Gio's Little List of Odd Wine Tips

Here's a little list of five odd tips I've picked up about wine:

1. The foil wrapper around the top of a bottle possesses no functionality whatsoever, and is there today for decoration, only (shelf-appeal, mainly). So when I buy a bottle, I cut the foil off before storing...making opening and serving the wine later more convenient (especially when entertaining more than a handful of guests)
   
2. If you hold your wine glass with your hand wrapped around the bowl (rather than by the stem) you'll warm the wine with your body heat and quickly change its taste profile as a result. Use the stem as a handle...and avoid stemless glasses
3. The most approachable, affordable and refreshing bubbly does not originate from France's Champagne region, but from Catalunya, Spain (Cava) and Italy's Veneto (Prosecco)
4. An easy way to ballpark the origin of a wine is to swirl it in the glass rapidly for about 10 seconds, and sniff: the more earth you smell (dirt, barnyard, must, grass, herbs, floral, minerals) the more likely the wine is Old World. The more fruit (fresh or candied), New World. This can get interesting, as some European wines are now produced in a New World style (fruit forward), and vice-versa. Note: Chilean reds are a knuckle ball, nearly always coming up Old World!
   
5. For reds, the browner the wine appears in your glass, the older the vintage is likely to be. Or put another way, the brighter the red, the younger the wine.