Types of wine according to Colour, Sweetness, body etc

Types of wine according to Colour, Sweetness, body etc

Wine classification according to color

Generally the must or the pulp juice of grapes is not colored, but the skin has the pigments in it. So by the presence of the colored skins in the fermentation process decides the color of wine. The extent to which the wine is exposed to contact with skin decides the color of wine. Generally the sub-classification of the wines can be done according to the variety of grape used to prepare the wine.

ü    White wines:

White wine is generally prepared from white or green grapes. The color varies from clear to yellowish tint. White wines may also be prepared from the red or black grapes by avoiding the contact of skins and stems with the must juice.

ü    Red wines:

On the other hand red wine is prepared from red or black grapes. The skins which are generally rich in the pigments are allowed to stay for some days with the must in the beginning of fermentation process to get the red wines.

ü    Rose/ pink or blush:

The tint of red imparted from the brief contact of skins of red or black grapes produces these types of wines. The contact may be deliberate or inevitable. The wine maker decides the level or extent of color which is desired and accordingly plans the process.

Wine classification according to sweetness

The sweetness gets imparted to wine depending upon the level of sugar present in the wine. But the important point to consider is that the amount of sugar which gets fermented to alcohol decides the level of alcohol contents. So in case of natural wines (means no added alcohol or sweetener), the extent to which the alcohol is allowed to ferment is what decides the sweetness.

ü    Dry wines:

Basically a dry wine is the wine which has no residual sugar after the fermentation process. In case of dry wines, the yeast, at the time of fermentation eats all the sugar and converted it into alcohol. So no sugar is left to wine to give sweetness. Wine still tastes like fruit but no sweetness. This wine is generally preferred before or after meal. Many people also relate the dryness of wine with the sensation of dryness imparted to mouth after drinking wine. But on the contrary the tannins are the chemical compounds present in the wine are responsible for such dryness. This may also be found in some sweet wines. Dry wine many times has dominating taste of alcohol. In today’s era people prefer to have some sweetness in wine as tastes have changed because of changed eating habits and increased presence of sweeter food.

ü    Semi sweet or off-dry wines:

These are the wines in which some sugars are left to wines to ensure some sweetness to mask the acidic flavor of wine.

ü    Sweet wines

Sweet wines are also known as dessert wines because these are generally consumed after the meal and with desserts because of their sweet flavor. There are several ways by which a wine maker can produce a sweet wine. Addition of some sugar is the crudest way to make wine sweeter. But there are many other methods which do not interfere with the originality of wine.

Late harvest wines are the wines prepared by harvesting the grapes after keeping it on the vines quite a lot of time. The purpose is to let the grapes mature fully and let them hang on the vines to let them dry partially to make the must thicker. Such a must then utilized for preparation of wines. Due to this process, sugar content of must increases and which then allows to prepare wine. With higher sugar content one can prepare wine with higher alcohol content. This process of converting sugar to alcohol by fermentation; if interrupted, gives sweeter wine as all the sugar may not get converted to alcohol. To stop fermentation there are many methods which are used widely.

 

Wine classification according to body of wine

Viscosity or simply thickness imparted by alcohol into wine is considered for this classification.

ü    Light bodied

Light bodied wines are less viscous and considered as crisp. Because of low alcohol content these are lighter on taste and feel in the mouth.

ü    Medium bodied

Medium bodied wines fall in between light (less than 12.5%) and heavy (more than 13.5%) bodied wines.

ü    Full bodied

Generally higher alcohol containing wines are considered as full bodied wines. They give feeling of full mouth and give deep taste.

According to entrapped Carbon dioxide

ü    Still wines

Still wines are those wines whose fermentation has been completed before filling the bottle and all the sugar may or may not get converted to alcohol. As the fermentation has been completed outside the bottle, when bottles is opened there won’t be any bubbles, like the sparkling wine.

ü    Sparkling wines

The most common example is Champaign. Though the word Champaign has been famous for representing an alcoholic drink which when opened comes out of bottle with bubbles and energy; ‘Champaign’ is actually a name of an area where such wines are prepared traditionally by the ‘Methode Traditionale’. Hence sparkling wines are the wines with bubbles which are made up of carbon dioxide as a result of secondary fermentation process. And Champaign is the sparkling wine prepared by particular method at a place in the France known as Champaign and protected by many laws and regulations.

Any sparkling wines are prepared by the secondary fermentation which is done in the bottle after the primary fermentation done in the tanks. After primary fermentation like other wines the wine then gets filled in the bottles. Some yeast and sugar is added to the bottles and the bottles are corked. The yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide is also produced as a part of fermentation process. That CO2 entrapped in the bottles gives the bubbles when the bottle is opened. At the completion of secondary fermentation the dead yeast produces the suspending matter which is removed by manual or mechanical process from the bottle. The amount of wine is then again added to make the quantity sufficient. Then the bottle is again corked and secured with wire. All these processes are lengthy and laborious. The losses through bottle breaking are also high, which make such wines costlier as compared to other wines.

Other types of wine

ü    Fortified wines:

Fortified wines are the wines with added alcohol. The alcohol preferably from the distillation of wine only is used to make the wines with the higher alcohol content than usual. The naturally present sugar decides the amount alcohol which could be achieved after fermentation. But in many climatic conditions it gets quite difficult to achieve higher sugar content and so the alcohol content. Hence fortification method is used.

ü    Vintage wines:

Wine represents the grape characters and taste which are used for wine production. Grapes show the characters of the soil and climatic conditions of the particular year in which these are cultivated and harvested. Vintage wines are the wines which are primarily prepared from the grapes of one particular year from the particular area. They are often regulated by the norms of how much percentage of wine should be from particular year and area should be present to declare as a vintage of that year and area. Such wines are generally prepared in one batch.

The varying climate produces the varying effect on grape production and so on the wines. Hence wines from particular vintage are famous as compared to other. To ensure the business and the equal quality some wine makers also blend the wines from different vintages.

ü    Table wines:

Table wines are generally served with food on dining table, hence the name table wines. They are low in alcohol percentage. These are the wines which are widely preferred all over the world. Though many of them are fairly priced but some table wines are really expensive.

ü    Boutique wines

These are the wines, generally prepared from grapes of single farmland in a small winery. These are prepared in small quantity hence considered as rare.