Would you share your wine with a fly?

[Robin Garr]

In another thread we're talking about the hypothesis that men and women tend to react differently when a fruit fly, gnat, bee or other insect drops into our wine glass: Men usually flick it out and go on drinking. Women dispose of the glass.

Is this gender stereotyping accurate? Let's find out! Please select the poll choice that best represents your attitude, and then join in a discussion with details of your experiences. Here's an essay I wrote on this topic, from a Wine Advisor article back in 2001.

[Jenise]

Let me be the first to say: no way. Once the bug lands, IT'S DIRTY!!!!!

Absolutely, I've done it on many occassions.

I'm not particularly squeamish, so a gnat or fruit fly wouldn't make me bat an eye.

I'm pretty sure I've even removed larger insects like bees and continued to drink (making sure all legs, wings, etc. were gone too, of course).

Now, if a cockroach were to decide to take a dip, no way. I'd definitely dump it then, and get a new glass.

Gnats? Maybe not. flies are utterly filthy little beasties.

How much could a fly drink anyway?
charles

At the moment we have 14% of males and 14% of females voting contrary to the gender norm. Interesting. I wonder if the same applies to the 30-seconds-on-the-ground rule? (or whatever length of time it is supposed to be) K Story, glad you draw the line at cockroaches.

I do follow the 30 second rule Unless a fly was standing on that spot, then nope. Haven't you guys seen the movie The Fly? How could you drink something touched at all by such a creature?

At the moment we have 14% of males and 14% of females voting contrary to the gender norm. Interesting. I wonder if the same applies to the 30-seconds-on-the-ground rule? (or whatever length of time it is supposed to be) K Story, glad you draw the line at cockroaches.

Roaches just creep me out for some reason, always have. Most other bugs don't bother me. Centipedes are kind of gross, not sure what I'd do if one of those ended up in my glass. As for the "dirty" aspect that everyone seems most bothered by; I'm one of those people who thinks that a certain amount of exposure to germs is good - keeps your system on its toes and makes you more likely to be able to fight off sicknesses caused by a lot of these germs. I think we've all seen the news specials where they go around a city swabbing various things that we come into contact with frequently, and we realize there's tons of "nasty" stuff all over everything. Unless you're constantly washing your hands, you're going to ingest some pretty disgusting germs. So I figure, what's a few more from the fruit fly going to hurt?

As for food hitting the ground, I subscribe to the 10 second rule...

Poor JC, she's not going to want to share a table at Dino's w/ me now

I just let the insect stay in long enough to be sterilized by the alcohol. And if not, that's what I have an immune system for.

Some of you know what I did in my former career, so insects in wine? That's so nothing! I am not at all squeamish. Obviously.

I voted maybe and bet if a lot of you thought about it you would also. If I am drinking Yellow Tail (God forbid), out it goes. If I am drinking '61 Lafite I would take a spoon, get the fly and 1/100th of an ounce below him (just in case he pooped) throw it out and then proceed to drink the wine. We are most likely all somewhere in the middle. Out goes all OZ, SA, CF, and oaky wines plus anything less than 4 years old. I use the spoon on all wines over 10 years plus all 1st Growths. Would have to think about the wines not fitting any of these catagories. It also depends on wether this is my first glass or my 5th. Probably get more fly friendly the more I drink.

If you look at me you can see I have drank a lot of flies in my life.

Walt

[Jenise]

Robin, make sure Mary votes!

Doesn't the alcohol kill any germs?

The logic of your question has merit but no bearing, I'm afraid, on us who vote no. It's the knowledge that it was in there: bugs are dirrty and repulsive so now the wine they swam in is dirty and repulsive.

What usually happens at our house is that if the bug goes into my glass, Bob switches glasses with me.

Depends on the bug..depends on the wine...I'd just have to make it a judgement call at the time. But generally, small insects don't "bug" me.

Richard

Is it serendipity or intentional that this poll appears right on the heels of the posting about the antibacterial aspects of wine? As recently reported, “Exposure to wine had a persistent antibacterial effect,” the authors wrote in their study, detailed in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Just for the record, I voted maybe. It really depends on how much of what kind of wine was in my glass at the time.

-- Clark

In any event, it's worth looking at permitted levels of insect parts and other substances permitted in the foods we eat and drink every day.

Bob,
Excellent point! Probably already a fly in the wine. I think Charles makes an excellent point.
Walt

[David M. Bueker]

How long has it been in there? Does the 5 second rule apply?

As a former Marine, I've picked flies, fruit flies, and other critters out of my glass of wine, flicked them across the room and still enjoyed the wine. Cockroaches and spiders are in a different category.

During the summer, my house attracts enough Drosophila for me to start my own full-time genetics lab. If I weren't willing to share my evening meal glass of wine with a few fruit flies, I'd never be able to drink anything.

-Paul W.

Gnats? Maybe not. flies are utterly filthy little beasties.

Common flies, for sure.

Fruit flies (Drosophila spp.) are a different matter. If you eat fresh, organic fruit, you are consuming Drosophila maggots by the hundreds. It can't be helped--they are ubiquitous on fresh, unsprayed fruit. As occasional suicide victims in the wine glass, the adult fruit flies are unwelcome guests, but not unclean.

-Paul W.

Like others have stated, it depends on the critter. The ones I tolerate can stay; as they contain more protein than the wine.

K Story--still look forward to sharing a table with you at Dino's

Paul Winalski--thanks a lot for tainting my enjoyment of fresh fruit with a gross mind image

Seems to me one of the rules for consuming bugs is that smooth bodied bugs are O.K., but hairy ones are not. That said, if a bug appears in my wine glass I just scoop him/her/it out and continue drinking.

[Robin Garr]

Robin, make sure Mary votes!

Hey! She'll just cancel my vote!

Oh, all right. <grumble>

Consuming drosophila maggots by the hundreds? Eggs maybe. (They're pretty small and hard to see.) Maggots (larva) I sure hope not.

In high school I raised many thousands of drosophila for genetics experiments. I'm familiar enough with their life cycle and larvae to last a lifetime. I don't want to ingest them if I can help it.