This amazing varietal table will not only make you an expert, but looks great on your wall and makes a stunning gift.  Click here to get your copy.


The Main Varieties of Wine

Of course the different types of wine are almost infinite, but most of them fall into one of these categories.

RED WINES

• Light and fruity.  These are made with very little tannin, by short vatting on the skins. Light and fruity reds need to be drunk within a year or two as they don't have the extract, pigment and tannin needed for maturation.  They can be made with aromatic grapes, but are more commonly made with varieties with a simple fruity smell - e.g. Gamay - or with neutral grapes.
  
• Softer, richer reds.  These are more savoury and deep-colored, though still low in tannin. They are made by interior fermentation of the grapes before pressing. 
  
• Full-blooded reds (vins de garde).  These are made by long vatting of the skins in the juice to extract pigments, tannins, phenols etc.  All great red wines are made this way.                    
  

DRY WHITE WINES

• Plain dry or semi-dry.  These are fully fermented, not intended to be aged. They are usually made with non-aromatic grapes, especially in Italy, southern France, Spain and California.  Outstanding examples are Muscadet and Soave.
  
• Fresh, fruity, dry to semi-sweet.  These wines are made from aromatic grapes and should be drunk young.  Examples are Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscat Blanc.
  
• Dry but full-bodied and smooth.  These whites are bottled after a minimum of 9 months and intended for further aging.  The classic example is Chardonnay from Burgundy.        
  

SWEET WHITE WINES

• Fresh and fruity.  Many German wines are made by fermenting to dryness and blended with unfermented juice.  These are lighter in alcohol.  Most French, Spanish, Italian and many New World medium-sweet wines are made by stopping fermentation while some sugar remains.  They are usually higher in alcohol and have a more "winey", rather than "grapey" flavor.
  
• Botrytis (noble rot) wines.   These either combine low alcohol with very high sugar (German style) or very high alcohol with fairly high sugar (Sauternes style).
  
• Very sweet wines.  These are made from extremely ripe are partly raisined grapes.  Italian vin santo is the classic example.
  

ROSE WINES

• Pale rose.  This is made from red grapes pressed immediately to extract juice with very little color.  It is sometimes called Vin Gris or Blanc de Noirs.
  
• Rose with more color.  This is made from red grapes crushed and "blooded" by a short vatting like red wine, then pressed and fermented like white wine.  This is the usual method for making Tavel Rose,   Anjou Rose and Italian Chiaretto.  Champagne Rose is the only Rose traditionally made by blending red and white wine.
  

An Introduction To Chardonnay

Chardonnay grape is the most popular type of white wine, found all over the world.  The flavor, taste, and aroma of it will vary, depending on where it was made and what processing methods were used. 

Chardonnay has a variety of different styles and flavors, and remains a major type of grape.  As a result of its popularity, this fine wine spread throughout Europe and other locations of the world such as Australia and California.

As time went on, more and more wine makers discovered Chardonnay. It was found that this fine wine would grow quite well in South Africa and other areas as well.  With it being a non aroma type wine, oak seems to work very well with it. 

The richest and most complex are American Chardonnay and French Chardonnay, which are also among the most preferred white wines.  Even though it does suffer from fatigue, the flavor and richness of this wine will keep it loved by many for years to come.

Chardonnay originated from the Burgundy and Champagne area of  France.  The Chardonnay grape in fact has several uses.  For instance, although white Burgundy is a popular wine that is prepared with Aligote, a lesser known grape, the fact remains that white Burgundy can’t be made without the use of the Chardonnay grape.  

In appearance, Chardonnay grapes are green in color with thin skins.  The grape is a result of cross-fertilizing of the Pinot and Croatian Blanc grapes, which are now extinct.  Chardonnay on the other hand is still popular. It is often fermented and aged using oak barrels that help to bring out the vanilla flavor for which the wine is famous.  It can also be aged and fermented using bottles, although it won’t age quite as much as red wine.

Almost all Chardonnay wines are considered to be better chilled, making them work extremely well with dishes that contain butter and cheeses.  The wines also have less acid content, which makes them work well with seafood as well.  There are in fact quite a few different kinds of food that you can pair Chardonnay with, which is what makes it so popular.  A lot of fine restaurants serve it as well, especially Italian and seafood restaurants.

The Chardonnay grape can also be used in making Champagne and other types of sparkling wines.  Although Chardonnay wine is the most popular use for the grape, there are several other uses that lead to some truly fine wines.  Although it can be a bit on the expensive side, it still remains one of the most preferred types of wine.  You can find it at any wine or alcohol store - making it a great addition to your wine or drink collection.

A Look At Ice Wine

Of the many varieties of wine you can buy, one of the least known is ice wine.

Ice wine is a very rare form of wine, a wine that is produced under certain types of weather conditions.  Ice wine is mainly produced in the Pacific Northwest region, where the weather conditions are right for the wine. 

Ironically, ice wine is produced in very small quantities. As a result, there are only a lucky few who are actually able to purchase the wine.  And because of its scarcity, ice wine can be extremely expensive and out of the price range of most of us.

You can compare ice wine to diamonds!  Like owning a diamond, owning ice wine is something that many of us hope and dream to experience at some point in our lives. 

For a start, the ingredients are rare.  But even more crucially, the wine can only be produced under very specific weather conditions.  Once the right weather conditions arrive, the wine maker prepares to produce this extremely rare and priceless wine.

The basic requirements needed to produce ice wine are fully ripened grapes and a temperature of around 5 degrees C.  The temperature needs to stay that way for several days, so that the wine maker can complete the process of making the wine. 

Grapes that are frozen during these extremely cold temperatures are hand plucked at night by the wine maker and his assistants.

To produce a bottle of ice wine, the makers need full vine grapes   They collect the grapes and press them gently.  This is to collect the running juice only.  The temperature creates the frozen water crystals, which are fermented along with sugars and the particles that are found in the free running juices.  Through this process, the wonderful and rare ice wine is created.

If you have been hoping to try ice wine, finding it may be very difficult.  As you probably already know, most alcohol and wine stores don’t sell this rare wine.  Finding it online is very hard to do as well, unless you catch it at the right time.  Even then, if you are able to find it, it can easily cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single bottle.

The best way to experience ice wine is to find the right wine maker in the Pacific Northwest region.  Even though bottles go extremely fast once they have been made, you may be able to catch a wine maker with some on hand.  Be prepared to spend a hefty amount though. 

Yes, it can cost a lot and be extremely hard to find.  But the taste of ice wine makes it well worth the effort.

(And if you click on this Prime Wines image, you will find some available at the present time - at a price that  won't break the bank!  This is your chance to try some of this stunning wine!)