There are a number of points towards refining your taste for wine and enhancing your judgment as to what makes a good wine. One factor is that the wine is made from fermented grape juice. You also should know the grape varieties wines are made from and the process of wine making itself.
There are many varieties of wines. The most commonly known ones are red, white, rose and champagne. Wines are usually classified according to the grape varieties they are made from. One variety that is often used for red wine is the Barbera. This variety is grown mainly in Piedmont, Italy, but is quite adaptable to other regions, and is also grown on a limited scale in the United States. Barbera grapes produce wines with a full-bodied fruity taste as they have a high natural acidity.
Wine Varieties
There is a vast selection when choosing one of the many varieties of wine. Wine enthusiasts know about one variety that is widely grown in many parts of the world: Cabernet Sauvignon. This grape variety, grown primarily in Medoc, France, has found its way to California, Australia and other wine-making countries. Wine enthusiasts would consider Cabernet Sauvignon wines to be among the best red wines in the world. These wines have a distinct aromatic flavor, and have hints of the taste of berries, olives, coffee, mint and herbs all blended together. One of the most popular white wine varieties and producing some of the world’s finest, is the Chardonnay. The types and varieties are overwhelming at times, but you soon become familiar with the wine values.
A basic understanding of the wine-making process is important to a wine enthusiast especially if he intends to go into wine production, if only for his personal use. Wine making is really quite simple and is an age-old technology. One does not need very sophisticated equipment in order to make wines.
To start you have to know what type of grapes to use and where they are grown, the right age for picking, and things like acidity and sugar levels. If you are after a particular aromatic flavor, there are grapes that will produce that kind of flavor and you should be able to tell which ones. After the picking comes the pressing to extract the juices, then fermentation.
The fermentation process is quite delicate. It involves adding yeast to the juice in order to stimulate the fermentation process. Basically, fermentation is the conversion of the sugar in the juice into alcohol. The success of the process, that is, your grape juice turning into good wine, has a lot to do with the kind of yeast you use, and the absence of any contaminants getting into the mixture during the entire process.
There is so much more to understanding the differences between a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon, but the knowledge to the types of wine available is just the beginning for a wine enthusiast.
