Wine is considered as one of the most nuanced, complex, and diverse drinks in the world. It’s a classy alcoholic drink that was even regarded by some experts as good for the heart and rich in antioxidants.
But apart from these commonly known facts, there are actually more to wine than meets the eye.
Wines are made out of fermenting grapes. But, these grapes are not the regular ones you usually find in grocery stores. These are a special variety of grapes that are manually harvested and processed to make various types of wines that are popularly enjoyed around the world.
If you’re new a newbie in the world of wine or just wants to know about the basics about them before trying out, here are some facts to get you started.
Red Wine
The production of red wine involves adding the grape pip, grape skin, and seed for the fermentation process. These ingredients will be fermented in higher temperature to extract tannin, color, flavor, and aroma with different concentration level that varies during the fermentation process.
Sokolin Wine Ratings recommends Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Pinot Noir for wine beginners.
For food pairing, light-bodied red wines are best consumed with grilled vegetables and white meat such as fish or chicken. On the other hand, medium to full-bodied red wines are best paired with meat dishes such as smoked meat, hamburgers, and steak.
When it comes to recommended serving, red wines are best served in a big bowl glass to allow for a better oxidation process.
Also Read: DIY – How To Make Fruit Wine At Home
White Wine
Contrary to the popular belief that white wines are made out of white grapes alone, they are actually produced using either red or black grapes. The precise way to process white wine is to take out the red pigments and use only the grape juice.
White wine grape juice has bright, creamy, and savory flavor characters according to inputs. Riesling, Chardonnay, Moscato, and Sauvignon Blanc are the recommended varieties for wine beginners.
The best way to indulge with white wine is to pair it with creamy cheese or soft cheese, meat, fish, white bread, salads, or seafood.
Further, white wines are best served on a suitable, tall size wine glasses.
Rose Wine
Rose wines, also known as Rosato or Rosada in different countries, have distinct pinkish and rosy shades that are made out of red or black grapes whose fermentation time only takes about 12 up to 36 hours. But it can also be produced straight away just by mixing white and red wine together.
When the skin of the grapes is left sitting in the cask for a longer period, the finished rose wines will have darker shades.
They also have sweet to dry flavor and a low tannin( textural element that gives a dry taste to wines) level. These wines are also best enjoyed with fruits and light flavored dishes such as poultry and fish.
Sweet or Dessert Wine
There is no fixed definition for sweet or dessert wines because the character of its sweetness varies depending on if it is served before or after a meal or dessert.
In some countries like the United Kingdom, people typically consume sweet white wines before the meal as an aperitif, and sweet red wine to clean their palate after. Sweet wine can be categorized into Tawny, Port, or Sherry, to name a few.
Apart from desserts, these wines are also best consumed with soft cheese and smoked meats. They are also best served on small, shot glasses.
Sparkling Wine
Sparkling wines are a carbonated type of wines. Champagne is one good example of bubbly sparkling wine. This wine’s sparkling quality comes from the infused carbon dioxide with significant levels.
It can be categorized further according to region. For instance, sparkling wines are called Prosecco or Asti from Italy, Cava in Spain, and Champagne from France’s wine region.
This kind of wine complements well cheese, bread, salad, and fish. It is also recommended to drink sparkling wines on elegant tall glasses to retain bubbles and temperature.
Fortified Wine
Back in the day, fortifying was a method to preserve wines. Now, this method is used to incorporate more flavors to the finished wine products. These wines are actually distilled spirits such as port wine, Madeira, Sherry, and others.
Fortified wines provide variations in flavor which makes them as an excellent dessert or aperitif wine options.
Takeaway
The first step to getting a good grasp of wines is to know about their different types. For most people, identifying wines is as easy as using eyes to identify their colors, but it’s not really the case. Each type of wine has its own identity and character, which make them unique. If you wish to get more up-close about wines, start by reading about the different types of wine and work your way from there.
