Wine can be an intimidating subject to tackle. Whether you're headed to a winery for your first wine tasting, talking to a waiter at a restaurant, or trying to pick up a bottle for a dinner with your significant other, the subject of wine can be overwhelming. While there are many subtleties, differences and unique qualities of wine, there are some general and simple characteristics too.
Below is a general description of wine and the winemaking process.
Red Wine
Red grapes are harvested from vineyards and put into a crushing machine to remove the stems. This process also bring out the red color of the skins. The dryness or sweetness of a particular red wine is determined by the fermentation process. Fermenting all the sugar into alcohol will give you dry red wine. Stopping the fermenting process before all the sugar is turned to alcohol will give you sweet red wine. Additional alchohol is then added to get the wine to a 13-15% alcohol content. The wine is then aged in wooden barrels.
White Wine
Very similar to the red wine process, red and white grapes are fed into crushing machines to break up the pulp and remove the stems. For white wine, the colored skins are removed by the crusher. For dry white wine, all the sugar in solution is fermented to create alcohol. For sweet white wine, fermentation is stopped to leave some sugar, and alcohol is added. White wine is generally stored in stainless steel as opposed to wooden barrels and is served chilled.
Champagne
The "Champagne" region of France is technically where the only true champagne comes from. The main difference of champagne as opposed to wine is that there is a second fermentation process that actually occurs in the bottle. The crushing process of the grapes is similar to that of red and white wine.
These are some of the universal simplified aspects of wine making and wine. To make specific types of wine requires particular grapes unique to the wine. These may cabernet, pinot noir, or norton grapes which are all red wine grapes. Chardonnay, pinot grigio, and riesling are all white wine grapes. The quality and cost of the wine depends on the growing, harvesting and aging process of the wine.
Below is a general description of wine and the winemaking process.
Red Wine
Red grapes are harvested from vineyards and put into a crushing machine to remove the stems. This process also bring out the red color of the skins. The dryness or sweetness of a particular red wine is determined by the fermentation process. Fermenting all the sugar into alcohol will give you dry red wine. Stopping the fermenting process before all the sugar is turned to alcohol will give you sweet red wine. Additional alchohol is then added to get the wine to a 13-15% alcohol content. The wine is then aged in wooden barrels.
White Wine
Very similar to the red wine process, red and white grapes are fed into crushing machines to break up the pulp and remove the stems. For white wine, the colored skins are removed by the crusher. For dry white wine, all the sugar in solution is fermented to create alcohol. For sweet white wine, fermentation is stopped to leave some sugar, and alcohol is added. White wine is generally stored in stainless steel as opposed to wooden barrels and is served chilled.
Champagne
The "Champagne" region of France is technically where the only true champagne comes from. The main difference of champagne as opposed to wine is that there is a second fermentation process that actually occurs in the bottle. The crushing process of the grapes is similar to that of red and white wine.
These are some of the universal simplified aspects of wine making and wine. To make specific types of wine requires particular grapes unique to the wine. These may cabernet, pinot noir, or norton grapes which are all red wine grapes. Chardonnay, pinot grigio, and riesling are all white wine grapes. The quality and cost of the wine depends on the growing, harvesting and aging process of the wine.
About the Author:
To find out more about the basics of wine, wine making and how to become a bartender, click on the blue hyperlink to find out more!. This article, Become A Bartender: Wine Basics is available for free reprint.
No comments:
Post a Comment