Getting to Know Your Wines

This is the second post in a 5 post series! So the first post… I gave some tips on how to host a wine tasting party and stated that you should go to a wine store that had knowledgeable staff to help you choose your wine. But if you are anything like me you like to know more than just white wine is white and red wine is red... one taste sweet one taste bitter!! LoL Hopefully after reading this post you will have a little more information on how to pick wine and will help you in exploring other types of wines.

Let’s get started.

Red Wine vs. White Wine: What’s the Difference?

Duh.  Red wine is red, white wine is white. Red you do hot and white you do cold! Oh and they taste VERY different!! LoL… (that’s my explanation of the difference). Shows you what little I know and how much I needed to research on this topic. There is a key to why they taste different and it is because of their skins aka TANNIN. What the hell is that you ask? 

Tongue, Meet Tannins

Tannins is a naturally occurring substance in grapes, other fruits, and plant (like tea). The taste is described as bitter, causing a dry and a pucker feeling in the mouth.  Tannins end up in your wine when the vinter (the person who makes the wine) allows the skins to sit in the grape juice as it ferments.  My aunt makes wine… I wonder if she does this. I need to get with were about her wine making process. It’s bootleg, but hey the wine taste GREAT!! Tannins is how wine gets its color.  Wines with little or no skin contact have a pink or white color. Wines that ferment with the skins for longer periods end up red. Totally makes sense... And of course red grape skins have more tannins than white grapes skins.  

(Fun fact: You can get a white wine from a red grape by removing the skins from the juice immediately. All the color comes from the skins—even red grapes are white inside.)

Tannin provides the backbone of red wine, which is why you might describe a red wine as “firm” or “leathery” or just plain “bitter.” I prefer the word BITTER!! Tannin also gives red wine texture, making it feel “smooth” and “soft” or “rough” and “chewy.” In general, the darker the wine, the higher the tannin and the “bolder” the taste.

Popular red wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Barbera, Sangiovese

White wine has tannin, but not enough to make it the star of the show. Instead, white wines are backboned by acidity. That’s why you might say a wine is “crisp” or “tart.” Or, if there isn’t enough acidity, you might call a white wine “flabby” or “flat.” I just call it sweet or bitter. Definitely going to pay more attend when I drink wine!

Popular white wines: Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Moscato (Muscat), Pinot Grigio, Gewürztraminer

Rosé, or blush wine, is pink in color. It gets that way because it is allowed to stay in contact with the red grape skins for relatively short time compared to red wine. On the spectrum between red and white, rosé is much closer to the light side, with relatively low tannin.

Popular rosé wine: Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese

A very popular question… Why Can’t I Serve Red Wine Cold? If you serve the wine cold… you won’t go to jail, but it’s better that you don’t and it’s because of those damn tannins. Tannins tend to taste bitter as they get cold, which means darker red wines won’t taste their best when they are cold as the Rockies. On the other hand, white and rose wines taste just fine chilled… less tannins. BUT avoid getting them too cold or you will miss out on the FULL flavor. 

 

Dessert wine gets its name because it tends to be sweeter and comes after a meal. Alcohol (usually brandy) is added to a dessert wine so that it can retain more of its natural sugars, which are usually used up during the fermentation process.

Popular dessert wines/fortified wines: Port, Madeira, Vermouth, Sherry, Marsala

Sparkling wine is wine that has significant carbonation, which can occur as a natural part of the fermentation process or via carbon dioxide injection after fermentation. When reading sparkling wine labels, you’ll also encounter terms that indicate its sweetness/dryness.

From driest to sweetest, these terms are: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry/Extra Sec/Extra Seco, Dry/Sec/Seco, Demi-Sec/Semi-seco and Doux/Sweet/Dulce.

Sparkling wine is made from a wide range of red and white grapes. Champagne proper is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and/or Pinot Noir.

Describing Your Favorite Wine

Easy, right? Of course not. If you are going to peg the kind of wine that you enjoy drinking, you are going to have to get into some specifics. Yes, that means we’re going to have to talk about how a wine tastes.

There is perhaps nothing more subjective about humanity than taste, and trying to find common ground when talking about wine with our limited vocabulary seems ill-fated from the start. But in spite of the glut of snobby descriptors for wine that you’ll stumble across, there are a few terms that mean pretty much the same thing to everyone.

They are:

Sweetness. Needs no explanation. The opposite of sweet is dry. A wine can also be medium-dry or off-dry (i.e. just a hint of sweetness, but almost too faint to move the needle).

Acidity. Acidity is a big deal for white wines, and it makes them refreshing and crisp (or “sour” if its overdone). Lower acidity makes a wine taste “fat.”

Tannin. It’s all about the tannins for red wine. High tannin wines are astringent, maybe even bitter and inky. Lower tannin wines are smooth and soft, and depending on your tastes, more drinkable.

Body. This refers to the perceived “weight” and viscosity of the wine. A full-bodied wine feels thick, coating the sides of the glass as you swirl. A light-bodied wine is almost like water. A medium-bodied wine is in-between.

Flavors. If you’re not sure, don’t bother diving into descriptors like graphite, barnyard and other flavors you’ve (hopefully) never tasted. Instead, stick to the most relatable flavors like fruity, earthy, spicy, smoky or flowery. Not sure which is which? Go to a wine tasting or visit a wine store and simply ask for some contrasting bottles of wine. Say, “Give me something fruity and give me something earthy.” Or, “Give me a smooth red wine and a bold red wine.” Drinking them back-to-back will give you a good feel for what these terms mean.

Popular Whites

• Chardonnay – Fruity, buttery, with a velvety feel that’s atypical to dry white wines.
• Pinot Grigio (aka Pinot Gris) – Simple, light-bodied, dry and crisp.
• Riesling – Usually very sweet, with intense fruit flavors. Much lighter than chardonnay.
• Moscato – Fruity, and often sweet.
• Sauvignon blanc – Dry, tart and acidic with herbal flavors as well as tropical fruit.

Popular Reds

• Cabernet sauvignon – Full-bodied with herbal notes. Younger cab has rich flavors of currant.
• Merlot – Fruity, spicy. Very soft, less tannic than Cabernet sauvignon.
• Pinot noir – Delicate and fresh, very soft tannins with fruity aromas.
• Zinfandel – Typically zesty, ranges from medium- to full-bodied and dry to off-dry.

At the end of the day, you really can’t make a wrong choice. As long as you pay attention to what it is that you do and don’t like about a wine, each bottle will get you closer to what you do like. Be adventurous!! Take it one glass at a time and don’t be afraid to admit it if you can’t quite put your finger on something. Focus on enjoying your wine—that’s the entire point.