Wine Basics

Last week, we introduced the five groups of wine, namely, red, white, sparkling, rose, and dessert. Red and white are known as table wines because they typically accompany food.

Today, I want to explore one of those groups. Let’s look at the red wine. Picture it, a weekend evening, you’re invited to dinner among friends and you wish to bring a wine. Opting for a red, you then find yourself lost among a wall of red bottles as you debate your options. Yes, I am guilty of being drawn by a label. Labels can be gorgeous and beautiful. However, let’s look beyond the label to the variety of the grape.

Red wines are subdivided into three types according to its taste: sweet, savory or fruity.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is a prime example of a well loved variety. This is a fruity red. It often has the flavor of raspberry or black cherry. The color can be quite dark. Having sampled two cabernets this weekend, one Argentinian and one Chilian, both shared the distinct quality of being tannic. The word tannin is a descriptive adjective to describe whether the wine has a dry taste.

The strength or weakness of the tannin quality depends on how long the juice sits with the grape skins, seeds and stems once the grapes have been pressed. The longer they sit in the juice, the greater the strength of the tannic quality. This is why white wines do not have tannins. The color of the wine comes from the skin of the grape; white wines, the skins are removed, hence, the ‘white’ wine.

Over the past week, I explored two of the three cabernets. ‘Carmen’ of the Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 (Chile), had a greater tannic taste than the ‘Trapiche’ Medalla 2019 (Argentina). Also, by consequence, it’s color was a deeper red. Contrary, the Argentinian wine had a more velvety taste and was fruitier than its counterpart.

Over the next week, this variety of red, will be explored again, but from the region of South Africa. I wish to experiment with the difference of taste of the same grape but with the influence of geography.

Cheers!

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