Wine Styles and How They’re Made

Understanding how wine is made may be neither as neat a party trick as blind tasting, nor as loaded with cachet as waxing poetic on Burgundian crus, but investing a bit of time into learning about winemaking will do more for your wine appreciation than anything else. 

White Wine 

White grapes are pressed, separating the juice from the grape solids. This keeps the color relatively neutral, somewhere between pale straw and a light golden hue. White wines are generally marked by higher acidity than red wines, making them refreshing. If the winemaker doesn’t expose the wine to oak or malolactic fermentation, white wines will mostly show fruit or minerality.

Red Wine 

Red (or black) grapes are crushed and the must stays in contact with the skins. Generally speaking, red wine will undergo a cold soak to extract color along with aroma compounds. Tannins are not water-soluble, so they aren’t extracted until fermentation begins. Most red wines will undergo malolactic fermentation to soften the acidity. Depending on the final style of the wine, they may undergo fermentation and/or ageing in oak. 

Pink wine, aka Rosé

There are several ways to make Rosé:

1. Direct pressing. Red grapes are pressed and have minimal time to macerate. These are generally the lightest in color. You may sometimes see them referred to as vin gris. 
2. Maceration. Red grapes are macerated for a short period of time before being pressed. Sometimes the winemaker is only making rosé; other times, they make red wine and bleed off some of the juice early in the fermentation process. This is known as saignée (pronounced: sun-YAY). 
3. Blending white grape juice and red grape juice. In the EU, this is illegal, except in Champagne. Still wines made with blending tend to be lower quality wines.

Rosé is most often made in a fruit-forward style with high acidity. There are some ageable styles of Rosé, though most bottles are made with the intention of youthful consumption. 

Orange Wine 

Orange wine is made by keeping white grapes in contact with their solids, often for extended periods of time. The longer contact with the solids gives orange wines tannins and flavors associated with aged wines, such as dried fruits. This is an ancient method of wine-making and recently has seen a surge in popularity. Some orange wines are made in a fairly simple style and others are more robust and are ageworthy. 

Sparkling Wine 

There are several methods for making sparkling wine. The most famous is the Méthode Champenoise, aka the Traditional Method. If it is made this way in Champagne, it can be called Champagne. Otherwise, it’s sparkling wine. These wines undergo two fermentations. The first makes a still wine like we discussed above; the second fermentation happens in the bottle, where carbon dioxide is captured, making the wine bubbly.

The more fruity styles of sparkling wine, such as Prosecco, are made differently. These wines are made in a tank to preserve fruit flavors, where the bubbles are also created, then bottled. The short time from harvest to market is part of the reason a good bottle of Prosecco might be half the price of a decent bottle of Champagne. 

Fortified Wines 

Fortified wines are still wines that have stronger alcohol added to them (fortification). High alcohol kills yeasts, which stops fermentation. The Portuguese began fortifying wines to ensure they survived a trip to England, and the style stuck. They come in a range of styles from dry and oxidized, to sweet and fruit-forward. Sherry, Port, Madeira, and vin doux naturel are all styles of fortified wine.