what is wine

We all know that wine is made from the juice of grapes. The most commonly accepted legal definition is that “Wine is the alcoholic beverage obtained from the fermentation of the juice of freshly gathered grapes”. All grapes need to turn into wine (albeit not a particularly good one) is a container within which to sit and a small amount of yeast to act as a catalyst to convert the natural sugars in the grapes into alcohol.

Yet, wine is not made up entirely of grape juice and yeast. The average glass of wine can actually contain a massive 1000 different essential components.

The composition of each individual wine depends upon a whole host of factors, not least the wine type/style, its origins, the prevailing growing and harvest conditions and its age (vintage), as well as the individual influence of the winemaker.

In terms of the essential components of wine some of the most commonly known of the +1000 identified include Water, Alcohol, Mineral Salts such as Sulphates and Chlorides, Mineral Elements including Potassium, Calcium, Iron and Copper. There is an A-Z of the acid family present with Acetic, Citric, Lactic, Malic, Succinic and Tartaric being the most common. Don’t forget Glycerol, Phenolics, Residulal Sugar, Carbon Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide, Higher Alcohols, Pectins and some Esters.

If this all sounds rather dangerous for your health then do not worry as most of the components found in wine are entirely natural and safe to consume in moderation. Some people do react adversely to wine and allergies to wine and other alcoholic products are not uncommon.

If you want to know more about wine and health issues then click and read the section titled 'Wine and Health'.

Each different wine produced contains the essential components in different levels and it is these differences that help to distinguish one type of wine from another.

With over 30,000 wines currently available for sale in the UK and over 100,000 wines available worldwide it’s hard to tell one from another!

Usually, we identify a wine by its’ colour first or we may distinguish a particular wine from others because of its fizz. Or as is often the case we classify wines according to the occasion when they are drunk such as aperitifs, food wines and dessert wines.

Different types of wines may be classified in a number of ways. The most common method and the method used by law to distinguish between different wines is the alcohol level. Wines which have gained their alcohol level naturally through fermentation often lie in the 9 to 15 degrees alcohol level, although some may be as low as five percent alcohol. These wines are usually referred to as table wines or just simply as wine.

Those with a low level of alcohol are often referred to as Low-Alcohol or De-Alcoholised wines. Such wines may be further classified by their colour into red, rose and white. Or, they may in fact be classified by their natural level of dissolved CO2 with those containing little being referred to as Still wines, whilst those containing a lot are known as sparkling wines. Their level of sweetness may further classify these wines. Indeed most branded Champagnes for sale here in the UK display the word Brut on the label, indicating a certain level of dryness.

Wines that have a level of alcohol between 15 and 21 degrees alcohol are generally referred to as fortified. The term fortified implies that the wines owe some of their alcoholic strength to the addition of spirit. The most common examples of fortified wines are the famous wines of Port and Sherry, which are officially labelled within the E.U. as “vins de liqueur”.

In recent years the term Varietal Wines has grown in importance. The word varietal refers to the type of grape variety used in making the wine. For example a Chardonnay is a varietal wine as the grape the wine is made from is the Chardonnay grape. Likewise for Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling etc…It is hard to underestimate the powerful effect the varietal has had in the world of wine. Chardonnay has become a brand name in itself and people often make their wine choice according to the name of the grape variety because they know what to expect in terms of style and flavour.

Producing wine requires time, skill, patience and a fair amount of luck. If it really were as easy as putting grapes in a container and leaving them to ferment on their own until they created wine, we would all be winemakers not just wine drinkers.

The winemaker straddles a fine line between scientist and artist when making wine. Whilst the New World winemakers are generally regarded as the scientists and the Europeans as the artists the successful winemaker is the person who manages to be both in equal.