20/01/2021
Part 1
It’s again and you probably enjoying your favorite bottle as you read this. But before you do, just how much do you about that bottle you are about to pop open? For many people the choice of wine they consume is often determined by what they are familiar with; something that you maybe enjoyed at a party or a friend recommended or brought over for dinner. For some that choice is determined by what they can afford or what the consider as a reasonably price bottle.
With such a wide variety of wines to choose from out there, why are you limited to only that one particular brand you prefer while there are wines suited for every occasion, time and season. My mantra has always been that the only “best way” to enjoy any is drink is the way that you enjoy it. It does not make sense to pay for a drink that you love, follow al the set rules for that particular but then find that you do not enjoy it when you follow the rules.
That said it is more true (sic) that when you have an understanding of your preferred drink and the rules around it, you will not only have a deeper appreciation of it, you will also discover new way to enjoy it.
As we embark on the new year, let us together begin to explore wonderful worlds of wine starting by understanding a few common terms that you may come across when buying or enjoying wine.
For most, the categories of wine are Red or White, Sweet or Dry the assumption being that red wine is made from red grapes and white wine from white grapes. In reality what makes wine red or white is the skins, the longer the vintner (wine maker) allows the skins of the grapes to sit in the grape juice as it ferments the more tannins (more on that later) and color are released in the wine. It is possible to get white wine from red grapes by removing the skins immediately after pressing.
The length of time that the skins are allowed to sit in the wine as it ferments is what give us the spectrum form White to Rose to Red.
How sweet or dry a wine is a factor how of much residual sugar is left after fermentation. A dry wine is generally considered to be one with less than 1% residual sugar those with 3-5% are termed as “off dry” or semi sweet. Wines with 5% to 7% residual sugar are noticeably sweet with dessert wines at 7%-9%. The residual sugar can go as high as 70% in some rare wines such as the Spanish PX. A fun fact worth noting is that sweetness levels below 1.5% are not discernable to the average drinker, however a trained taster can guestimate sweetness to within 0.2%.
In the next part we shall begin to explore the core types of wines and how they are classified.
