Wines

Introduction of Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage obtained from the juices of freshly gathered ripe grapes transformed by fermentation. Yeast converts the sugar of the fruit into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide escapes into the air. The remaining solution- juice plus alcohol- is wine. It produces from the direct of origin according to the local customs and tradition without any foreign additives. The color, bouquet, flavor, strength and quality of any wine depend upon a number of factor; they are:

1. The species of grapes from which the wine is made.
2. The nature of the soil and aspect of the vineyard in which the grapes were grown.
3. The incidence of rain and sunshine is responsible for the quality and ripeness of the grapes when gathered at the time of the vintage.
4. The care given to the cultivation of the vines and to the gathering of the grapes,
5. To the manner and degree of the pressing of the grapes the fermentation their sweet juices and the treatment accorded to the newly made wine.
6. To the methods adopted for blending and maturing.

Classification of wine

The main classifications of wines are classified on the basis of the grapes juices fermentation. They are:

• Still wines/ Table wines
• Aromatized Wines
• Fortified Wines
• Sparkling Wines

1. Still Wine/ Table Wine

A wine that does not bubble is called a still wine. This is the largest category of wine. The federal standards of identity as table wines and have an alcoholic content of "not in excess of 14 percent by volume". The wines are further classified as dry and sweet wines on the basis of sugar content and also classified on basis of colors.

Classified on basis of colors

Red wine: Only black grapes are used for the making of ts wine. It is being fermented in contact with grapes skin from which wine gets its color, normally ranging from orange-red to ruby red to deep purple, depending on the type of grapes they came from and their age. Second red wines as a group has characteristics of taste that are some what different from those of whites and roses. Red wines are served at a cool room temperature of 65°F to 70° F (18°C to 21° C).

White wine: These are made of both black and white grape. First, an immediate pressing to extract the juice and separate the skins, and  second the purging or cleansing of this juice. The grapes are often crushed and then macerated in a vinimatic for 12 to 48 hours to extract aromatics stored in the skins. Usually produced from white grapes but skin is removed before fermentation. Differs from dry to very sweet. White wines are always served lightly chilled, whether by the glass or by the bottle.

Rose Wine: The roses are various shades of pink, from very pale to nearly red. It is similar to red wine but is pressed only for a few hours after crushing so as to only get a pale pink coloring. It is made in 3 ways.
- By maceration, same as red wine
- By bleeding, made from the tainted juice that issues from black grapes pressed under their own weight
- By pressing, until the juice assumes sufficient color.

2. Aromatized Wine
These wines are prepared with addictive of brandy or neutral spirits and the addition of various aromatic ingredients. The most important of these aromatized wines in Vermouth, which is made from neutral white wines of two to three years old that are blended with an extract of wormwood's, vanilla and various other herbs and spices. Italy and France are main producers. Alcoholic strength varies from 15 to 22%. May be red, white or rose, dry sweet or bitter sweet. E.g. Vermouth, Cinzano, Martini, Du Bonnet.


3. Fortified Wine
Any wine, dry or sweet, red or white, to which alcohol has been added and classified as a fortified wine, whatever the inherent vinification differences may be. Fortified wines have strength of 17% to 24% of alcohol. E.g. Madeira, Marsala, Muscat and Muscatel, Sherry, Port. These wines are fortified by the addition of alcohol either during or after fermentation. Any one of the following methods may be used:
- Mutage: This is the addition of alcohol to fresh grape juice. This prevents fermentation and produces fortified wines.
- Early fortification: This is the addition of alcohol after fermentation has commenced.
- Late fortification: This is the late fortification of alcohol after fermentation has cased.



4. Sparkling Wine
When grape juice is fermented, sugar is converted into alcohol and carbon gas. In this production of still wines the gas is allowed to escape, but should be prevented from doing it, by putting a lid on a vat or a cork in a bottle, it will remain dissolved in the wine itself until that lid or cork is removed. When the gas is released it rushes out of the wine in the form of bubbles. The outstanding characteristic of a sparkling wine is that it bubbles. Sparkling wines may be white, red or rose. They generally contain 10 to 13 percent alcohol by volume. Most famous white is champagne, red is sparkling burgundy and rose is spumante. Here are the basic principles upon which sparkling wines are made, using one of the following methods:
- Methode champenoise: This refers to a sparkling wine that has undergone a second fermentation in the bottle in which it is sold.
- Bottle fermented (transfer method): This refers to a wine produced through a second fermentation in a bottle, but not the bottle in which it is sold. It is fermented in one bottle, transfers to a vat and, under pressure filtered, and put into another bottle.
- Methode rurale: This refers to the precursor of methode champenoise, it involves no second fermentation, the wine being bottled prior to the termination of the first alcoholic fermentation.
- Cuve close, Charmat or Tank method: This is used fr the bulk production of inexpensive sparkling wines that have undergone second fermentation in large tanks, prior to filtration and bottling under pressure at (-)3° C.
- Carbonation: This is the cheapest method of putting bubbles into wine and is simply, injecting it with carbon dioxide.

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