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Wine 101
What Makes
Wine Enjoyable Each of us is
evolving in our personal cultural experience. Perhaps you too have come to the place where
you're ready to experience more adventure as a connoisseur. There is culture in
wine. It can be found in the ritual of drinking it, appreciating the craft of the
winemaker, and in the wine's stimulation to our taste buds. And now, let us pursue
the pure taste enjoyment of wine.
When we drink wine, our taste buds are
stimulated in a unique way and the alcohol has a calming effect on the brain. Human
taste has four components: sweetness, saltiness, acidity and bitterness. The acidity
and sweetness in wine are the two factors that balance together to produce a
pleasant sensation on our sense of taste. We taste the acidity with the middle of
the tongue and sweetness with the tip of the tongue.
Wines with excessive acidity taste harsh,
those with insufficient acidity taste uninteresting and their flavor does not linger in
the mouth long enough. Tannins contribute to the relationship of bitterness on the
tongue. If you've ever chewed into grape seeds, then you've tasted the dry
bitterness of tannin. Wine with too much tannin is unpleasantly bitter. The
right level of tannin has an effect of bringing all the flavors together with a good
"grip" in the mouth. The various fruit-like flavors detectable in wine
contribute nuances to the sweetness we taste. It's fun trying to detect different
fruit characteristics, such as berries, plums, apples, pears...
Our other senses are involved as well.
Our sight enjoys the color and our sense of smell enjoys the fragrances. Much of a
wine's character is revealed only through the aroma it exudes. This adds richly to
the dimensions found in wine.
Grape Varieties
There are many species of grapes, but most of
the world's wine is made from the Vitis vinifera family, of European origin.
Wine grapes have various unique, signature characteristics. Check out the following
varietal grapes:
How Wine is Made
Wine grapes, Vitis vinifera, grow
easily in any temperate to warm climate. A solution of sugar and water develops in
ripe grapes and the skins easily allow the growth of natural yeasts. In the
fermentation process, these single cell organisms consume the natural sugar and change it
into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. This rather simple process has been observed
and used for thousands of years in human culture. In the past hundred years or so,
technology and new ideas from winemakers have played an ever-increasing role in the making
of wine. It's becoming more and more a science and an art.
Here are the basic principles of winemaking.
The grapes are either harvested by hand (this is best), or with mechanical
harvesters. Exposure to air should be kept to a minimum at all stages of the
process. Sometimes powdered sulfites are sprinkled on the grapes prior to crushing
to prevent too much reaction with the air. The fermentation usually takes place in
open vats. Several processes may be employed to give the wine clarity: fining and
filtration for example. Shortly after fermentation has ended, the wine is
transferred to a settling tank where filtration and other clarification techniques may be
used.
The Differences Between Red Wine and
White Winemaking
There are significant differences between red
wine and white wine production. Basically, red wine is the outcome of crushed,
fermented grapes. White wine is the outcome of fermented grape juice (that is, no
skins or meat of the fruit). Blush wines, out of interest, are made from red grapes
that are made into wine as though they were white grapes. The red grape skins add a
bit of color and nutrients to the juice being made into blush or rosé, leaving a slight
blush of red in the wine.
Red Wine
All grapes contain the same kind of green
fruity-meat, but red grapes have red skins and in the winemaking process, there is a
considerable amount of color, flavors and tannins that are imparted to the final product.
After crushing, the red grapes, skins and all, sit in a fermentation vat for a
period of time. Picture a huge plastic bin with a mixture of crushed grapes and
juice with a layer of crushed wet skins on top. The skins tend to rise to the
surface of the mixture, forming a layer on top. This top layer is frequently mixed
back into the fermenting juice (called must). After fermentation has
stopped, about one to two weeks later, the new wine is drawn from the vat. A bit of
"free run" juice is allowed to pour and then the remaining must is squeezed,
yielding "press wine". The wine is clarified and then transferred to oak
aging barrels so that it may mature. When the winemaker considers the wine ready, it
is transferred to bottles and labeled.
White Wine
Right after picking, white grapes are
put into a crushing machine. In the process, the skins are separated from the juice, an
important difference over the red wine process. Some adjustments are sometimes made
to the acid or sugar levels at this stage (the addition of sugar is called
"chaptalization"). The clarified juice is then ready for fermentation.
Yeast is then added to the juice for
fermentation. Before long the white grape juice becomes white wine. At this point,
some further tinkering is usually called for: filtering, and perhaps the addition of
sweeter juice to round out the flavor. The wine is then aged by storing in oak or
stainless steel containers, and after a few months, it is bottled.
How to Find Wines
You'll Enjoy
Get to know your wineries. This will take
some time, but you'll find brands you will trust for a consistently pleasant experience.
You need to try a few different reds and whites to get a sense for where your taste bud's
interests lie.
Australian red wines may be the best value
for what you get. They're a safe bet. In the white category, Chardonnay from
California (selling in the $10 to $13 range) is also a safe bet. This is an easy to grow
grape in the California climate. Two additional easy to drink white wines are Pinot Grigio
and Sauvignon Blanc. It's hard to go wrong with them.
Three Good Red Wines for $11 or Less
- Shiraz - Hardy's Nottage Hill (Australia)
- Rioja - Bodegas Monticillo (Spain)
- Cabernet Sauvignon - Fetzer Valley Oaks
(California)
Three Good White Wines for $11 or
Less
- Sauvignon Blanc - Canyon Road (California)
- Pinot Grigio - Mezza Corona (Italy)
- Riesling - Bernkasteler Kurfurstlay Kabinett
(Germany)
To
Our List of Consistently Good Wines
Information about Wine
Producing Countries
(this section being
re-written)
Wine Glossary
Get to know wine terms here.
For info on Grape Varietials, click
here.
Acid: An aspect of taste in
a wine. Sometimes described as sour or tart. The taste buds that detect acid are on the
sides of the tongue. The acidity of a wine is an important component that should
be in proper balance. Proper acidity provides crispness and life to the wine.
Appellation: The specific
area a wine comes from. It can refer to a region, such as Bordeaux or Burgundy in France,
for example. It can refer to an even more tightly defined sub-region within, say,
Bordeaux, such as The Médoc.
Balance: Harmony or
"being in tune" among the various components of wine, fruit, tannins, alcohol
and acidity.
Big: A wine that is powerful
in flavor or tremendously harmonious in how it presents its components (see
"balance") can be called big. You can also use this term if you just
really really like the wine!
Body: The texture and weight
of a wine. The more substantial and flavorful a wine tastes, the more body it has.
Bordeaux: The most important
wine region in France. Wines from this area are called "Bordeaux". Red wines
from Bordeaux are primarily blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. White
wines from the region are usually blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.
Bouquet: The array of aromas
in a wine. Also known as "the nose".
Brut: Refers to dry
Champagne or Sparkling Wine. The authorities in the Champagne region of France use this
term to denote added sugar.
Cava: The name for Sparkling
Wine (similar to Champagne) from Spain.
Chablis: White wine from the
Chablis area of France. Made from Chardonnay grapes.
Champagne: An important
region of France, most known for its production of the only sparkling wine that can
truly be called Champagne. The méthode champenoise was invented there.
Chewy: A way of describing
especially thick texture and/or tannins in red wine.
Claret (Clairet): In
England, "Claret" refers to English-style Bordeaux or wines from Bordeaux. In
France "Clairet" is a particular Bordeaux that is produced like red wine but the
must stays in contact with the skins for the first 24 hours during its making.
Complex: In wine-speak, this
is a positive term, referring to lots of different flavor and aroma components in a wine.
Dry/Off Dry: Little or no sugar =
"dry", slightly sweeter = "off dry".
Fruit: A key quality
in wine; the winemaker's goal is to capture the true essence of the varietal.
Icewine: A
special wine produced by leaving the grapes on the vine until they
are well frozen. They are then hand-picked and immediately pressed,
while still frozen. The frozen must is then fermented and aged in
barrels. Icewine is thick and sweet with rich and complex
flavors.
Late Harvest:
Indicates grapes that are picked as late as possible in the season for maximum sugar
content.
Malolactic: Often used
in the making of Chardonnay; an additional fermentation that turns malic acids into lactic
acids. Compare apples vs. creamy vanilla.
Oak: Wine is often
aged in oak barrels to add that distinctive "oaky" flavor. The process can
add a hint of vanilla and butter to whites and tobacco, coffee or simply "oak"
flavor to reds.
Sauternes:
An elegant sweet dessert wine from Bordeaux France. Also the name of
the commune within Bordeaux. The main grape varieties in this wine
are Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle. The grapes are
hand-picked in 5 to 6 passes, having been left on the vines much
longer than normal. In addition, due to ideal conditions that exist
partly due to the nearby Garonne river, noble rot sets in
(botrytis). These factors give the wine its distinctive flavors and
sweetness. It is usually aged in French Oak barrels, often for 12 to
24 months. This is a sophisticated dessert wine and an
excellent alternative to Icewine or a Late Harvest.
Tannin: This taste
sensation comes from seeds, stems and skins of grapes, imparting a "pucker" to
the taste as well as complexity and structure.
Varietal: Refers to
wine made from a specific grape variety like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
or Chardonnay.
Variety: Refers
to a specific type of grape that when made into wine becomes a
varietal, as in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Chardonnay.
Vinifera: Premium wine
grapes.
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