12:32 AM

04/25/08 - Wine Source

Wine Source For Your Reading Pleasure

An Explanation Of Different Wines

If you are thinking of entertaining in your home, having dinner parties, or you just want to have a bit of knowledge for that next romantic dinner here are some descriptions for you of different classifications of wine and why they are named the way they are.

There are many different types of wines which can lead to some confusion on which to choose for a particular meal or occasion. The information offered here should help clear things up a little.

In many cases wines will be named for the place where they are made such as Champagne while others are named for the grapes the wines are made from like Chardonnay or Merlot. Some get their name from other better known vineyards which are slightly similar such as Chablis and Burgundy. How a wine comes by its name is also influenced by local laws and traditions especially in Europe.

Below are the three main categories:

Regional Wines come first. These wines are primarily European and have a long history of distinctive wine making governed by strict regulations that determine which grapes to use for a particular wine and location. These laws and rules come from hundreds of years of experience using different grapes and fermentation methods which have resulted in knowledge of what will work best for a specific location. Almost all French, Italian, and Portuguese wines are classed in this category with regional names such as Bordeaux, Chianti, and Burgundy.

Variety wines or varietals are next, so named from the grapes from which they are derived. Many countries now allow for wines to be named in this manner though it is still helpful to know about the local variations and local laws. For example, in California a wine need only consist of 75% of a certain grape to be able to use that name while in France it must contain 100% of that specific type of grape. The countries in the "New World" tend to be more relaxed with their regulations and also will label their better wines with these varietal names while the "Old World" European countries tend to use this for their everyday table wines like Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The generic wines are the last and are more common in the United States than other countries and for reasons explained above are virtually unseen in Europe. These wines have no regulatory labeling and no content or place of origin requirements so an American wine that is a sparkling wine may be called Champagne even though it is nowhere near the quality of the wine of that name coming from the Champagne region of France. Some other examples of this are Chablis, Burgundy, and Port. This generic naming can be confusing for the uninformed; the best advice is to go with the French made or other European wine where you are assured of the higher quality.

Hopefully the information we have shared with you here will be helpful to you. One other quick tip I will share with you is to remember this where meals are concerned; for red meats choose a red wine and for fish and poultry go with a white.

About the Author

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. For a great selection of wine gift baskets go to http://www.winebasketdelivery.com

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12:31 AM

2008 - White Zinfandel

The Best Articles on White Zinfandel

Ruster Ausbruch: the Exquisite Dessert Wine from Austria

Ruster Ausbruch is a rare, specialty sweet dessert wine which hails from Austria. First, let's look at the name itself: Ruster is pronounced "rooster", like the bird, and it simply means that the wine comes from the town of Rust (pronounced roost), which is in the Burgenland region of Austria. Ausbruch is pronounced ahs-brook, and comes from the German word Ausbrechen, which means to "break out." There are a number of dessert wines from different countries called Ausbruch, and it refers to the method used to select the grapes during harvest: grapes which have been affected by botrytis cinerea (also known as noble rot) are "broken out" of the bunch to be used, leaving the clean, un-affected grapes behind. When you come across a sweet wine labeled "Noble," it is this precious mold they are talking about.

The quality of these wines depends upon how meticulously this selection process it is done. The simplest way involves taking two buckets and making one pass at the vines, roughly separating the merely ripe grapes from those affected by noble rot.

The more labor intensive way involves going through the vineyard day after day, sometimes as much as a dozen times, and only picking the most perfectly noble-rotted grapes with each pass and leaving the rest on the vine until they, too, reach rotted perfection. With this method, even the most experienced picker will collect only about enough grapes to produce 20 liters of wine with each pass. In fact, winemaker Michael Wenzel of the Wenzel Winery tells of a year when it took a team of 7 harvesters working full-time for 10 days to pick enough grapes for a mere 300 liters of this precious wine.

Production then goes something like this: maceration generally takes between a half to 2 days, depending upon the quality of the nobly rotted grapes. Next comes a gentle run through the press. The must is then left to ferment until it reaches around 12% alcohol, which takes approximately four months. The wines are then aged in wooden casks or oak barrels, the length of time and type of barrel used depending upon the style of the vintner

Precious few Ruster Ausbruch wines are currently imported to the United States, and they can be difficult to locate at your local wine shop. Two outstanding producers to look for are the Feiler-Artinger winery, which just celebrated its 100-year anniversary, and the Wenzel winery, whose family have been making wine in Rust since 1647. Both can be found online at the Austrian specialty wine shop Winemonger, which offers at least 6 different varieties of Ruster Ausbruch dessert wine at last count. Two other good resources for locating these wines are wine-searcher.com and winezap.com.

Last year, Wine Enthusiast magazine named the 2001 Wenzel SAZ Ruster Ausbruch wine to it's "Top 100 Wines in the World" list, a wine which vintner Michael Wenzel describes this way: "This is the flagship of our Ruster Ausbruch wines. "Saz" stands for the historically important lage [vineyard area] on our property. The idea was to create a Ruster Ausbruch from grapes that have been the traditional combination used for hundreds of years: 60% Furmint, 40% In the glass it is a beautiful sparkly yellow. The nose is immensely fruity, with notes of apricot and citrus fruits. An explosion of fruits. On the palate you are overwhelmed by the finesse of the acid that carries the wine and builds the backbone for long cellaring potential. The 2001 Saz was aged for 18 months in new wood barrels."

What is the cellar potential for a Ruster Ausbruch? Vintner Kurt Feiler, from the Feiler-Artinger winery, describes their passage into maturity this way: "The Ruster Ausbruch has a cellaring potential of up to 50, 60 years. It shows well in the first 2 years, then closes down in year 3 for about a year, and then opens back up with fruit and more complexity on the palate; more rounded and integrated. It will hold at this perfect taste for another 15 years and then slows development as it moves into its ripening period. The sweet impression of the sugar reduces during this final period, developing a more crispy, slightly drier finish. For our Ruster Ausbruch blends every grape is picked single varietal, at different times, and then after fermentation they are blended. This also helps us to control the final feeling."

One might be tempted to serve such a sweet dessert wine alongside the dessert course, but both Michael Wenzel and Kurt Feiler recommend different route: pair these wines with something savory, such as a blue-veined cheese or some prepared foie gras. If you do elect to serve it with dessert, they would recommend keeping it simple and not-too-sweet, such as a white cake or ripe fruits. Or better yet, serve a glass of Ruster as the entire dessert course. This is one dessert wine that can certainly stand alone, and deserves to do so.

These rare and exquisite wines are a must for the dessert wine connoisseur, and a knockout for the sweet wine novice.

About the Author

Emily Schindler is a wine importer based in Los Angeles. To read more of her wine writing, or to find the wines she imports, go to http://www.winemonger.com

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12:31 AM

April - Wine Serving

The Best Articles on Wine Serving

Wine manufacturing process.

Wine is a product made from fruits like grapes, berries etc by drying them and later fermenting them. When the grapes ferment the sugar in the grapes convert to alcohol. They are available in various colors and textures depending upon the elements present in them. For example, the wine exhibits a reddish color when the seeds and the skin of the grapes are present during the fermentation process. When it is fermented without any quantity of non-juicy parts they turn pinkish.

The three main categories in wine are fortified wine, sparkling wine or table wine. It is known as a fortified wine when a little brandy is added to enrich the alcoholic content. It is termed as still or sparkling depending upon the CO2 quantity. Table wine is available in a very natural form and is not like the other wine.

Grapes are usually the best ingredients used in the preparation of wine. There is an equal proportion of sugar and acid in them, which cannot be found in any other fruit. High temperature heat is required to dry away the grapes. You must have a thorough knowledge regarding the exact harvesting season. If the harvesting is delayed you may not be able to produce a good quality wine because the level of sugar increases and the acidic extent gets too low.

At the initial stage of processing, the grapes are crushed using a large cylindrical container that inflates the juicy part of the grapes in the large bags that are attached. They are then fermented by heating the juicy part. In the process of heating the yeast that is present helps converting the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Sometimes this solution requires fermentation for the second time due to malic acid present. When the malic acid breaks downs into lactic acid and carbon dioxide, it adds a new buttery flavor to the wine.

The next step carried out is to settle all the particles like yeast cells, or any other material flowing on the top layer. It is then filtered and all the sediments are gathered on the filter. Winery aging is the process where the wine is tightly packed in containers not allowing the air to enter in them for nearly several months and sometimes years. The wine is then transferred in small bottles and sold.

Bottling is done in such a way that it becomes easy to identify the various types of wine. Also colored bottles reduce the chances of damage, oxidation and many other risks.

After buying a wine product it is important to store it in a right place. Usually damp and cool places like underground cellars are more appropriate. There are some underlying principles regarding the storage of wine. It should be stored in a cellar at a temperature of about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature fluctuates it will harm the quality of wine. Humidity about 60 % is necessary to keep the cork moist. Low temperatures will slow the process. Wine should be kept away from external sources like light, vibration and strong odors, which are obviously the barriers to the formation of a good quality wine.

About the Author

Paul has been providing answers to lots of queries through his website on a wide variety of subjects ranging from satellite phones to acne. To learn more visit http://www.askaquery.com/Answers/qn1538.html

You are welcome to republish the above article only if you add our hyperlinked URL which is mentioned above.

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