Guide to Basic Wine Knowledge

Novice and experienced wine drinkers share the need for basic wine knowledge, particularly when it comes to entertaining. With some basic knowledge and understanding, you can confidently select, buy, and serve wine.

Understanding Wine

Wine is made from fermented grape juice. Wines can be made from other fruits, as well, and these types of wines are usually labeled as fruit wine or the name of the fruit and wine, such as strawberry wine or blackberry wine. Winemaking has been around in some form or another for thousands of years, and it involves the fermentation of juice from the wine grapes or other fruits.

Wine Types

Wines can be broken down into various types:

• Red wines are made from black-skinned grapes and can range from dry to sweet. Red wines get their colors from the juice being left in contact with the skin for part of the winemaking process.
• White wines are made from bronze-skinned grapes and can range from dry to sweet.
• Blush or rosé wines are made mostly from black-skinned grapes or from a blend of bronze-skinned and black-skinned grapes.
• Orange wines are made from bronze-skinned grapes using the process for red wines; that is, leaving the juice in contact with the skin for part of the winemaking process. The result is an interesting white wine with red wine characteristics.
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• Sparkling wines can be red, white, or rosé, although whites and rosés are the most common. Sparkling wines are made via various methods and include popular varieties such as Champagne, Prosecco, Sekt, and Cava among others. They can range from dry to sweet.
• Fortified wines are made by adding neutral grape spirits to wine to increase the alcohol level, and sometimes sugar is added. Wines such as Port and Sherry are fortified wines.
• Fortified aromatized wines are made by adding neutral grape spirits, botanicals, and possibly sugar to wine. Vermouth is a classic example of a fortified aromatized wine.
• Single varietal wines contain just one grape.
• Wine blends are made by blending different varietals together.

Sweetness

Wines range from dry, which means without sweetness or much residual sugar, to sweet. Most sweet wines are labeled as a sweet wine, late harvest wine, dessert wine, or ice wine, although some wines are characteristically sweet without being labeled as such, such as Moscato, Muscadine, and Port.

Vintage

The vintage is the year in which the wine grapes were harvested. Wines can either be labeled as vintage or non-vintage. Vintage wines will have a date listed on the wine label, while non-vintage wines will either be labeled as NV or simply have no vintage listed. A majority of red, white, and rosé wines have a vintage listed. Sparkling wines, fortified wines such as Port, and some dessert wines may be either vintage or non-vintage.

How Wine Is Labeled

You will typically find wines labeled in one of three ways:

• Wines labeled by varietal have the name of the grape varietal used in the wine. For example, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are varietal labeled wines named for the grape they contain. By law, varietal-labeled wines from the United States must contain 75 percent of the named varietal. Wines from the rest of the world must contain 85 percent of the named varietal to be labeled this way.
• Wines can also be labeled by region. This is common in Old World style wines from France, Italy, and Spain such as Bordeaux, Champagne, Priorat, or Chianti. When wines are labeled by region, it typically means the grapes were grown in that region and they contain a single varietal or blend of specific grapes. For example, Bordeaux wines contain grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot while red Burgundy wines contain Pinot Noir and white Burgundies contain Chardonnay.
• Some wines are also "named." These wines may have names such as Penfold's Grange, which is a Shiraz wine that may have some Cabernet Sauvignon blended in. They may also be named after the vineyard in which the grapes are grown.
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