What is wine?
Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of grapes. Yeast consumes sugar in the grapes, converting it to ethanol and releasing carbon dioxide in the process. Different grape strains and yeasts are used to produce different styles of wine.
Why are Wine Grapes so Special?
The grapes that become your favorite wines aren’t available at your local supermarket. Wine grapes are often much sweeter and softer than your average table grapes. They tend to develop thicker skins during maturation, and may have a large amount of seeds.
Table grapes are picked much earlier than wine grapes. Winemakers seek the ripest of wine grapes, as the strongest grapes result in the best wine! Grapes deteriorate much faster once off the vine. Anything done to grapes during both the growing and harvesting process can have a significant effect on the taste of the wine. Learn more about different types of grapes here.
What is Wine Good For?
Whether you’re just getting into wine or you’ve enjoyed pinot noir and chardonnay for years, learning about the varied tastes, origins, wine grapes, and flavor pairings related to your favorite wine can only make the experience more enjoyable.
For many, drinking wine is a social experience. Understanding the types of wines and flavors of varied wines can help you choose libations all of your friends and family can enjoy.
Wine was once the quintessential gift for hosting occasions, where certain grapes were carefully selected from variations of red grapes and let’s not forget white grapes. These variations in style and flavor are the end result of biochemical development of a wine grapes strain, and years of research and development.
If you want to be able to discuss wine, choose great wine gifts, and impress friends with your knowledge, use this guide to wine for beginners.
Whether you’re picking a bottle of wine for a friend or you are on the hunt to bolster your own collection of delicious vino, let this beginner’s guide to wine give you a helping hand.
Various Aromas and Flavors You May Encounter
When drinking wine, you’ll encounter a variety of aromas and flavors. It takes a skilled palate to recognize these features, but with a bit of practice and insight, you can learn the ways aromas and flavors are incorporated in your favorite wines. These aromas and flavors range in style, including notes of fruit, flowers and herbs, oak, and other flavors. Very few fruits in the world have the ability to replicate the flavors of other fruits like wine grapes!
