What is Wine?
Wine is an Alcoholic Drink
made from
Fermented Grapes
During fermentation, Yeast consumes the Sugar in the grapes and transforms it into Alcohol and Carbon Dioxide.
Different grapes, yeasts, and production methods create different wine styles:
Red Wine
White Wine
Rosé Wine
Sparkling Wine
Dessert Wine
Fortified Wine
Red Wine
Red wines are made from black grapes (dark-colored red wine grape varieties).
Red wines get their colors and flavors from the grape skin while the skins soakes in the juice.
The common alcohol content of a red wine is between 12% and 15%.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Pinot Noir
Syrah/Shiraz
Sangiovese
Nebbiolo
Tempranillo
White Wine
White wines are made from white grapes (light-colored white grape varieties).
A few white wines are made from black grapes.
White wines get their flavors from the grape juice. Grapes are pressed quickly to drain the juice away from the skins.
The common alcohol content of a white wine is between 10% and 14%.
Rosé Wine
Rosé wines get their pink color from a very short contact with the skins (a few hours).
Most rosé wines are made from red grape varieties.
Sparkling Wine (Bubbles)
The bubbles in sparkling wines come from Carbon Dioxide (CO2) trapped in the bottle.
There are 3 methods to create bubbles in wine:
- Secondary Fermentation in the Bottle
- Pressurized Tank
- Carbon Dioxide Injection
Sparkling wine can be made in any any color (white, rosé, or red), but the most common are white or rosé. Exceptions are Lambrusco and Sparkling Shiraz.
Dessert Wine
Dessert wines are sweet wines with high levels of sugar.
The common alcohol content of a dessert wine is less than 10%.
Fortified Wine
Fortified wines are wines with added spirit, usually brandy. As a consequence they have an alcohol content between 15-22%.
The sweetness of fortified wines, varies from dry to sweet.
Still Wine
"Still Wine" means nonsparkling wine (without Carbon Dioxide).
The majority of the wines on the marked are still wines (red, white, rosé, dessert, and fortified wines).
Wine Names
Most wines are named after the grape variety, but wines are also named after the region of origin:
Region Name | Grape Name |
|
Bordeaux |
Cabernet Sauvignon |
|
Burgundy Red |
Pinot Noir |
|
Chianti |
Sangiovese |
|
Rioja |
Tempranillo |
|
Burgundy White |
Chardonnay |
|
Sancerre |
Sauvignon Blanc |
Wine growing areas in EU. Source: Eurostat.