Wine is the fermented juice of grapes. As such, it's good to think of it as a food, which basically it is.
Grape juice contains sugar. After grapes are picked and crushed, yeast—either natural or added—mingles with the sugar and causes fermentation. (The same thing happens when you make bread, yogurt or beer.) The yeast converts the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
The carbon dioxide burps off into the air (or, if trapped in a bottle, makes a sparkling wine) and the alcohol—around 10%-14% by volume—remains in the wine.
The whole process is simple and natural. The most expensive bottle of Bordeaux and the cheapest liter of Tunisian tipple are both the fermented juice of grapes.
Types of wine:
Wines differ in color, sugar content and grape variety. Quality is a function of variables such as: climate, soil, the skill of the winemaker and the wine's age.
White wine comes from white grapes. Red and pink wines are made from red grapes. Squeeze all but a few of the world's red grapes, and their juice is pale white. But when left in contact with the skins—for a short time to make pink wine; a long time, for red—the juice takes on the skins' color. (You can make a white wine from red grapes by simply removing the skins immediately after crushing the grapes.)
Some white grape names: Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. Some red grape names: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir. Zinfandel, as red as a red grape gets, makes so-called 'white' zinfandel (which, strangely enough, is pink and technically is a rosé).
Wines are sweet, semi-sweet or dry. 'Dry' is a relative term, but refers to the absence of sweet. Any sugar in wine is usually left there on purpose (as a palate teaser in an apéritif wine, say, or as a treat in a dessert wine). Many people consider dry wines to be 'tart' or 'sour,' but that's because we generally have a sweet tooth for beverages. Try dry wines with food and you'll probably enjoy them better that way.
Wine names:
Wines get their names in various ways. Some wines 'borrow' the name of a famous wine or wine area—Burgundy, for example, or Chablis or Champagne.
Many wines made in other countries are named after the region where they are made. Sometimes that's a large area, such as 'Chianti'; sometimes it's as small as a single vineyard, such as 'Wehlener Sonnenuhr.' All these names can be confusing for many people. What helps best is a good book as a guide.
A lot of wine, especially American wine, is named after the grape variety that makes it. That's the case when you see wine labels that say Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. In addition, wine labels carry the name of the producer, the year the wine was made (the ''vintage') and other information.
Tasting wine:
Simple, just toss it down the hatch, right? Well, we're not just pounding down a Bud Light here. While it takes years to appreciate all the nuances of wine, even beginners can find much to enjoy in a glass of wine.
Take a clear, stemmed glass and fill it one-quarter to one-third full with wine.
Gently swirl the wine around in the glass. That helps enhance its smell or what is called the 'bouquet.' Now, get a good sniff of the wine's aroma: Stick your nose down deep in the bowl and take a full-throttle snort.
A wine's aroma can resemble a field of flowers or a basket of fruits. It can be a draught of nature itself—composting leaves, moist earth, fresh hewn hay. Why miss any of these beauties for want of a good, deep sniff?
Finally, take a sip. Swirl it around so that it reaches all over your mouth and so that the aromas ascend the rear nasal passage. Your tongue and nose are marvelous sensors and, working together, they will perceive the many different tastes and aromas that a wine can offer.
Use your sense of touch—your tongue and mouth—to feel the wine, too. They'll 'feel' a wine's weight, its fatness or viscosity, its thinness or weakness, its roughness or smoothness. All of these sensations, whether pleasant or not, convey a wine's character to you.
Serving wine:
Most white wines taste best chilled, and red wines, at just below room temperature. To cool a white wine—especially necessary with a sparkling wine—leave it a few hours in the refrigerator or about 20-30 minutes in a bucket filled with ice and water.
Red wines can seem flabby if drunk warm. Put most red wines in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before opening.
For glassware, err on the side of generosity. Also, with better wines, try to use glasses that trap the bouquet in the bowl: glasses, that is, that narrow toward the rim.
Storing wines:
Some wines benefit from age. When a wine ages, its various 'tastes' combine in pleasant ways.
Perhaps, though, you're just putting several bottles away in casual storage. Whatever your wine stash, keep it like you'd keep a teenager: in the dark, downstairs, on its side, cool and free from vibration.
Bright light hurts wine: it simply spoils it over time. A cool, stable temperature is important because you don't want the wine to mature too quickly. Also, store wine bottles on their sides to keep the corks in a moist, taut state.
Vibrations dull the taste of wine over time. So, don't store wine in the refrigerator, underneath the staircase or in any room where you're likely to play hard rock.
