Wine is made from grapes. So what makes wine grapes different from the grapes you see every day in the supermarket? They will be smaller, sweeter, and often have more seeds. Most wines are made from grapes native to the Caucasus, known as Vitis Vinifera. More than 1,300 grape varieties have been identified for commercial winemaking, but only about 150 of these are used in the production of most of the wine produced in the world. Among them, the most popular is Cabernet Sauvignon.
"Vintage" và "Non Vintage"
Wine grapes take a season to mature and so wine is usually produced only once a year. "Vint" is an acronym for "winemaking" and "age" for the year it was made. When you see a year listed on the label, that's exactly the year those grapes were picked and made for the wine.
Sometimes you'll see wines that don't have a vintage (year) on the label, possibly a blend of several vintages. In case of Champagne will be labeled "NV" i.e. "Non Vintage".
Single-Varietal Wine: Wine is made from a single grape variety
This is a type of wine produced primarily from one type of grape. The name of the grape variety will be listed on the label. For example, a bottle of Merlot is made from Merlot grapes, a bottle of Riesling is made from Riesling grapes.
Wine Blend: Mixed wine
This is a wine made from a blend of several grape varieties.
Flavors and Flavors
If wine is made from grapes, then why is it sometimes said that after tasting the wine it has flavors of different fruits such as pears, apples, cherries, avocados, vanilla, cloves and sometimes even grapes. including bacon? So, where do these flavors come from?
You just tasted Chardonnay, did you find it different from the Chardonnay you have tasted? This is because all the aroma compounds, which scientists call "isomers", are released during fermentation. When you smell alcohol, it evaporates into the air and carries aromatic compounds that are lighter than air into your nose. Each type of wine can contain hundreds of different aromatic substances. Each compound can affect the taste of wine. This is why some bottles of Chardonnay taste different. Another possibility is that our brain has the ability to "associate" with previously known flavors and draw conclusions when smelling similar flavors.
When you ask someone who has just tasted wine, several aspects can be explained acidity, sweetness, alcohol, tannins, compounds in the fermentation process.
(to be continued)