Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by fermentation of the mash of fresh grapes. The different varieties of grapes are picked from the noble vine. Pressing the grapes produces a mash of skins, seeds, water, sugar, acid and color and tannins.

During fermentation in the cellar, most of the sugar is converted into alcohol. If the residual sugar is still contained in the wine taste, it is called off-dry, semi-dry or sweet wines. Very sweet wines with high residual sugar are sweet wines such as Beerenauslesen and Trockenbeerenauslesen. On the contrary, dry wines are those with little residual sugar.

There are different types of wine: red wine, white wine, rosé wine, sparkling wine and sweet wine. Red wine is made from blue grapes. Well-known international grape varieties from which red wines are made include Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Very few wines are made from one grape. This mixing is called blending. The grape varieties are grown in countries with suitable climate. There are some wine regions that have taken their place internationally as a prestigious wine region. These include Bordeaux, Burgundy as well as the Rhone Valley in France. In Italy, there are Tuscany, Piedmont or Veneto and in Spain, the most famous wine regions are Rioja and Ribera del Duero, where the Tempranillo or Tinta del Pais grape variety is grown.

Sparkling wine is distinguished between sparkling wine, champagne and prosecco. A sparkling wine may only be called Champagne if it has been produced in accordance with the strict Champagne regulations (méthode champenoise). The most important regulation here is the origin of the champagne: only grapes from the Champagne region in France may be used. In addition, only the grape varieties Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay are allowed. The term sparkling wine is used to describe all sparkling wines that may not be called Champagne. Prosecco is a sparkling wine that may only be made from Prosecco grapes from Italy. Unlike Champagne and sparkling wine, Prosecco has a lower carbonic acid content because it is added in the close, while in Champagne and sparkling wine the carbonic acid is produced by fermentation in the bottle. more