Wine types : A means for sorting wines

Wines are classified into various "types" based on the following criteria - the concentration of alcohol in them, the presence of sugar, the presence or absence of the color red, and the presence or otherwise of effervescence.
Usually, people tend to confuse between the subtle differences between wine types and wine styles. The latter define the background characteristics that lead to the making of the wine, such as the variety of the grape used, the district where the grape was grown (which tells us about the climate and soil conditions), the composition of the grape at harvest time, any infections. The wine style also defines the processes involved in making the wine (addition of acids, wood maturation, addition of phonemics, any fortification spirits used, any specific biological processes used, etc.)

In terms of the concentration of alcohol, wine types have two categories - Table wines, that have an upper cap of 15% of alcohol; and Fortified wines, where the concentration is usually in the range of 18 - 22%.

Going by the presence of sugar, wine types fall into two slots - dry wine and sweet wine. Dry wine is said to have been formed when the fermentation of the grape juice was carried out to the fullest, or nearly the fullest. The
fermentation process breaks sugar down, and the resultant wine does not have any sweet taste, hence it is called "dry". A "sweet" wine, on the other hand, would not have gone through such a full-throttle fermentation, and some
amount - usually more than ten grams per liter - is usually still present in the wine when it reaches the consumer's hands.

On the basis of color, wine types are of three basic colors - there are red wines, white wines, and rose wines. The original pigments that went into the grapes usually start vanishing with the ageing and fortification of wines.
Also, chemical reactions continue to take place within the wine, resulting in new colors being developed. These two factors lead to difficulties in sometimes distinguishing wines on the basis of color, especially color alone.

Wine faults may cause effervescence to take place in a given sample of wine.
Carbon dioxide may be dissolved in the bottle at the time of sealing it, leading to the effervescence. There might be some unwanted biological processes that may also cause this phenomenon; thus leading to two different wine types - those with, and those without, such effervescence.

From the same grape varietals, different wine types can be made. For example, the Riesling grapes yield white wines - while it is fully fermented to the hilt in Australia, resulting in a dry taste, in Germany it is consciously only partly fermented, thus preserving its sweet taste.

The original pigment color may not be a determinant of what color the wine type will yield. For example, the Frontignac is a red grape, but yields white wines. Similarly, the white Zinfandel gets processed to produce rich
red wines. Well-known white wines are Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Riesling, GewSrztraminer, Muscat, etc., while their equally famous red-colored brethren include Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Sangiovese, Barbera, and the like.

Whatever be the wine types, it is how well a given glass of wine is handled, served, and tasted; is what finally brings joy to the lover of wine!

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