You may have come across many people saying that wine is their favourite drink. The hard fact, however, is that there are fewer people in India who talk about wine, we mean knowledge talk here guys! So, are you a wine lover too? Even if you are and feel that wine is your drink, do you have enough understanding of it? If not, it is high time you learn about this elegant drink and what all facts are associated with the same.
To start with, wine is an alcoholic beverage made with fermented grapes. Technically, wine can be made with any fruit, but most wines are made from wine grapes. There are bottles of wine that come in different sizes. However, the one which is readily available is the standard bottle size of 750 containing 5 servings, while a standard pour size is 150 ml approximately.
Now that we have figured out what wine is and what the ideal pour of the beverage in a glass should be, let’s talk about the ingredients. What do you think that those enchantingly beautiful bottles of wine comprise of — grapes, sugar, alcohol, salt, spices…blah blah blah? Well, the answer is only “Grapes” (except for fortified wines). The availability of spices, salt and sugar depend on the type of grapes. Now, some may believe, or even worse, make attempts to buy bunches of grapes from the market with an aim to prepare their own wine. Well, of course, because all one needs are grapes and why spend so many bucks just for a bottle right? (Sigh!)
The answer, however, is a big “NO!” First of all, wine grapes are different from table grapes (grapes that you get from a fruit seller). Wine grapes are much smaller in size as compared to your table grapes and they come with seeds which table grapes do not have. Plus, they are much sweeter! If you are wondering that wine grapes are sweeter, then what makes the taste of wine just the opposite? Well, that’s because of fermentation folks! We have also listed the many reasons as to what makes one wine different from the rest:
1. Grapes: There are several varieties of white and red grapes and each grape boasts different compositions, which determines the taste of wines. The drink can be made from one or more grapes too. Bordeaux wines are usually the best blended wines when it comes to the old world wine.
2. Harvesting: Wine grapes take almost a year to grow. The harvest time in the northern hemisphere falls from August to October and the same in the southern hemisphere falls from February to April.
3. Climate: It plays a very important role in the taste of your wine. Wines from cooler climate taste tarter while those made in the warmer climates taste riper.
4. Terroir (Vineyard): In simple terms, this defines the place where grapes are grown. Factors such as soil and topography change the taste of a wine. For example, grapes grown in rocky soil will taste different from the grapes grown in muddy soil.
5. Fermentation: This is the winemaking process when grape juices are turned into an alcoholic beverage after the grapes are picked and separated. Yeast changes sugar into ethanol.The fermentation process can be done in different forms including oak and steel for this determines the flavour of your wine.
6. Vintage or non-vintage: Vintage refers to the year when the grapes were harvested while non-vintage refers to wines that are a blend of several harvests. The ageing of wines also changes the taste of the same.
There are more than thousands of varieties of wines to choose from and every day, an average of 600 new wines are released. So keep your weekend plans on for there are a lot more glasses that can make you tipsy and happily do all the crazy stuff from your list!
