. What should I do with unfinished bottles?

This depends on how much is left in them, but the principle is always the same: keep air from getting to the wine, because air affects its flavour and aroma. If the bottle is nearly full, just re-cork and refrigerate for up to a week. If it's a little less than half-full, put it in an empty, very clean half-bottle - which I always save, when I buy one, just for this purpose.

For all other situations, it's worth investing in WineSaver, a canister of inert gas which you squirt into the open bottle. After re-corking, the gas sits on top of the wine to keep air from getting in. Another product, VacuVin, works by pumping air out of the bottle through a special rubber stopper; it¡¯s good, but not as good as Winesaver. Very small quantities are best used for cooking, including salad dressings.

8. What's the 'normal' alcohol level for a wine? Does it make a difference to the taste?

There is no normal level that applies to all wines. Most wine contains between 11 and 13.5 per cent alcohol, but some go as low as 6 per cent and some as high as 16 per cent. Alcohol levels are determined by complex interacting factors, including grape variety, vineyard location and management, picking dates and handling after harvest.

Generally speaking, hot climates (parts of Australia, California and South Africa are prime examples) produce more ripeness and therefore higher levels of potential alcohol. If the wine is well made, you will not notice even high alcohol levels because the wine possesses balance: everything in it is just right. If the alcohol is too high, you will notice it as a hot feeling in the mouth plus a type of neutral sweetness. These are undesirable attributes, though average alcohol levels have risen in recent decades so you might not even notice the difference.

9. What difference does it make whether a wine is oaked or unoaked?

Wine is sometimes fermented and/or aged in oak barrels, or in inert containers with oak chips or barrel staves inside them, to add extra aromas and flavours. There are huge, forbiddingly complex variables in the use of oak, but in general terms, the more contact a wine has with active (naturally occurring) chemicals contained in the wood, the more effect the wood will have on its character.

Wood adds (among other characteristics) sweetness, toasty and buttery flavours, overall richness and ageing potential. In a well made wine, the right amount of oak is wonderful. But if there is too much of it, or if the oak is used in a cheap form (oak bits), or if the wine itself is low in flavour, the benefit is doubtful. Excessive oak flavours can dominate, producing an unbalanced, even sickly wine. If you want to see the difference that oak makes, compare two classic Burgundies: an unoaked Chablis and a good Meursault.

10. Do I need to let wine 'breathe'?

Broadly speaking, the answer is no. Leaving the cork out of the bottle exposes it to just a tiny bit of air, which is what makes wine change while it¡¯s breathing. But the rate of change is exceedingly slow if all you¡¯ve done is pull the cork. And in any case, only certain types of wine benefit from contact with air: almost always red, and mostly young, robustly flavoursome reds where the harsh tannins can soften up a little bit and the flavours and aromas develop through contact with air.

If you want to achieve that softening effect, it is much better to pour the wine into a decanter, or even just a clean jug. If you¡¯re not serving the wine for a while, put the stopper in the decanter or a clean plate over the mouth of the jug to keep dust (or insects!) from getting in.

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