wine course 1

Wine Course 1

What is Wine

Wine Course 1 – What is Wine

1) What is wine

Wine is a beverage produced from the partial or total alcoholic fermentation of fresh crushed grapes or grape must. Yeast ferments sugars in the grape must to produce alcohol (ethanol) and carbon dioxide. To produce alcohol the yeast must ferment in the absence of oxygen otherwise the yeast and sugars produce only carbon dioxide and water.

The origin of wine is uncertain but it is known to have been produced in the region of Georgia at around 6000 BC. The ancient Greeks and Romans regularly consumed wine and spread wine making across their empires.

In the nineteenth century Louis Pasteur discovered that micro-organisms were responsible for fermentation. In the case of wine, the yeast species Saccharomyces Cerevisiae is responsible for the production of wine. After this discovery wine making became a more technical process.

2) Wine Styles

There are four different styles or types of wine and each style is dependent upon the grapes and wine making techniques used to make the final product.

Light White

Light wines are the most commonly drunk. There are three styles: Red, White and Rosé. Red wine is, predominately, made of black grapes but some wines have white varieties in the blend. White wine is made from, predominately, from white grapes. Good quality Rosé is made from black grapes which are pressed lightly so that not too much red pigment is extracted. Poorer quality Rosé is made from a blend of red and white wine. Light wines are fermented in dry, medium and sweet styles. Dry wines are fermented until virtually all the sugar is used up. Medium wines are fermented to leave up to 45 grams per litre of sugar. Sweet wines are made from grapes with a higher level of sweetness or have unfermented grape juice added. The sugar levels of a sweet wine will be above 45 grams per litre.

Sparkling

Sparkling wines such as Champagne or Cava are produced by a second fermentation of the wine in the original bottle. Yeast and sugar are added to the dry wine to produce the secondary fermentation and carbon dioxide which is sealed in the bottle. This is called the Traditional Method or Méthode Champenoise. Other types of lower quality sparkling wine are made using a variation of the traditional method. The name of Champagne is legally protected. Sparkling wines are usually made in White or Rosé style but there are also some Reds. Sparkling wines are produced in extra dry, dry, medium and sweet styles.

Fortified or Liqueur wine

Liqueur wines such as Port and Sherry are fortified with grape spirit. Port style wines are fortified before fermentation is complete and this leaves some fruit sugar left in the wine to make a sweet style. Sherry style wines are fermented until all the sugar is used up and then fortified, and this leaves the wines dry. Any sweetness in Sherry is added ,after fortification, by adding sweet swine or unfermented grape juice. Port is made in Red or White style. Sherry is made in White, Amber or Mahogany style. Port is fortified to about 20% alcohol. Sherry is fortified to between 15.5% and 21% alcohol by volume depending upon style. Vins Doux Naturels are Port style wines produced in the South of France where the Port method of fortification was invented: the most famous reds are Rasteau and Banyuls, and the most famous whites are Muscat de Beaumes de Venise and Muscat de Rivesaltes.

Aromatised Wines

Aromatised wines, such as Vermouth, are usually liqueur wines which have been flavoured with herbs and spices. White Vermouth is dry or sweet and Red is sweet.

3) Quality Systems

European Union

In the European Union a rigorous quality system has been introduced based mainly on the French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC or AC) regime. There are two types of wine: Quality Wine produced in a Specified Region (QWPRS) and Table Wine.

The quality wine rules control the following:

The name of the wine

Which vines are grown and where they are grown by region, district or even village.

Vine yard operations

The alcoholic strength of the wine

The crop yield

Taste and flavour standards

There are two types of quality wine: Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée is the top quality level and Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure VDQS).

The rules for VDQS wine are less strict and many wines are promoted to AOC after a number of years. There are moves to phase out this classification.

The Table wines rules for Vins de Pays (VDP) and Vins de Table are less strict still and allow for innovation and experimentation. Many excellent wines can be found in the VDP category.

Italy, Spain, Portugal and Germany have very similar systems.

Other Major Wine growing Countries

The USA, Australia, Chile and Argentina have much less strict rules, especially related to controls on the types of grapes grown in a region and the crop yields. This has lent itself well to naming conventions, thus a wine may be labelled Pinot Noir if the wine is made predominantly from that grape. In contrast, virtually all red wine from Burgundy, in France, is made from 100% Pinot Noir but this is not shown on the front label.

Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages: the USA and Australian systems allow for more innovation and are very much market led. In Europe, once you become familiar with the system it is possible to find wines which reflect regional character.