At its most basic, wine is fermented fruit juice, and therein lies its mystery. Logically, we might expect most wines to taste relatively the same, with the largest delineation falling between red and white wines. Fortunately for us humans, that is not the case. Wines made from grapes a few parcels away from one another can taste wildly different (or at least different enough to be worth thousands of dollars more). A small variance in clones creates different wines, and changes in weather, aspect, or elevation can impact what is otherwise an identical grape. We’re lucky grapes are so finicky. They withhold nothing from their brief lives’ experience: everything is on display.
EU regulations require wine to be made solely from grapes (with some exceptions, such as Retsina from Greece, which also contains pine sap). Most wines are made from Vitis vinifera vines, a species that has historically been considered the only one capable of making high quality wines. (Other species are used, such as Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia, but make up a small percentage of planted acreage. Hybrids are also used, especially in more marginal climates.) Wine captures the essence of a time and place, the labor that goes into cultivating grapes, and the exacting standards of a winemaker. The result holds the potentiality to be simultaneously ethereal and powerful, ephemeral and memorable, ordinary and inspirational.
The ongoing goal of this blog is to explore the nature of wine, so this is less of a philosophical engagement on wine’s identity and more a brief overview on the kinds of wine.
When we speak of a “kind of wine” what we’re referring to is a group of wines that share enough similar characteristics that comprise a subset of the broader category. For instance, when we speak of red wine, we expect to see some shade of red color and to feel its tannins when we drink it. That being said, red wines can be relatively pale, such as Nebbiolo, or almost purple, such as Mourvèdre. Similarly, a Beaujolais Nouveau will have a low level of tannins, while a Tannat will be chock full of them!
I have some other posts where I go through more details on the taxonomy of wine as well as winemaking. Consider the following table as your “cheat sheet” to how various wines are made:
Still Wine
The majority of wine production by volume. Still wines are not sparkling and I would consider fortified wines to also not fall under still wines. Even though they are technically ‘still’ they are made by a very different process and there’s not a lot of value in keeping fortified wine in the same category as still.
- White wine is made by pressing grapes to separate the juice and the solids. Most white wines will have little to no skin contact. Fermentation is often done at cooler temperatures (between 54˚F and 75˚F). Malolactic Fermentation (MLF) {LINK} and oak are both options that will impact the final style of the wine.
- Red wine is made by crushing red grapes and keeping the must in contact with the skins for a fairly long period of time. There are often two periods of maceration: a pre-fermentation soak (cold soak), where color, aroma, and flavor extraction are prioritized. Maceration continues through fermentation, and may continue after fermentation is complete. The range of maceration time is quite large, from 3 to 100 days. Red wine can be fermented at temperatures ranging between 68˚F and 86˚F, depending on the final intended wine style. Higher temperatures lead to more extraction, so are used for red wines that are meant to be bolder. Anthocyanins give grapes their color and are extracted during the entirety of the winemaking process. Tannins, however, are extracted only once alcohol is present.
- Rosé (Pink) wine is made with red grapes. There are a few ways to make rosé:
- Direct pressing. This process is very similar to making white wine, but with red grapes. Skin contact is limited and produces very light-colored rosé.
- Brief Maceration. Keeping the must in contact with the skins for a short period of time, prior to fermentation. Maceration lasts between several hours and five days. The must may be made specifically for rosé, or can be made as a “byproduct” of red wine. In this case, some of the must is “bled off” early in the maceration process. This method is called saignée. While some people believe saignée to be an inferior winemaking method, this is largely an unfounded bias.
- Red and white wines can be blended. This option is illegal in the EU, except for use in making Champagne.
- Orange wine is made by crushing white grapes and keeping them in contact with their skins for an extended period of time (several days to several months). The resulting wines have very different characteristics than white wines, often having citrus, quince, and other preserved fruit notes. Orange wines also have tannin.
- Non-fortified sweet wines. These are often made with more concentrated grapes. Concentrated either by drying the grapes to reduce water content or botrytis. Botrytis is a fungus that can ruin grapes, but under the right circumstances, it helps concentrate flavors and sugars and can make really delicious wines!
Sparkling wine
Sparkling wines are any wine with intentional, observable carbonation. There are many ways to make sparkling wine and they produce different results. The following are the most commonly used methods:
- Traditional Method – this is how Champagne is made. Note: Champagne is a region in France and only sparkling wines made there can be called Champagne. The Traditional Method or Méthode Champenoise involves two fermentations. The first fermentation makes the base wine (the same process as any white wine, even if the sparkling wine is made with red grapes). Once the base wine is finished, a mixture of yeast, nutrients, and sugar is added and a second fermentation begins. This time, the carbon dioxide is retained, creating tiny bubbles in the wine (the kind that make you feel so fine). The wine stays in contact with the dead yeasts and develops bread-like, yeasty notes. Other regions in France and also other countries make sparkling wine with the Traditional Method. Importantly, the second fermentation happens in the bottle. (Yup, the wine is made in the bottle you bought!)
- Transfer Method – similar to the traditional method, but less labor intensive. Traditional Method wines are riddled (twisted until they are upside down). Instead of riddling, transfer method wines are transferred into a large, pressurized tank, then re-bottled. To keep things interesting, a winemaker may label these wines, “Fermented in bottle” instead of “Fermented in this bottle” (italics mine). Due to advances in technology, the transfer method doesn’t have the same cost savings as it once did, but high volume producers use it, as do Champagne producers for very small or very large format bottles. (Half bottles or Double Magnums and larger.)
- Tank Method– Second fermentation happens in pressurized tanks. This is the method most Prosecco and other fruitier styles of sparkling wine are made.
- Ancestral – This is how pétillent naturel (aka pétnats for those who are intimidated by French pronunciation) are made. They are more of the frizzante style (not fully sparkling). The wine is partially fermented, then bottled, with fermentation continuing in the bottle. They have more in common with cider than wine, but are easy to drink and quite popular.
- Carbonation – The cheapest and least interesting way to make sparkling wine. Carbonation is injected into a still wine. There aren’t any high quality bottles that use this method.
Fortified wines
Still wine is made and spirit is added to them. The spirit is generally 80-100% alcohol. Depending on the type of fortified wine, the result may be dry or sweet. Sherry, Port, Madeira, Vin doux naturel (VDN), and Rutherglen Muscat all fall into this style of wine.
The above is a very brief oversimplification of winemaking styles. There are of course many more steps and details involved. There are also other forms of fermentation I haven’t touched upon here. The goal of this article is to highlight how we get some of the differences in wine style. The thing they all have in common is they are made by yeasts consuming sugars and creating ethanol. Of course, it’s what’s different about them that makes wine the juice we love so much.