Types of Red Wine : Zinfandel Wine Facts

Want to learn about red wine tasting and aroma? Get tips on zinfandel red wine in this free wine tasting video. Expert: Jane Nickles Bio: Jane Nickles is the author of "Wine Speak 101", and wine writer for "The Texas Wine and Food Gourmet", and "Eat and Drink Magazine". Filmmaker: MAKE | MEDIA

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Beginner's Wine Guide

You don't have to spend a fortune or spend hours reading labels to make good wine selections for your dinner guests. Here is a concise wine guide for beginners.

Wine Styles

Although the basic winemaking process is always the same, every wine has a unique flavor, depending on a number of factors, including the type of grape and the conditions in which the fermentation occurs.

Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc grapes make white wines. Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir grapes make full, rich red wines. Merlot grapes produce lighter, softer red wines.

The six styles of wine are:

Red: Includes Bordeaux, Burgundy, Cabernet, Chianti, Merlot, Petite Sirah, and many more.
Sparkling Red: Includes Brachetto, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gutturnio, Lambrusco and Syrah/Shiraz.
Soleras: Includes Malvasia delle Lipari, Marsala, Moscatel, Palomino, Pedro Ximenez and Porto.
White: Includes Chablis, Chardonnay, Frascati, Goldmusketellar, Meursault, Muscat, Riesling, Vidal Blanc and many more.

Sparkling White: Includes Champagne, Moscato d'Asti, Spumante and more.
Pink: Includes Busuioaca de Bohotin, Lagrein Rosato and Rose.

Most red wines improve with a bit of aging, some for as long as ten years. Most red wines are not distributed until about two years after they are put in the bottle. Most white wines, on the other hand, do not benefit from aging (except for champagne and sweet dessert wines.)

What kind of wine should you choose?

While there are guidelines, there are no hard and fast rules, because wine pairings really are a matter of personal preference. The general rule of thumb for selecting wine to complement your meal is to choose a light-bodied wine with lighter fare and a full-bodied wine with hearty, robust dishes.

Red wine is traditionally paired with beef, veal, ham, poultry, pasta, lamb, and pork. For poultry, ham, pork, and veal, try a Beaujolais or a red Zinfandel. For pasta, beef, and lamb, consider a merlot or a cabernet sauvignon.

White Chardonnay complements pork, poultry, seafood (including shellfish) and strong cheeses. For appetizers, mild cheeses, desserts, ham, lamb, poultry, and seafood, you might choose a white Zinfandel or Rose wine.

Sparkling wines, such as Champagne or Spumante can also be served with mild cheeses, appetizers, and desserts.

Wine Categories

Wine is often classified as one of the following:

1. Aperitif: Appetizer wines such as Madeira, Sherry and Vermouth.

2. Red: Dry wines typically served with red meats and pasta dishes.

3. Rose - Pink wines typically served with seafood and pork dishes.

4. White - Dry to sweet wines often served with chicken and seafood.

5. Sparkling - Wines often served in formal settings as an appetizer. If a sparkling wine comes from the Champagne region of France it is named after that region.

6. Table - Inexpensive, lower quality wine, usually served with lunch or used to make cocktail beverages.

7. Dessert - Sweet tasting wine, often served with desserts.

8. Cooking - Salty, poor quality wine used for cooking.

Eight More Helpful Tips

1. Alcohol Content: Wine is considered an alcoholic beverage unless otherwise indicated.

2. Chilling Wine: Place the wine bottle in a bucket of ice water for 10 to 15 minutes. For sparkling wine, refrigerate for at least 4 hours prior to serving (or place it in the ice bucket for 30 minutes.)

3. Labels: If you reside in North America, you'll want to remember that domestic wines will be labeled with the type of grape used followed by its origin, whereas imported wines will list where the wine was made and then the type of grape used.

4. Chilling: Sparkling and white wines are best served chilled. A red wine should be served when it is only slightly below room temperature. Both wines are best left to stand before opening. Some red wines have sediment, which should stay at the bottom of the bottle.

5. Serving: You can serve a white wine immediately after removing the cork, but a red wine benefits from 'breathing' for about half an hour after the bottle is opened. For best results gently decant the red wine into another container. This allows a greater surface area of the wine to breathe and leaves the sediment behind in the bottle. Filling a glass just half full also allows the wine to breathe.

6. Storage: Wine storage involves cool temperatures, preferably away from heat and light. Cellars can still become hot, humid and sticky during the summer months and it's suggested that keeping wine in a constant, cool environment will allow it to age properly and achieve its best attributes.

7. Variety: Also known as terroir. The climate, soil, land slope or slant, type of grape(s) used, elevation, weather conditions, topography, fermentation process and yeast cultures are all key factors in the wine's appearance, aroma and how the wine ultimately tastes.

8. Vintage: Further classification involves the year that the grapes were harvested. For example, the wine output from one vineyard might taste significantly different from one year to the next Good wines usually have their year of production on the bottle. This is called the vintage. Some years produce better wines than others.

Once you become familiar with the different types of wine available on the market, you'll feel less intimidated and more apt to impress your guests with excellent selections. Enjoying wine is a life-long process because there are always new sights, aromas and flavors to discover along the way.

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The Wine Making Process

Wine making process is actually a very simple task to perform as long as you have the right resources and substantial knowledge to carry on the production from start to finish.

The Wine Making Process

There are salient stages and methods involved in wine making that facilitates wine production and determines the quality of wine created. No matter what type or kind of wine you wish to make, the following procedures are basic and fundamental for all wine making process.

o De-stemming the grapes. The process of removing the grapes from its clustered stems or shoots is what you mean with the term to de-stem the grapes. After this initial step, grapes are then placed inside containers or pressers where the grapes are crushed into pastes that eventually produce wine must or the extracted liquid from the grapes prior to the fermentation process. The pomace and the wine must when mixed and let stand for a certain period of time in vat containers along with its contact with other components like grape pulp and skin gradually influences the quality of wine in the process.

o Adding yeast. Wine yeast is one of the most important components in wine making since it generally facilitates the fermentation process that determines the quality of the end-product. The pomace component of the mixture may be practically used as fertilizer when separated from the liquid content in this particular phase of the production. Winemakers see to it that the wine reaches the required color and sugar content before transferred to another container for the final phase of fermentation.

o Final stage. The culmination of the fermentation process signals the time for the wine to be either bottled or kept for the wine aging stage.

Making White Wine

Grapes are handled carefully to avoid damage when pouring into receiving bins in making white wine. The next process will be to transfer the grapes to the presser to extract wine must and remove all other components like grape skins and other solid components. The must is then transferred to stainless steel vats to ferment right after refrigeration. An important reminder for winemakers is to maintain carefully the temperature of the container during the fermentation process to ensure the quality and aroma of the finished product. When the fermentation process is completed, decanting the wine is the next step before bottling the content either for sale or consumption which is best after a couple of years.

Sweet Dessert Wines

There are two ways for producing sweet dessert wines, the first of which is through using a fungus that quickly grows known as Botrytis Cinera. This component is responsible for the transformation of the wine color, its essence like the acid and sugar level components. The second is through putting alcohol to interrupt the fermentation stage resulting to strong yet sweet tasting wines.

Wine making process is an exciting and rewarding endeavor that most wine enthusiasts and lovers do to quench their passion for this perennial beverage that has touched millions of people throughout the centuries.

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Types of Wine and Wine Glasses

Wine is probably the most famous alcoholic beverage. They are classified by numerous methods. This includes classifying them based on color, place of origin, the method of producing and the style used in storing them.

By vinification method, they can be classified as either sparkling or still, fortified or dessert wines. Red colored wine is obtained when grapes are allowed to ferment along with their grape skins. This is usually prepared by fermenting either black or red grapes and it receives its color mainly due to a process known as maceration. The white wine is prepared from any variety grapes. The skin of the grapes is completely separated and the grape juice is left to ferment.

Sparkling wines are those which have effervescence due to the presence of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide can be produced naturally through fermentation process or can be injected forcefully at later stages. The most popular sparkling wine in the world is the champagne. Still wines are those which do not have any effervescence. Dessert wines are usually sweet. The amount of sweetness can vary between the range of 50g/L of sugar to anywhere between 400gL sugar. Late harvest grapes are used to prepare desert wine. Fortified wines are obtained by stopping the fermentation process and adding spirit into the grape juice. These are sweet and contain more alcohol.

Irrespective of the type, they should always be tasted in a proper wine glass. A wine glass typically consists of three parts: the foot on which the entire glass ware rests, the bowl in which the wine is filled and the stem which connects the foot and the bowl. These glasses are usually prepared by glass blowing method. High quality glasses are made from lead crystal. Lead crystal glasses have higher refractive index and are a bit heavier than the usual glasses.

Based on the shape and its use, wine glasses are broadly divided into red, white, dessert and sparkling wine glasses. Red wine glasses are rounder than any other wine glasses. White wine glasses are more U shaped, while the sparkling glasses are narrower, and taller. Dessert glasses are usually smaller and shorter.

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