Americans are drinking more and better quality wines each year. The United States consumes more wine than does any other country as a matter of fact. As another matter of fact, did you know that the leading beverage in the United States is actually soda pop?! Grosse right?
So what is wine? Wine is fermented grape juice. That’s it! Easy right? Wrong. There are many other factors that come into play when producing quality fermented grape juice. The most important factors include geographic location, average days of sunlight vs rainfall, angle of the sun and average temperature. Soil is of course another concern as well as drainage.
Mother Nature is probably the single most dangerous element that can effect grape growing. Frost will kill vines and lead to a reduced yield. Grapes that are under ripe, green, herbal or vegetal are a result of not enough sunlight. On the flip side, too much sunlight on the fruit will create wine with high alcohol and have a prune-like character.
All wine fits into one of three main types. These three types are table wine, sparkling wine and fortified wine. Table wine is considered any fermented grape juice with alcohol content above 8 percent. Sparkling wine is the same as table wine but has an additional component of carbon dioxide or CO2. Fortified wines are generally 18 percent or more in alcohol and oh so good!
So now you’re wondering why all wines are so different if there are really only three types. A wine’s style is something different, and there are endless amounts of style to wine. Wine can be full bodies and heavy on the palate, lush, round and full of rich dark berry flavors. Wine may also be light to medium bodied, fresh with bright acidity and have more citrus characteristics. If you can relate to wine in more general terms such as these then you can define its style.
These are literally basic principles and fun facts about wine and wine production. There is an endless amount of wine knowledge out there. Find a good book and just nerd out a bit. It’s fun! Soon to come…Wine Tasting 101.
