Red wines can be purple red, pale brick red or ruby red. They are made from grapes that are red or bluish in colour. The red colour occurs when colorless juice sits in contact with the red grape skins during fermentation and absorbs the skins' colour.
Some popular Red Wines are:
Cabernet Sauvignon
Origin: California, Australia, France
Serve With: Strongly flavoured cheeses, pasta with red sauce, lamb, game, beef, chocolate dessert
Taste Description: Medium to full bodied, blackcurrant flavour
Merlot
Origin: California, France, Washington, New York, Chile
Serve With: Strongly flavoured cheeses, pasta with red sauce, duck, goose, lamb, game, beef, chocolate dessert
Taste Description: Full bodied, plum or chocolate-like flavour
Pinot Noir
Origin: California, France, Oregon
Serve With: Strongly flavoured cheeses, seafood with wine or light sauces, grilled fish, salmon, pasta with red sauce, poultry, duck, goose, pork/veal, lamb, game, beef
Taste Description: Fruity to woodsy flavour
Beaujolais Brouilly
Origin: France
Serve With: Charcuterie, pate or cold chicken
Taste Description: Light and fruity
Chianti
Origin: Tuscany
Serve With: Italian cuisine
Taste Description: Light to full-bodied, dry, tart cherries flavour
Zinfandel
Origin: California, Croatia
Serve With: Summer barbeque, rib-eye steak
Taste Description: Rich, raspberry aroma
Bordeaux
Origin: Western France
Serve With: Asian or Italian Cuisine
Taste Description: Dry, plum, spice or cedar aroma when young.
White wine can be yellow, golden, or pale as water. They are made from grapes that are greenish, greenish yellow, golden yellow, pinkish yellow and white. Processing the juice of skinless red grapes can also make white wine.
Most people drink white wine as a drink without food or with lighter foods. White wines are usually served chilled and are therefore more refreshing than red wines.
Some popular White Wines are:
Chardonnay
Origin: California, Australia, France
Serve With: Strongly flavoured cheeses, oysters, shrimp, crab, lobster, seafood with wine, light or cream sauces, poultry, duck, goose, pork/veal
Taste Description: Rich and full bodied, dry, oak flavour
Sauvignon Blanc
Origin: California, France, New Zealand, South Africa
Serve With: Mild cheeses, strongly flavoured cheeses, appetizers, dips, oysters, shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, mussels, seafood with wine or light sauces, grilled fish, pasta with cream sauce, poultry.
Taste Description: Light to medium-bodied, crisp, dry
Riesling
Origin: Germany, California, New York, Washington, France
Serve With: Mild cheeses, strongly flavoured cheeses, appetizers, dips, shrimp, crab, lobster, seafood with wine or light sauces, grilled fish, salmon, poultry, Asian food, pork/veal
Taste Description: Light-bodied, fruity to flowery flavour, mostly dry
Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris
Origin: Italy, Oregon, France
Serve With: Mild cheeses, strongly flavoured cheeses, appetizers, dips, shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, mussels, seafood with cream sauces, grilled fish, salmon, pasta with cream or red sauces, poultry, Asian food, pork/veal
Taste Description: Medium to full bodied, neutral aromas.
Rosé wines are made when grape juice is left in contact with red grape skins for a few hours, leaving the colour of the wine pink. These types of wine are also referred to as blush wines.
There is very little tannin absorbed from the skins in rosé wines because the period of time in which the juice and skins mix is brief. Therefore, these wines can be chilled and drunk the same way as white wines.
These wines are usually fairly sweet but can also be dry.
Sparkling wines are wines that contain carbon dioxide bubbles. The bubbles are the natural by-product of fermentation that winemakers sometimes decide to trap in the wine.
A popular Sparkling Wine is:
Champagne
Origin: Champagne, France
Serve With: Mild cheeses, strongly flavoured cheeses, appetizers, dips, oysters, shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, mussels, poultry, Asian food
Taste Description: Varies per year and brand
Table wine, or light wine, is fermented grape juice that is not bubbly. In the eyes of the law, unless a wine has more than 14% alcohol or has bubbles, it's a table wine or a light wine.
These wines are sweet and are usually enjoyed after dinner. In Europe, they are referred to as liqueur wines. More precisely, these wines have been strengthened by additional alcohol.
