W I N E

Wine has been cultivated ever since pre-history and was probably the first thing that mankind used to get plastered. Every civilization and culture has drunk it. It was popular among the Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, Roman and of course our own venerable ancients who used it in large quantities in various sacrifices and generally devoted large tracts in the scriptures in praise of Soma. One of the greatest historical mysteries according to Tulleeho is the composition of Soma. If only one knew the ingredients of that nectar.

Composition of a Grape :

Two parts form a grape bunch: the stem constitutes the body and the berries composed of skin, pulp and pip.

STEM
It constitutes about 3 to 5 % of the grape weight. It is rich in water, minerals and contains tannin that can impart to the wine a certain pungency (stem taste) and a grassy taste. This is why, based on the variety and the type of wine made, the berries are de-stemmed.

PULP
In quantity, with 80 % of the weight of a grape bunch, this is the most important part. Colourless, it is composed of water, sugar (glucose + fructose), and 3 main acids (tartaric, malic, citric), minerals, especially potassium, and nitrogenised substances, main source of food for yeast. It also contains enzymes and vitamins.

SKIN
It represents 10 % of the weight of the bunch. It is covered by a thin waxy white coat called "pruine", on which the necessary yeast are deposited to convert the grape juice into wine. The skin is rich in tannin and colouring matters; this is what colours the wine. Lastly, some aromatic substances, specific to each variety, are present in the skin in the form of aroma precursors.

PIPS
There can be 2, 3 or 4 pips per berry, which constitute 4 to 5 % of the bunch weight. They are rich in tannin and oily substances (lipids).

Types of Grapes

Barbera (Bar-BARE-ah) - Grape used to make hearty red wines in the Piemonte of Northwestern Italy, also California.

Cabernet Franc (Cab-air-nay FrahN) - French red wine grape, often used in a Bordeaux blend, also in the Loire valley and California.

Cabernet Sauvignon (Cab-air-nay So-veen-yawN) - One of the noblest red wine grapes, used in Bordeaux, also as either a 100 percent varietal or in red blends in the U.S., Australia, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and wherever wine grapes grow. The most famous red wine grape. In India, Grovers offer this grape as a single varietal.

Chardonnay (Shar-doh-nay) - One of the world's most well known white wine grapes. Originated in Burgundy, but widely planted in the U.S., Australia and all over the world. Available in India.

Chenin Blanc (Shay-naN BlaN) - Noble French grape, most common in the Loire, making very fine white wines both dry and slightly sweet. Fantastic wines from this grape come from South Africa, where it's known as Steen. Sula makes these in India.

Cinsaut (SaN-so) - dark red French grape, sometimes spelled "Cinsault."

Fumé Blanc (Foo-may BlahN) - U.S. synonym for Sauvignon Blanc, invented by Robert Mondavi during the 1970s as a marketing ploy and widely imitated.

Furmint (FOOR-mint) - Hungarian white-wine grape, used to make the renowned dessert wine Tokay.

Gamay (Gam-may) - Red-wine grape of Beaujolais, a light, fresh and fruity red wine from the region of the same name in Southern Burgundy, France.

Gewürztraminer (Geh-VERTZ-trah-mee-nur) - White wine grape best known in Alsace, Germany, the U.S. West Coast and New York.

Grenache (Gray-NAHSH) - Red-wine grape commonplace in Languedoc and the Rhone, also California and as Garnacha, in Spain. Typically makes hearty, peppery wines. (Gahr-NAH-cha) in Spanish. Also used for Tavel- a Rose.

Gruner Veltliner (GREW-ner Felt-LEE-ner) - Excellent Austrian grape, producing light but crisp and racy dry white wines.

Malbec (Mahl-bek) - Red-wine grape used as a nominal element of the Bordeaux blend, where it's intense color and extract add to the wine's body. However this grape has come into its own in Argentina and nearly all the top Argentinian wines showcase this varietal.

Malvasia (Mahl-va-SEE-ah) - Italian white-wine grape, often blended with other grapes (including the traditional Chianti), occasionally seen as a 100 percent varietal.

Marsanne (Mahr-sahn) - Excellent white-wine grape of the Rhone, increasingly planted in California.

Merlot (Mare-low) - Very good red-wine grape, a key player in the Bordeaux blend, more recently grown as a varietal in its own right, especially in the US, Australia, Chile, Washington State and Argentine. Wine-geeks will always talk about its "softness". We didn't know what they meant till we tasted it.

Mourvèdre (Moor-VED'rr) - Red grape commonplace in Southern France, Languedoc and the Rhone, also Spain (where it is known as Mataro) and, increasingly, California.

Müller-Thurgau (MEW-lehr Toor-gow) - Relatively modern grape, perhaps a Riesling-Sylvaner cross.

Muscadet (Moos-cah-day) - A light, dry Loire white wine made from a grape of the same name (alternatively named Melon ("May-lawN"), sometimes showing a light musky or cantaloupe quality.

Muscat (Moos-caht) - Aromatic, ancient grape with a characteristic grapefruity and musky (as the name implies) aroma.

Nebbiolo (Nay-BYOH-low) - Noble grape of Northwestern Italy's Piedmonte region, source of such powerful and age worthy red wines as Barolo, Barbaresco and Gattinara.

Petit Verdot (Peh-tee Vehr-doe) - Red wine grape, fine quality but a minor player in the Bordeaux blend.

Petite Sirah (Peh-teet See-rah) - California red grape, probably the same as the Durif of the Rhone.

Pinot Blanc (Pee-noe BlahN) - White wine grape, making a dry, full white wine that some liken to Chardonnay, but typically medium in body and sometimes showing melon scents.

Pinot Gris (Pee-noe Gree) and Pinot Grigio (Gree-joe) - French and Italian names, respectively, for the same grape, typically making a dry and very crisp and acidic white wine.

Pinot Meunier (Pee-noe Mehr-n'yay) - Relatively uncommon as a varietal, but frequently used in the Champagne blend.

Pinot Noir (Pee-noe Nwar) - Classic red grape, widely accepted as one of the world's best. Think Burgundy when you think of this grape. In the last few years, Oregon has emerged as one the best regions for this grape.

Pinotage (Pee-noe-tahj) - A cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut of the Rhone, grown commercially only in South Africa, where it makes a fruity, dark red wine with an odd earthy character often described as "paintbox."

Malbec (Mahl-bek) - Red-wine grape used as a nominal element of the Bordeaux blend, where it's intense color and extract add to the wine's body. However this grape has come into its own in Argentina and nearly all the top Argentinian wines showcase this varietal.

Malvasia (Mahl-va-SEE-ah) - Italian white-wine grape, often blended with other grapes (including the traditional Chianti), occasionally seen as a 100 percent varietal.

Marsanne (Mahr-sahn) - Excellent white-wine grape of the Rhone, increasingly planted in California.

Merlot (Mare-low) - Very good red-wine grape, a key player in the Bordeaux blend, more recently grown as a varietal in its own right, especially in the US, Australia, Chile, Washington State and Argentine. Wine-geeks will always talk about its "softness". We didn't know what they meant till we tasted it.

Mourvèdre (Moor-VED'rr) - Red grape commonplace in Southern France, Languedoc and the Rhone, also Spain (where it is known as Mataro) and, increasingly, California.

Müller-Thurgau (MEW-lehr Toor-gow) - Relatively modern grape, perhaps a Riesling-Sylvaner cross.

Muscadet (Moos-cah-day) - A light, dry Loire white wine made from a grape of the same name (alternatively named Melon ("May-lawN"), sometimes showing a light musky or cantaloupe quality.

Muscat (Moos-caht) - Aromatic, ancient grape with a characteristic grapefruity and musky (as the name implies) aroma.

Nebbiolo (Nay-BYOH-low) - Noble grape of Northwestern Italy's Piedmonte region, source of such powerful and age worthy red wines as Barolo, Barbaresco and Gattinara.

Petit Verdot (Peh-tee Vehr-doe) - Red wine grape, fine quality but a minor player in the Bordeaux blend.

Petite Sirah (Peh-teet See-rah) - California red grape, probably the same as the Durif of the Rhone.

Pinot Blanc (Pee-noe BlahN) - White wine grape, making a dry, full white wine that some liken to Chardonnay, but typically medium in body and sometimes showing melon scents.

Pinot Gris (Pee-noe Gree) and Pinot Grigio (Gree-joe) - French and Italian names, respectively, for the same grape, typically making a dry and very crisp and acidic white wine.

Pinot Meunier (Pee-noe Mehr-n'yay) - Relatively uncommon as a varietal, but frequently used in the Champagne blend.

Pinot Noir (Pee-noe Nwar) - Classic red grape, widely accepted as one of the world's best. Think Burgundy when you think of this grape. In the last few years, Oregon has emerged as one the best regions for this grape.

Pinotage (Pee-noe-tahj) - A cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut of the Rhone, grown commercially only in South Africa, where it makes a fruity, dark red wine with an odd earthy character often described as "paintbox."

How wine is made

As grapes grow, they get riper (like all fruits). This means that the sugar level keeps increasing. This is what causes a ripe fruit to be sweeter than an unripe one. Grapes need a moderate climate, long ripening periods and no rains before harvest to really give their best. These factors combine to determine if a year is a vintage year or not. As the grape ripens, the winemakers will check regularly to see if the correct sugar levels are reached. The winemakers would ideally like the grape to remain on the vine as long as possible in order to maximize ripeness. The wine-grower on the other hand would like to bring the crop in quickly. This is due to the fact that rain during the harvest is likely to make the grape watery and therefore impact the resultant wine.

White Wine making

White wine can be made from grapes that are either white or red. That's because the colour of the wine comes from the pigment in the skin of the grapes and if the winemaker removes the skin before the wine is made (i.e. the juice is fermented) the grape will remain white. After the grapes are picked they are de-stemmed and crushed in a large machine.

The juice now called free run juice is run off separately. The stems and the skins are then pressed to get more juice and then left behind. Next the juice is fermented. Fermentation is a process whereby the yeast converts the sugar in the juice into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The carbon dioxide escapes and the alcohol remains. The resultant liquid (called must) is aged for a while longer to let all the sugar turn into alcohol.

The yeast cells die and fall to the bottom of the fermenting vessel and are called "lees". Normally these are removed by letting them settle to the bottom and draining off the clear juice (a process called racking). Some winemakers will let them be and these are those wine which will have "aged on its lees" on the label (sur lie in French). The wine now has to age. For most white wine this is done in steel vats so that the flavours of the wine come through. A lot of Chardonnay though is aged in oak barrels. The wine will then be racked (if not done already) and fined- a process whereby all extra floating particles are removed. It is then bottled and may be aged further or drunk.

Red Wine making

Red wine is made with the same process except for one basic difference. The skins of the grape are not removed until the juice is fermented. The juice, therefore, spends much longer in contact with the skins. This results in two things. The colours, from the pigments in the skin, get into the juice. More importantly, since the skins contain a lot of tannins, these too get transferred to the wine.

Tannins are those substances, which leave your mouth feeling dry when you drink strong black tea. They are important to wine as they help it age. When the fermentation is over the skins are separated. Makers of fine wines will keep it for another week or so. After this all the other processes are similar to those of white wine except that red wines are normally aged in oak.

Rose Wine making

Rose wine is made in one of two ways. In the first method, the red grapes are crushed and the skins are kept with the juice for a very short while. The rest of the process is normal. The other way is to blend a little red wine with the white.

Methode Champenoise

It is said that, because of marauding barbarians, monks hid their liquid provisions in barrels in underground rooms, thus giving us the wine cellar. Most European monasteries had a clos, an enclosed vineyard, for producing wine. Monks were the major contributors to viticulture. Martinmas is the feast day of Saint Martin, a monk of the Middle Ages, one of the first viticulturists. In 1638 the Pérignon family had a child they named Pierre. When Pierre turned 20 he took the vows of the Benedictine monk. History was soon to be made. Pierre, known for his brilliant mind, was made administrator of the monastery of Hautvillers. With the assistance of Brother Phillipe (Pierre had lost his eyesight) he caused the vineyard to put forth a rich yield. Their wine was in high demand.

Blanc de blancs, a white dry fruity wine from white grapes, only turned out if there was enough sunshine during the summer months. Profits would drop if Dom Pérignon failed to produce this wine so he set about to make the same quality white wine from black grapes. Now Dom Pérignon was endowed with a keen sense of smell and palate. Says Dom Groussard, 'he could tell at once what grapes came from which vineyards, and that the wine of one could be mixed with the wine of another, and he was never mistaken.' Dom Pérignon knew of the particular characteristic of the white wine of Aÿ, the wine of Champagne. It became effervescent with a second, short-lived fermentation. It still contained some yeasts, which remained dormant in cold weather. Under the influence of the warmth of spring, when the sap begins to work in the vine, the yeasts wake and proliferate. There is as much fermentation as the sugar present in the wine will produce.

Dom Pérignon sought to induce this second, accidental fermentation of the wine of Champagne at a given time, regulate it and keep its effervescence in the wine. When 60 years old he succeeded, producing Champagne as we know it today. It was wildly successful. A very small amount of sugar is added to the wine in cask to feed it and start the second fermentation. Then it is bottled. The bottles are left stacked for months or years. When fermentation occurs a sediment of yeasts collects along the lower side of the bottle. To remove the sediment without letting the gas escape the bottles are laid on the diagonal. Every day for a season each bottle is gently shaken by hand in the technique of remuage(also called "Riddling"), so that the sediment will slip towards the neck, whence it will be expelled by the process of dégorgement, now performed at a very low temperature which freezes the deposit. The frozen sediment shoots out when the bottle is very briefly opened.

The dryness of the wine depends on the amount of syrup, old wine and eau-de-vie that is added before the bottle is stoppered with the mushroom-shaped cork. The syrup is crystallized sugar. 0 to less than 1.5 per cent is brut, sec if 2 to 4 per cent, and doux if 8 to 12 percent. Then, fashion was for champagne doux. Dom Pérignon died in 1715 and was buried among his vines. During the Revolution the abbey of Hautvillers was destroyed, but the church and Dom Pérignon's tomb remain. Today, Moët et Chandon, the firm which bought the walls and vineyards of Hautvillers in 1794, give the name of Dom Pérignon to their best champagne.

ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION:

It is the main phase of winemaking. Since Pasteur, we know that alcoholic fermentation is a natural microbiologic process during which grape sugars are transformed into alcohol under the action of yeast.

This transformation is accompanied by carbon dioxide release, and the must (fermenting grape juice) temperature increases. The temperature must be controlled at this stage or the yeast could stop working, even die, therefore stopping fermentation, if there are too many tempreature changes. It could have disastrous consequences, especially if sugars remain in the must because microorganisms other than yeast could attack them. Lactic bacteria will produce with these sugars acetic acid, also known as vinegar. Cooling the must now prevents this accident, which was frequent in the past.

Fermentation is done when all the sugars in the juice are consumed. There is a direct correlation between the sugar content of grapes and the alcoholic degree of a wine. On average, yeasts consume 17,5 grams of sugar per litre to form one degree of alcohol.

Though alcohol is quantitatively the main element transformed, the other yeast synthesised substances or substances present in the grape berries have an utmost importance in the quality and typicality of a wine. These substances are mainly aromatic components, tannins, colouring matters, acids.

Malolactic Fermentation :

This is also called "second fermentation" and is the process that transforms malic acid into lactic acid. This transformation causes the acidity of a wine to drop (malic acid is a stronger acid than lactic acid), but increases the stability of a wine.

Ok,so what is Malic acid? It is a natural organic acid which occurs in a lot of fruits and vegetables. It is very beneficial as it is a key input in mitochondrial functions and since it helps in boosting energy production, it is used commonly in the treatment of chronic fatigue. It is found in greatest quantities in apples. The old adage an apple a day keeps the doctor away may be reflective of the energy boosting qualities of Malic Acid.

Because it encourages suppleness in wines, malolactic fermentation is always favoured in red wines. Because it reduces the acidity of a wine, it is not always encouraged in white wines.

Carbonic Maceration

This other technique consists in depositing whole grapes, neither crushed nor de-stemmed, in a carbon dioxide enriched atmosphere. An intracellular fermentation then occurs, inside the grape, under the action of enzymes that transform a small quantity of sugar in alcohol (in the order of 2 % per vol.). There is also production of carbon dioxide, a little glycerol and various secondary products. The winemaker will also notice some diffusion of aromatic substances from the inside of the grape skin, where aromas of red berries and English candy appear. After this maceration phase, the grapes are then pressed, and the alcoholic fermentation happens normally. When maceration is of short duration, wines obtained are supple and smooth (eg. Beaujolais). On the contrary, a longer maceration between 10 to 20 days can produce wines for ageing; this technique is widespread in Languedoc-Roussillon and in the Southern Côtes du Rhône.

Phylloxera epidemic :

In 1863, an unwanted passenger was carried from the US into Europe. This was Dactylasphaera vitifoliae, or phylloxera, a small, yellow louse, which feeds on the roots of grape vines. Once the winemakers realized their vines were failing, they formed commissions to figure out why. Even when findings were published pointing blame at the louse, winemakers and the public were slow to believe it. They figured it was the weather, overproduction, overpruning, or bad soil. When France lost almost 75% of its vines, the government began to take the louse seriously. The answer to the problem came in the realization that American rootstock had long since developed a resistance to this louse. The European vines needed to be grafted onto American rootstock

Terroir

Very broadly, this means the soil, the microclimate and everything about it that makes a particular vineyard distinct. In short it is the soul of the land and it is this, which finds its final ex-pression in the grape that grows on that patch of land.

Types of Wines

Amontillado (Ah-MOHN-tee-YAH-doe) - A dry, rather full-bodied style of Sherry

Banyuls (Bahn-YOOLZ) - Natural French dessert wine from the Pyrenees.

Barbaresco (Bar-ba-RES-coe) - Excellent red table wine made from the Nebbiolo grape in the Piemonte of Northwestern Italy.

Barolo (Ba-ROE-loe) - Outstanding, full-bodied and complex Nebbiolo-based red wine from the Piemonte of Northwestern Italy.

Beaujolais (Boe-zho-lay) - Light, fruity red wine from the region of the same name in Southern Burgundy, France.

Brunello di Montalcino (Broo-NELL-oh dee Mon-tahl-CHEE-noe) - Excellent red Italian wine from Tuscany, a neighbor of Chianti.

Chablis (Shah-blee) - Excellent white wine made from Chardonnay grapes in the region of the same name in northern Burgundy.

]Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Shot-toe-noof duh Pop) - An excellent, complex red dry wine from the Rhone region of Southern France, made from a blend of up to 13 specified grapes.

Chianti (Ki-AHN-tee) - The classic dry red wine of Tuscany, made from Sangiovese and other grapes near Florence in North Central Italy

Claret (CLARE-it) - Old synonym, particularly British, for red Bordeaux.

Cornas (Cor-nahs) - Northern Rhone wine region.

Côte Rôtie (Coat Row-tee) - Exceptionally fine, ageworthy red wine from the Northern Rhone, primarily Syrah-based and named for the "roasted slopes" on which the vineyards grow.

Coteaux du Languedoc (Coat-toe duh Lahn-geh-dawk) - Increasingly desirable dry red table wine from Southern France, variously using Grenache, Syrah, Cinsaut, etc., individually or in blends.

Eiswein (ICE-wine) - Wine made from late-harvested grapes allowed to freeze on the vine, concentrating the sugars. Originated in Germany, also becoming a star attraction of the Ontario, Canada, wine region.

Fino (Fee-noe) - Sherry in a dry, light-bodied style.

Gattinara (Gaht-tee-NAH-rah) - Excellent red wine made from the Nebbiolo grape in Northwestern Italy's Piemonte region.

Hermitage (Air-mee-tahj) - One of the top wines of the Rhone, usually red (made from Syrah grapes) but also white, allegedly created by a Crusader who returned from the Holy Land bearing Syrah vines and declaring that his days of war were behind him and that this vineyard would be his hermitage

Manzanilla (Mahn-za-NEE-yah) - A dry style of Sherry, similar to Fino, made in a particular seaside village where the environment allegedly adds a saltwater tang to the wine.

Oloroso (Oh-loe-roe-soe) - Spanish, literally "fragrant." One of the two broad categories of Sherry, the other being Fino (above).

Orvieto (Orv-YEH-toe) - Dry white wine from the ancient town of the same name in Umbria, Italy, between Rome and Florence.

Pouilly-Fuissé (Poo-yee Fwee-SAY) - White Burgundy, Chardonnay-based, made in the region of the same name.

Pouilly-Fumé (Poo-yee Foo-MAY) - Loire white made from Sauvignon Blanc, dry and very lean and tart; like Sancerre (see below), an excellent seafood wine.

Ribera del Duero (Ree-BEHR-ah dell Doo-AY-roe) - Challenging Rioja (below) for the title of Spain's greatest red wine, these Tempranillo-based reds -- particularly the fabled Vega Sicilia -- can last and improve for decades.

Rioja (Ree-OH-hah) - Perhaps the best red wines of Spain, grown in arid, mountainous Northern Spain and named for the Rio Oja river there.

Rosé (Roe-zay) - Pink wine, traditionally made not by blending red and white juice (although some inexpensive wines do this), but by using red grapes and removing the skins from the fermenter before they have had time to impart much color

Rosso di Montalcino (ROE-soe dee Mon-tahl-CHEE-noe) - "Little brother" to Brunello (which see), a good dry Italian red from Tuscany, requiring no aging in wood and permitted to be sold with less aging; often particularly good value.

Sauternes (So-TAIRN) - Great French dessert wine from the Bordeaux district of the same name.

Tokay (Toe-KAY) - Respected Hungarian dessert wine.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano (Vehr-NAHCH-ya dee Sahn Jee-mee-NYAH-noe) - Dry white wine of ancient heritage from the picturesque Tuscan village of San Gimignano.

Vinho Verde (VEEN-yoh VEHR-day) - Literally "green wine," a refreshing, light and often slightly sparkling Portuguese white wine.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (Vee-noe NOH-bee-lay dee Mohn-tay-pool-CHAH-noe) - Excellent Tuscan red wine made from a blend of Sangiovese and other red grapes

Vouvray (Voov-ray) - Outstanding Loire white, based on Chenin Blanc; table wines may range from dry through slightly sweet, and it also makes spectacular dessert wines

Wine Regions

Wine quality terms of France.

France has four quality categories for wines. In ascending order of importance these are :

·        · Vin de Table: Table wines that are non-vintage, blended and bought for everyday drinking. They can come from any one or several of France's diverse wine regions. Buy to drink.

·        · Vin de Pays (VdP): Country regional wines coming from clearly defined areas such as VdP d'Oc, which appears on the label. Can be vintage or non-vintage. Usually offer good quality at reasonable prices. Tightly regulated but allows greater freedom than A/C laws.

·        · Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieur (VDQS): Represented as a stamp on the label. The majority are good, interesting wines aiming for a higher-quality grading. Slowly being phased out.

·        · Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC or A/C): Highest grading for French wines. Quality controls cover everything from land (vineyard site), grapes, cultivation, yield at harvest, winemaking practices and even degree of alcohol in the final wine. Wines must also pass a tasting and chemical analysis. .Appellation Controlee' System. Invented in the 1930s, this system organizes most of the wines of France geographically. It is the ultimately comprehensive area of origin certificate. What you'll see on a label is " Appellation__________ Controlee ". The blank could be filled by a region (such a Cotes de Rhone or Bourgogne - Burgundy) or a district (such as Medoc in Bordeaux) or a commune (such as Nuits-Saint-Georges in Cotes de Nuits in Burgundy) or even of an individual vineyard. Just remember, the more specific the appellation (i.e. the smaller the geographical feature) the better the wine will be.

Bordeaux

Bordeaux, France Bordeaux  (bore-dough),  in South-West France, is located in the area that was historically known as Poitou and Aquitaine. The entire wine-growing region lies on either side of the Gironde estuary and of the rivers Dordogne and Garonne, which flow into it. The town of Bordeaux itself is situated on the left back of the river Garonne, just before it flows into the Gironde estuary. It was once famous as a sea-port and many famous negociants still have their offices on the Quais de Chartrons overlooking the dockyard.

The English word Claret was coined 500 years ago to describe the red wines of Bordeaux

Medoc

Medoc (may-dock). This area lies between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gironde estuary and is home to some real biggies. The top four communes of Medoc are Pauillac, Saint-Estephe', Margaux and Saint-Julien. In 1855, a consortium of growers, shippers, merchants and brokers divided the vineyards of Medoc into five categories based on consistency and quality. Though this classification rewards a few that may not deserve a high ranking and underrates others, it is even today the best judge of relative quality of the wine produced. At the top of the tree are the premier crus (or the first growths).

Chateau Latour

Chateau Lafite-Rothschild

Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (which was not so classified in 1855, but was added later)

Chateau Margaux

Chateau Haut-Brion (which is from theneighbouring Graves district)

Then come the deuxieme cru (duh-zhyem creu) or the second growths. Many are of superb quality and some like Cos d'Estournel or Chateau Pichon-Longueville, rival the first growths in value and prestige. Then follow the third, fourth and fifth growths all of which may include top quality wines. Often the premier cru vineyards will have sister chateaux which though not of the top classification may still produce great wines. For example Mouton Cadet, the most successful Bordeaux brand ever began as the Second wine of the premier cru Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. Similarly, Chateau Clerc-Milon while not a first growth benefits from all the processes and goodwill that its first growth sister (Mouton-Rothschild) possesses. Below the five classifications are the Cru Bourgeois, which does not mean that you have to be a nouveau-riche schmuck to drink it; its just the next step in the classification and contains some very respectable wines.

Graves ( grahv ) : This region lies to the south of Bordeaux and to the west of Garonne. Graves in French means gravel and the wines are earthier and livelier than in Medoc. The biggie here is Chateau Haut Brion, which you will remember from above is one of the top five growths according to the 1855 classification. The white wines from Graves can be quite deadly too and unlike most whites benefit from long agings - ten years or so. Chateau Haut Brion makes a good white. Another big white name is Domaine de Chevalier. Haut Brion and many other fancy Chateaux are located in a separate new appellation called Pessac-Leognan.

Pomerol ( poh-muh-rol ) : The smallest of the districts, it was never classified. It produces glamorous red wines from the Merlot grape and is home to the block-buster Chateau Petrus -one of the most expensive wines in the world-only 4000 cases are produced every year. Don't ever pass up a chance to sip this if someone offers it to you.

Saint Emilion ( san-teh-meel-yoh ) : Saint Emilion is a picturesque little town located 48 miles east of Bordeaux. Though it lacks the fame of Medoc and Graves or the glamour of Pomerol, it holds its own in terms of the wine that it produces. Its wines (with their pre-dominance of the Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes) are softer than those of Medoc. The big names from Saint Emilion are Ausone and Cheval Blanc. They are rated at par with the top five from Medoc / Graves, Chateau Petrus from Pomerol and Chateau d'Yquem from Sauternes.

Sauternes ( soh-tehrn ) : Along with its neighbouring village of Barsac, Sauternes makes some of the greatest sweet white wines in the world. Sweet wine is made from grapes affected by the fungus called botrytis cinerea (noble rot). The ideal conditions for this fungus are damp misty mornings and warm sunny afternoons. This is exactly what happens in Sauternes in late autumn and early winter. The fungus pierces the skin of the grape, allowing the juices to evaporate and the grape to shrivel, increasing both the sugar content and the flavour. As only the ripest grapes can be picked harvesting is a slow and a time consuming process.

This is why good Sauternes is very expensive. The best of these is so prestigious that they had to create a separate classification for just this one wine-grand premier cru. This is the famous Chateau d'Yquem. If you get to taste this once in your lifetime, you will be lucky indeed. At the next level are the premier crus, which are eleven wines in all. If you get to buy these they will definitely blow a hole in your pocket. Bringing up the rear is the deuxieme cru, which comprise twelve wines, which are also damn good.

Apart from these districts the others are Canon-Fronsac and Fronsac, Entre-Deux-Mers, Lalande de Pomerol all of which produce very good, inexpensive (in comparison to those above) wines.

Burgundy

The wines of Burgundy - both reds and whites are among the greatest in the world. Understanding the region is however another matter altogether. It was all very well before the revolution, where the law of primogeniture ensured that holdings were largish parcels of land. But the revolution was all about land. Subsequent parceling and division of properties has resulted in such an amazing fragmentation of holding that it is almost impossible to really get to grips with the types and appellations in Burgundy. We shall stick to the absolute essentials here.

There are five sub-regions in Burgundy:

Chablis : Chablis (sha-blee) used to be a part of a vast wine growing region which used to exploit the easy transport facilities provided by the river Seine to ship huge quantities of wine to Paris and Belgium. The phylloxera epidemic put paid to all that. Just the district of Chablis survived, which now devotes itself to producing wines which have become the epitome of "great dry white wine".The main grape is the ubiquitous Chardonnay. The wines are classified into four appellations according to their quality. At the top are the Grand Crus. These wines mature after five years, but can be kept upto twenty. These wines are very highly sought after. The main climats (distinct, named plots of land) are Vaudesir, Les Clos, Bougros, Valmur, Blanchots. After these come the Chablis Premier Crus. While not attaining the levels of the Grand Cru these are still very good. There are 17 such. After this come Chablis and Petit Chablis.

Cote d’Or – divided into Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune.

Cote de Beaune (coat de bone) is the southern part of the Cote d'Or. It is in this place that terroir plays a major role as the soil is fairly diverse in this region. The same hierarchy exists as in Cote de Nuits. Corton is the only red Grand Cru. This area also produces some great white Grand Crus like Corton- Charlemagne and Chevalier- Montrachet. Next to these are the Villages and Premier Crus and the names of the villages read like a who's who of the wine world- Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet are all right up there. Besides these there are the Haut Cote de Beaune wines. The city of Beaune has a very famous hospital whose wines are sold to make money for its upkeep. The Hospices de Beaune auction happens on the third Sunday of each Novemeber and attracts large crowds.

Cote de Nuits - The Cote de Nuits (coat de nwee) is home to a whole host of the really big-time names of the wine world and most of these babies are going to have stratospheric landed prices in India. The grape grown here is largely Pinot Noir, with a little bit of Chardonnay. Concentrated in the villages of this district are all the red wine Grand Crus of Burgundy except one (Corton). There are 24 such appellations and these are the names which appear to wine lovers in their dreams. Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Vosne-Romanee, the historic Clos de Vougeot and Nuit St Georges are just a few of the really big names. Pray that the import duties come down and we can all some day hope of tasting these wines. Below the Grand Crus are the Villages and the Premier Crus which could actually mean that the wine is produced across the road from a Grand Cru. We shall not even attempt to disentangle the Burgundy vineyard scene here and suffice it to say that these are all very deadly wines too. Beside this there is the Haute Cote de Nuits which offers very structured red and white wines with a lot of aroma.

Cote Chalonaise: Challonaise is slowly gaining prominence as an area which produces great value wines and has five "village" appellations: Mercurey, Givry, Rully, Montagny and Bouzeron.

Maconnais produces nearly half of all the white wines in Burgundy. Although it never achieved the heights of Cote d"or the wines from this area represent the best value pure Chardonnay wine. The names to remember here are Pouilly-Fuisse, Pouilly-Loche, Saint Vearn, Pouilly-Vinzelles and Vire-Clesse. The regional appellations are also great value.

Beaujolais

Beaujolais is the southern - most part of what is officially called Burgundy, but it is far-removed from the normal impressions of Burgundy. To begin with the grape is different - Gamay is used in most of Beaujolais. Secondly over time Beaujolais has come to signify
fun and youth in wine. This may largely be the result of Nouveau Beaujolais (or new Beaujolais) which is released every third Thursday of November. It is quite a marketing triumph and lots of people go nuts about it- mainly because you can just guzzle it down without worrying too much. Recently at a tasting of a wine from the Beaujolais region (Brouilly) however we met with up a contrarian view, which was that the Nouveau Beaujolais movement had downgraded the image of Beaujolais wines as a whole.

Basic appellation wines from this area are all fruity, juicy wines. The next step up in the quality ladder is Beaujolais Villages, which is produced in 37 communes. The really big step up in quality are the Beaujolais Cru wines. These may not even say Beaujolais on their label as they are likely to be identified with the specific commune where the cru is located.

Moulin-a-vent (mool-lahn- ah-von) is named after a windmill on top of the hill.

Regnie (ray-ni-ay) is the youngest Beaujolais Cru.

Brouilly (bree-ee) is named after a Roman officer called Brulius who lived in this area.

Chenas (shay-nah) owes its name to an oak forest that covered its hill in the days gone by.

Chiroubles (she-roobl) is the highest Beaujolais Cru and is planted between 250 and 400 meters abover sea level.

Cote de Brouilly (coat-de bree-ee) is located on the slopes of an extinct volcano.

Fleurie (flur-rie) was one of the three parishs allowed to send its wine to Paris in the mid-17th century.

Julienas (zhou-li-ay-na) is named after Julius Ceasar himself.

Morgon (more-gone) is named after the soil which is basically a mix of rock and clay.

Saint Amour (sent-ahmor) is said to be named by a roman legionary called Amor.

Rhone Valley

The river Rhone rises in Alps and flows off the mountains into Lake Geneva, through Lyon and then through most of southeastern France to its mouth on the Mediterranean. The Rhone valley itself is a 225 kms stretch of river running from Vienne, just south of Lyon to Avignon.

The entire Rhone valley divides into two distinct wine-growing areas. The northern Rhone (Rhone Septentrionale in French) is home to the appellations of Hermitage and Cote-Rotie'. These are really big babies and are now considered serious rivals to the great names of Bordeaux and Burgundy. A bottle of Paul Jaboulet Hermitage La Chappelle from a good year can cost close to Rs One lakh or more in India.The southern Rhone is home to the legendary Chateauneuf-de-Pape.

Northern Rhone

In the northern Rhone, the valley is narrow and the river flows between slopes that are almost perpendicular. Such steep hillsides mean that agriculture can only happen in extremely narrow terraces. The cultivation of the vine (mostly Syrah) is almost entirely done by hand. Consequently the dry, full-bodied reds produced here are very expensive.
The appellations of Cornas, Hermitage and Cote Rotie (the roasted slope) all produce limited quantities of great red wine. Hermitage was for long considered the greatest wine in the world. Its greatness is, unfortunately, reflected in its price. Cote Rotie has some of the oldest vineyards in France (some date back to 70 A.D.). The best vineyards in this appellation are La Turque, La Landonne and La Mouline. The northern Rhone is also home to some fabulous white wines. The wines from Condrieu compare with the best of Burgundy and located within its boundaries is an extremely small vineyard called Chateau Grillet, which has its own appellation. This too produces wine from the Viognier grape. Due its small size its output is low and the wine is very rare.

Southern Rhone

The southern Rhone has only the river in common with its northern neighbour. The land is much flatter and the entire area is very Mediterranean. While they make small quantities of very fine wine in northern Rhone, here they make large quantities of easy drinking wine of mostly average quality. The exception is the legendary Chateauneuf-de-Pape - the big, beautiful red wine that owes its name to the new palace built by Pope John the XXII in the hills north of Avignon in the 14th century. 13 grape varieties are permitted - the four most common are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault.The other appellations in Rhone are Gigondas, Coteaux du Tricastin, Lirac and Tavel.

The other appellations in Rhone are Gigondas, Coteaux du Tricastin, Lirac
and Tavel. Beaumes-de-Venise is a pretty village in this region that makes Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise- a great dessert wine.

Champagne

Lying some 120 kilometres to the east of Paris, the Champagne appellation is France's most northerly vineyard. The Champagne district has just over 30,000 hectares of productive vineyard and this is divided into five main areas: the Montagne de Reims; Vallée de la Marne; Côte des Blancs; Côte de Sézanne and the Côte de Bar.

While in theory any combination of the appellation's three main grape types - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier - may be planted, each of these districts tends to favour one particular variety. Thus in the Côte des Blancs you will find little other than Chardonnay (over 95%) grown and this variety is also dominant in the Côte de Sézanne (70%) although there is some Pinot Noir and a little Meunier there.

Producers of champagne can be divided into three main categories: houses, co-operatives and growers. The best-known names, which dominate sales of champagne, particularly outside France, are all among the first group. The 250-odd houses are responsible for nearly three-quarters of world-wide sales and the ten biggest of these, including Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Lanson, Mumm, Piper-Heidsieck, Laurent-Perrier and Pommery, account for well over half the total volume sold, around 150 million bottles a year.

There are however over 5,000 different growers in the appellation and while few own more than one hectare of land, between them they control nearly four-fifths of the total vineyard. They only directly account for around an eighth of sales but play a vital role in supplying the major houses with grapes for their brands. The third group, the co-operatives act both as intermediaries between the growers and the houses and increasingly sell brands of champagne on behalf of their grower members.

The three groups are heavily inter-related and inter-dependent although there are a few notable houses - like Louis Roederer - which have significant vineyard holdings and thus buy in less than a third of their grape requirement. There are also a small number of growers, which make and sell most, if not all of their own wine themselves. These two groups operate independently or at least more independently from the general system.

Most champagne produced is a non-vintage (or multi-vintage) blend often containing portions of all three grape varieties in varying proportions according to the individual style of the house in question. The blend is likely to be made up from parcels of grapes grown all over the region. As well as their non-vintage brut most houses produce their own single Vintage champagne from their best years.

While most of the wine is blended, champagne can also be produced from a single varietal. Blanc de blanc is made exclusively from Chardonnay, Blanc de Noirs from black grapes, and Rose can be created by adding a little red wine to the blend. Single vineyard wines are a rarity in Champagne although the most famous - like Krug's Clos du Mesnil - are among the most sought-after wines in the world. It is very unlikely that you may even get to sample these.

Also most houses have their own prestige cuvee'. While these may not compare with the great single vineyard wines mentioned above, they signify the prestige associated with consuming champagne. Examples of such are Roederer Cristal, Dom Perignon from Moet & Chandon, La Grand Dame by Veuve Clicquot and Sir Winston Churchill by Pol Roger.

 Champagne is distinctively classified in terms of its relative dryness/sweetness. The driest of all is brut, which was fist developed for the English market. Extra-brut would mean that the Champagne is drier. Next is sec, which is medium-dry, and then there is demi-sec which is slightly sweeter.

Alsace

Unlike other French wine producing regions the wines of Alsace are named by grape variety - so learning about them is easy after wrestling with the intricacies of the other regions. Alsace is white wine country. Unlike their German counterparts next door, they are usually very dry. They are very aromatic and, fortunately for us lesser mortals, reasonably priced. You need to know three basic things - the varietals, the hierarchy of wines and the good producers. With an exception here or there, most Alsatian wines are entirely made up of the varietal in question. The popular grapes here are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat. Occasionally a Pinot Noir or a Silvaner may crop up as well. Dry Alsatian wines are either Grand Cru or not. To be a grand cru, the wine must be either Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris or Muscat, or must come from one of fifty odd grand cru vineyards. If it is not, it'll not be called any cru, just Appellation Alsace Controlee. The other two categories are rare but you may run into them now and then. In special years when the weather is right, the producers may release a special wine called Vendange Tardive (literally late harvest and pronounced van-dahzhe tahr-deev). To be so designated the wine has to be of one of the four varieties mentioned above, should be harvested in the same year and the grape should have a certain level of sugar content. The other category is called Selection de Grains Nobles (pronounced say-leck-sayoh dey grah nobl). This designation is given to those wines with a very high sugar level and hence which are very sweet.
The big names among producers are Zind-Humbrecht, Hugel et Fils, Josmeyer, Domaine Schlumberger and Domaine Trimbach.

Alsacian wines go very well with Asian cuisine, especially the Gewurztraminer. It's beleived that the three most important qualities to look for when choosing a wine to drink with Asian food are

properly ripened grapes,

enough clean fruit acidity to balance the fruit (otherwise the wine will taste flabby),

and low levels of tannin.

Purity of fruit, good acidity and low levels of tannin are the most attractive attributes of Alsace wines. The common characteristic of all Indian cuisine is the use of a wide variety of spices - cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric, pepper, cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, poppy seeds, fresh and dried chillies and cloves. Dishes may vary in degrees of chilli hotness but they are full-flavoured spice-wise. Recommended: Vendanges Tardives of Gewurztraminer and Tokay Pinot Gris, with their full-bodied flavours and higher roundness are best equipped to cope with the heavy flavours of the spices.

Loire

The Loire, France's longest and most famous river, winds its leisurely way for more than 965 kms from its source in the Massif Central to its mouth at Nantes on the Atlantic coast. Along the way it is home of a whole host of wines made from many different grape varieties. Though better known for its whites (both sparkling and still), it also produces some respectable reds. The white wines of the Loire are famous for their crispness and this is one region where you need not bother with a whole hierarchy of crus. The wines of the upper Loire Valley (those closest to Paris) are also probably the bets known. The whites are made from Sauvignon Blanc; the reds and rose' from Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. The best examples are Sancerre (mainly white, but also red and rose') and Pouilly Fume, which is very similar to Sancerre, but sometimes can have a smoky taste (Fume means smoked). Touraine, the area around the city of Tours, was the pre-revolution playground of the French aristocracy. It produces the light red Cabernet Franc based wines in Chinon (much promoted by the region's most famous literary son - Rabelais) and Bourgueil. It also produces a good range of white wines in Vouvray, which is made from Chenin Blanc.

The very high acid of the Chenin Blanc grape means that Vouvrays need to age longer than the other whites: about ten years for the dry ones. Vouvray Mousseux is a sparkling wine from the same area. Since there is a lot of Vouvray buy only reliable producers. Look for estate - bottled rather than merchant-bottled wines. The star vineyard here is Huet and Gaston Huet hit the headlines in 1990 with his protests against the building of TGV train tracks over the Vouvray vineyards. A compromise was reached and the tracks were built in tunnels under the hilly vineyards. Further along the Loire river towards the Atlantic Ocean, Anjou is famous for its pink wine the Rose d'Anjou. It also produces Savennieres, dry white wine made from Chenin Blanc and a sparkling wine at Saumur. Pays de Nantes (or the countryside around Nantes) is fairly close to the Atlantic Ocean and is home to Muscadet. This is a wine made from a white grape variety called Melon de Bourgogne and is best drunk as fresh as possible.

Germany

Germany has had a long tradition of wine making. Despite this, the wines don't get their due in the wine lists. That's a pity as German wines are generally very good value for money and are great as aperitif or dessert wines. "The German grape" is Riesling. It finds its best ex-pression here. Other principal grape varieties are Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Muller-Thurgau. The red you are most likely to encounter is Pinot Noir (Spatburgunder in German).

The main regions to know about are :

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Rheingau,Pfalz and Rheinhessen all of which are near the French border. The area where the grape is grown will be indicated on the label. There will be a suffix "er" attached to the town name and possibly the name of the vineyard as well - for example Niersteiner Oelberg. Or the word "Weingut" (meaning vineyard) could be on the label.

Wine terms of Germany.

A different quality grading system than other European countries except Austria. Quality is graded according to the ripeness of the grapes at harvest. In ascending order :

Deutscher Tafelwein : Table Wine, usually medium dry.

Deutscher Tafelwein Landwein : Regional country wines, dry or semi-dry.

Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) : Quality wines from one of the thirteen designated, quality regions of Germany.

Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) : The finest-quality wines with designated, special quality attributes of which there are six. Appearing on the label they are in ascending order of sweetness: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Eiswein and Trockenbeerenauslese. Austria operates the same type of quality system with an extra grading known as Ausbruch for rich, sweet wines.

Italy

Wine laws of Italy

DOCG (Italy) - The Denominazione di Origine system, No. 930 enacted in 1963, established a DOCG category among the other appellations. The "G" in Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita means "Guaranteed." DOC or Denominazioe Di Origine is similar to the French Aoc system. Only it does not seem to be any where close to the kind of benchmark that AOC is.

In some years Italy produces more wine than any other country in the world- more than 60 million hectoliters. This is a massive quantity - about a quarter of the world's output. Not all is prime quality and much is what comes with a screw-top bottle and is bought daily from the local grocers. But the best Italian wines are among the best in world.

In the last two decades progressive Italian producers have brought the winemaking industry back to its ancient prominence. Barring exceptions, most Italian wines are named for the regions (similar to what happens in France). Wine is made all over Italy but since most of it won't find its way to our shores we'll stick to the better-known wines (and therefore the regions).

Think of Italian wine and chances are that you'll think of Chianti. For long identified with a cheap ruffia basket covered bottle the current day Chianti is in the vanguard of great Italian wines. Remember Dr. Hannibal Lecter would never choose any cheapo wine to accompany your brains (with or without Fava beans). Chianti comes from a fairly extensive area in Tuscany and bottles with the suffix Classico come from the best zone in all of Chianti. But it is just one of the really deadly wines from this area.

In the 60s and the 70s Tuscan winemakers started blending non-traditional (for Italy that is) grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon with the local Sangiovese grape to produce wines that are now called Super Tuscans. Since a wine cannot be called Chianti if it contains more than 10 % Sangiovese grapes, these wines go under the humble name of "Vin de Tavola" or Table wines. There could not be a greater understatement. The 1997 Antinori Solaia has been rated as the top wine in the world by Wine Spectator. Some other Super Tuscans are Tignanello, Sassicaia and Orenelaia.A significant feature of the production of Super Tuscan wines is aging in small French barriques--a global fashion for most modern premium wines, and now being adopted more frequently for Chianti Classico Riserva bottlings. In this manner and many others, the emergence of Super Tuscan labels has increased the quality of Chianti Classico through cross-fertilization of modern techniques to more traditional wines. Additionally, Tuscany can now be looked to for some of the world's most exciting and innovative super-premium wines.

Chianti was invented about 100 years ago by Baron Ricasoli of the Castello di Brolio. Back then it was a light wine that came in the traditional straw fiasco, and was polished off by the locals, and by Italian restaurant customers worldwide within a short time of the harvest. 

The pre-eminent producer of these is Marchese Piero Antinori, whose family has been into winemaking for the last 600 years. The other real biggie from Tuscany is Brunello de Montalcino, which are 100 % Sangiovese. The known producers include Biondi-Santi and Altesino among others. Vernaccia di San Gimmignano is the region's best white and Vino Santo is the classic amber-coloured holy wine produced from Trebbiano and Malvasia grape.

Asti is the light sweet sparkling wine made from the Mascato Bianco grapes in the areas of Asti, Cuneo and Alessandria, and is exported throughout the world.

The other big wine producing area is Piedmont and this is the home of the Nebbiolo grape. The prestige wines from Piedmont are the Barolo and the Barbaresco. The higher grades in these are Reserva and Reserva Speciale which means they have been aged for at least three-four and four-five years respectively. The man who put Piedmont on the world wine map is Angelo Gaja and all his wines are likely to be great values. The other wines out of Piedmont include Barbers, Gattinara and Gavi- a crisp white wine.

Veneto the region that stretches from Venice to Verona is home to some famous names as well. Among the whites - Soave and among the reds- Valpolicella and Bardolino. The spicy Marsala comes from Sicily and the Lacrima Cristi comes from Compania.

DOCG (Italy)- The Denominazione di Origine system, No. 930 enacted in 1963, established a DOCG category among the other appellations. The "G" in Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita means "Guaranteed." DOC or Denominazioe Di Origine is similar to the French Aoc system. Only it does not seem to be any where close to the kind of benchmark that AOC is.

Spain

Though Spain has a long winemaking history (it is the world's third largest producer of wine), for long it was the low man in the wine-world's totem pole. The big jolt to the wine biz in Spain happened in 1979 when Miguel Torres - who owned a bodega (Spanish for winery) - used the techniques that he had learnt at Dijon, France to win the first prize at a big wine contest in France. Spanish wine suddenly started happening. It's stories like this and that of Stags Leap which convince us that there is an Indian wine which is just waiting to be made which will one day knock the living daylights out of the French Grand Crus at some competition.

Spanish wines have since then seen major strides in production techniques and viticulture and today they hold their own in most wine lists. Remember that with less known wine regions you are likely to get to drink wine which could be as good as those from the big names but would be a lot cheaper. Serious winemakers everywhere will lavish the same amount of care and attention on their plants and on winemaking, as the most hardened terroiriste from Burgundy.

Two things to know about Spanish wines to get a reasonable idea are the various qualities and the various regions. The equivalent of the AOC system here is the Denominacion de Origen or DO. At the top is the DOC in which the "C" stands for Clacificada .The thing to remember about Spanish wines is that there is major focus on aging in oak barrels.

The Demominación de Origen system is controlled by INDO - Instituto Nacional de Denominaciones de Origen. INDO, under the direction of The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, administers the D.O. system for a broad range of agricultural products ranging from wine and olive oil, to cured hams and cheeses.

The various grades are :

1) Joven (literally "young") wines are not required to be aged in casks before release.

2) Crianza wines spend a year in oak barrels and two years in bottles before release.

3) Reserva wines are from select vintages and are aged for a year in oak casks and two

in bottles.

4) Gran Reserva, from outstanding vintages spend at least two years in oak casks and three years in bottles.

 The wines in Spain are named for the regions (like in France) and these are called denominaciones. The ones to know are the following :

Rioja : More properly Rio Oja (Oja is a tributary of the Ebro) and the best-known denaminacion. It's in the central part of northern Spain. While there is some white wine that is produced here, the biggies are all red wines made from the Tempronillo grape with quantities of Granacha. Although some Gran Reservas can be expensive there are a lot of good value wines here.

Ribera de Duero : This denominacion runs along the Duero river, southwest of Rioja and was officially named only in 1982. It is supposed to be very much in demand nowadays. The big names are Bodegas Vega Sicilia and Alejandro Fernandez at Pequera de Duero.

Penedes : This region is in Catalonia and the aforementioned Torres is from here. Cava, Spain's own sparkling wine is largely made in Penedes and are largely made by the method' champenoise.

Andalucia : Spain's hottest region is also home to Sherry -named for the town of Jerez - and other fortified wine. This region has been exporting wine since the Phoenicians established trading links in 1100 BC. Unusually for Spain, their most interesting white wine is not named for a region but for a grape - Albarino. This is made in Galicia.

Portugal

Long known for its fortified wines, Portugal also has table wines that are worth knowing. The monitoring system here is called Denominacao de Origem Controlada. It was established in 1756 to protect the Port growing areas and was later extended to all wine growing regions.

The main regions/wines that you should know about are :

Vinho Verde - literally means "green wine". Its green only in the metaphorical sense; its drunk young. The region is the largest demarcated wine making region in Portugal and though there are both red and white wines, the white is exported more.

Near the town of Coimbra are the two wine making regions of Dao and Bairrada. Dao produces some good red wine. It has taken Bairrada two centuries to recover from its vineyards being pulled out by order of the Prime Minister, the Marquis of Pombal (the man who is more famous for re-building Lisbon after the earthquake). Modern winemaking methods have been adopted and a lot of good red wine seems to be flowing out.

USA

The grape first went to the US with the early immigrants in the 1600s and it was initially planted in the eastern seaboard without much success. The Franciscan Father Junipero Serra planted the first vines in California in 1769. Though the Spanish culture of that part of the US led to a lot of wine growing, California had to wait for another two centuries before making a mark in the international wine scene.

In the 50s and the 60s a lot of hobby vineyards sprang up in the Napa Valley in California and in other neighbouring areas, which eventually led to the American wine revolution. The early examples were Stony Hill in Napa Valley, Hanzell in Sonoma and Robert Mondavi's winery in Rutherford. All these started becoming well known and lots of new estates started springing up.

California: California spotted the potential of the Chardonnay grape long before Australia and some of the best wine from here is based on this grape. However it was Cabernet Sauvignon, which first established California as a serious wine-producing area. The best red wines from Napa, Sonoma and Santa Cruz offer serious competition to the big names from Bordeaux. California also produces a lot of big sparkling wines and a lot of big French names have set up vineyards all over the state as well as the Western part of the US. The Californian AVAs to watch out for in the future are Carneros, Howell Mountain, Russian River and Alexander valley. 

Though close to 90% of the wine produced in the US is from California, quite a few other States are also emerging as potentially large producers. Oregon is emerging rapidly as a major wine center in the US. It is supposed to be the Pinot Noir capital of the US and is seen as America's Burgundy. The main region here is the Willamette valley. The big names are Domaine Drouhin (related to the French negociant firm Joseph Drouhin), Ponzi, Knutsen Erath, Sokol Blosser, Willamette Valley and Argyle among others. In Washington state the Merlot grape is the king.

The Rhone Rangers: The Rhone Rangers is a non-profit, educational organization, established to provide information and understanding of American-grown Rhone wine grapes and wines produced from those grapes. As criteria for membership, "Rhone Ranger" wines must contain 75% traditional Rhone varieties, as approved by the French government for grapes grown in the Cote-du-Rhone. Additionally, all wines must comply with BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) regulations for label content.

The main winegrowing areas, the Yakima and Columbia river Valleys are fairly inland and hence during the growing season they get long, hot days and cool nights- a lot like Bordeaux. This results in a great wine (you'll remember Merlot is the second grape of Bordeaux). Some good producers are Columbia Crest, Columbia, Chateau St Michelle, Leonetti etc. Most people don't really think of the New York state as anything to do with wine, but it is the second largest wine producing state in the US. The main areas are around the Finger Lakes, the Hudson river and the North Fork of Long. 

Disney's California adventure is one of their newest theme parks and a welcome addition to it is the Golden Vine Winery, which is hosted by Robert Mondavi. You have a choice between walking through a vineyard, sampling a new vintage or have a wine and food experience amongst other attractions.

Wine laws - AVA - American Viticultural Area. This is the American version of the AOC system. The word "appellation: will not appear anywhere on the bottle. Instead there will be a place name like California or Napa Valley or to be more specific say "Russian River Valley". If the AVA name is on the label it means that 85% of the grape in that wine has to come from that area. Hence if the label says Sonoma County, 85% of the grapes will be grown in Sonoma County. A wine with an AVA designation- such as Stags Leap- must contain 85% of the grapes from that AVA. A Vineyard designated wine must contain 95% of its grapes from that vineyard. Vineyard names must be used along with County or AVA names. California also has a law that requires "Napa Valley" to appear on labels in conjunction with any sub-viticultural area within Napa, i.e. a label with the designation "Rutherford" must also have "Napa Valley".

Australia

For years, Aussie winemakers have revelled in the idea that good wine can be made and marketed without being confused and handcuffed by terroir and appellations. They were for a long time the world's leading techno-wine makers and backed by state of art production techniques, reasonable prices and Anglo-Saxon-friendly marketing they became the new superstars of the wine world. But the laws of nature (not to mention marketing) have a way of exerting themselves and taming the rogues. On the brink of its second generation, new-wave Aussie wine has begun to link its fame to specific grapes from specific sites. The shift is already reflected in the Wine and Brandy Corporation's new Label Integrity Program (LIP), and some serious mapping that has established boundaries for 44 wine regions. Aussie wines are normally described as fruity (so what? That's how wines sell. If you want to be known as a wine geek, better bone up on this kind of stuff). This is due to the fact that the grapes get long warm summers and hence become very ripe.

Label Integrity Programme (LIP): This programme was introduced with effect from 1990 to uphold the integrity of information stated on the label regarding vintage, variety or geographical indication. LIP Inspectors continuously monitor the industry. Label Integrity Programme (LIP) : This programme was introduced with effect from 1990 to uphold the integrity of information stated on the label regarding vintage, variety or geographical indication. LIP Inspectors continuously monitor the industry. Geographical and Varietal Indication on the Label: For a label to claim, say Clare Valley and Shiraz, the vine variety should be at least 85% Shiraz-sourced and grown 85% in the Clare Valley. Vintage: At least 85% of the wine must be from the stated vintage.

New South Wales (NSW) : Centred by Sydney as its capital, NSW has 10 appellations, with the Lower and Upper Hunter Valley by far the most important. Hot, dry interior regions like Murray/Sunraysia, Griffith/Riverina, Mudgee, and Cowra are largely for high-volume, inexpensive wines, although Cowra's star is rising as a chardonnay region.

Hunter Valley : The principal grape varieties are Semillon, Shiraz, Chardonnay. At 32 degrees of latitude, one of the world's warmest, most humid, and improbable wine regions is responsible for the legendary ageability of Australian Semillon and Shiraz. With Sydney less than two hours by car, tourists have played an essential role in Hunter's economy. So, too, have the clouds that roll off the coast to block the mid-day sun and preserve valuable acidity. The best vineyards are astride the Brokenback Range in soils that restrict vine vigour, thus concentrating flavours. The big names here are Tyrrell's, Brokenback, Shiraz , Lindeman and Rosemount.

Victoria & Tasmania : Victoria has 15 wine appellation. From Melbourne they fan out to dot higher and drier inland areas, except for the cooler Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, and the island of Tasmania. Only in the hotter northeast along the Murray River is there much large-scale viticulture. Northwest of Melbourne, the hot, dry regions of Geelong, Macedon, Bendigo, and Pyrenees are home to many small wineries.

Great Western : The main grapes are Shiraz, Cabernet, Chardonnay. Two and half hours west of Melbourne, the Great Western region is one of Australia's oldest, established, like California's Sierra Foothills, during a gold rush in the mid 19th century. It's a very dry, irrigated region but its position on the fringe of the Great Dividing Range provides a notably cool climate, making it ideal for later-ripening varieties like Shiraz. There are only about a dozen wineries here, including the famous Mount Langi Ghiran and Seppelt.

Yarra Valley : The main grapes grown are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This verdant, hilly zone at 37 degrees on Melbourne's northern flank is one of Australia's leading regions for cool-climate, higher-acid grapes, especially for chardonnay, pinot noir, and even sparkling wine from Green Point/Domaine Chandon. The big names here are: Coldstream Hills and De Bortoli.

South Australia (SA) : A huge region, SA is home to 12 appellations and the big industry giants: Southcorp (Penfolds, Lindemans, Wynns), BRL Hardy (Hardys, Renmano, Leasingham), Mildara-Blass (Wolf Blass, Mildara, Black Opal), and Orlando-Wyndham, as well as many other important companies. Its huge vineyard tracts range across several climatic zones. Coonawarra The main grapes here are Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay. Making wine for over 100 years, one of Australia's most distinctive and well-defined appellations is a plain-looking strip of barely elevated vineyard on unique reddish limestone-based soils. The terra rosa, plus coolish southerly latitude (37 degrees) and maritime influences, combine to produce long-lived reds with amazing acidity, tension, depth, and distinctive flavour. Exploration for other veins of terra rosa on this "limestone coast" has already struck gold at nearby Koppamurra.. Wynns, Lindemans and Mildara all have wineries here and make some top Coonawarra wines. Other notable labels include Rymill, Leconfield, Penley, and Hollick. Padthaway The main grapes are Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. Farther north (36 degrees) and warmer than Coonawa. Padthaway is a newer region (since 1963) largely planted to chardonnay and sauvignon by the big companies. Limestone again is the soil subtext, and likely the reason the wines tend to show real finesse beneath ripe fruit notes. In this largely benign, flat, dry, irrigated region yields must be well controlled to concentrate flavours. There are virtually no wineries here, with fruit being trucked off for processing in Coonawarra, McLaren, and other places.

McLaren Vale - Langhorne Creek : The principal varieties are Shiraz, Merlot, Chardonnay. McLaren Vale is only 30 minutes from Adelaide and fighting encroaching suburbia. First planted at Chateau Reynella in 1838, it is one of the most well-established, diverse, and interesting Australian regions. Its warmer latitude (35 degrees) is tempered by a coastal climate and the varying altitude of its vineyards. Soil types vary too, depending on hill or vale location. It seems to grow all grapes well, but McLaren shiraz is among Australia's best, with bright, lush fruit and supple texture. Although headquarters for Hardys at Chateau Reynella, and now the source of grapes for many companies outside the region, McLaren Vale is full of good small, wineries like Seaview, Richard Hamilton, Coriole, Woodstock, Ryecroft, and Maglieri.

Adelaide Hills - Eden Valley : The principal wine types are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sparkling and Riesling Overlooks the city of Adelaide. Vineyards above 400 metres fall within the appellation. The northern edge melds with the high country of the warmer Eden Valley (34 degrees) east of Barossa, where small wineries like Mountadam, Pewsey Vale, and Henschke make great wines. Barossa Valley The main varieties are Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Semillon. One hour's drive northeast of Adelaide, Barossa is home to Australia's largest concentration of wineries, including Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Orlando, Seppelt, and Yalumba. First planted by German settlers in the mid-19th century, it is a hot (34 degrees) and arid, irregularly contoured valley peppered with many old shiraz vineyards. Soils are mixed loam, clay, and sand, but overall rather infertile, which helps the non-irrigated vines produce a lot of Aussie classics.

Clare Valley: Principal varieties are Riesling, Semillon and Shiraz. Clare is one of Australia's emerging appellations, despite its northern location (33 degrees.) In fact, it is as far away from the ocean as grapes are likely to grow before succumbing to outback-like desert conditions. The secret is high altitude (400 to 500 metres) with cool afternoon breezes and cold desert nights, both of which preserve grape acidity.

West Australia (WA):

 Although producing less than five per cent of Australia's wine, WA is one of the world's most exciting new wine regions, exploding with labels. Six appellations range over several hundred kilometres from Swan Valley (31 degrees) north of Perth down to Mt. Barker (35 degrees) in the Great Southern Region. Although latitudes vary, the appellations are clustered near the sea.

Margaret River : The varieties here are Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Action central in West Australia is a coastal cape jutting into the sea at the happy confluence of the Indian and Southern Oceans at 33 degrees. No other Australian region is so maritime, yet the temperature range is amazingly even and the rainfall sparse during the growing season. The irrigated vineyards are planted for the most part on well-drained, gravelly soils. Planting was spearheaded by Leeuwin and Cape Mentelle in the mid-70s, but many stars are now emerging, like Devil's Lair, Fermoy Estate, Abbey Vale and Evans & Tate.

Flying winemakers : Tony Laithwaite a UK wine trader is credited with the idea of the Flying Winemakers, that is the practise of getting leading oenologists from Australia (to begin with) to spread their technical expertise in other parts of the world. They first caused a stir in southwest France in 1987 and haven't looked back since. From then the practice of experts from different countries criss-crossing the world spreading their wisdom has grown. You could probably add Michael Rolland, an independent consultant from Bordeaux and Bruno Yvon from Veuve-Clicquot Ponsardin in that list as they've been active in taking Grover Vineyards to greater heights. Taste the Grover La Reserve to know what we mean.

Chile

Chile's contemporary wine boom took root in the mid-19th century when cuttings from Bordeaux, France arrived. Before long, talented French winemakers followed, attracted by the favorable conditions of the nation's Central Valley with its rich soil, warm summers and mild winters. Today, Chile is noted for producing some of the most reasonably priced, consistently good varietals in the world. Its wines, especially its reds (Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot), have won critical acclaim and an expanding share of the international market. Most of the major vineyards occupy a strip about 220 miles long in the Central Valley region, which is home to the famed, productive Maipo Valley. The consistent, temperate, Mediterranean climate and protected geography of Chile's winemaking region is complimented by a lucky entomological twist. The nation, remarkably, has remained free of phylloxera, a type of plant lice that has ravaged vineyards around the world. In the late 1800s, a phylloxera blight destroyed the roots of some of the most illustrious vine lineages. Chile was left unharmed. Today, Chile boasts the only remaining pre-phylloxera clones grown on their own European rootstock. The best are reserved for export. So chances are that the bottle of Chilean wine that you may pick up would be absolutely top - drawer and would be a fraction of what other wines cost. However this state of affairs may not last for too long, because Chile is adopting a new system of appellation and wine prices are likely to go up. A lot of winemakers from the US and France have invested in Chile. Chateau Lafite-Rothschild is associated with Los Vascos and Robert Mondavi has tied up with Chile's Vina Errazuriz. The other names to watch out for are Concha y Torro, Santa Rita, Coisino-Macul and Undurraga.

South Africa

South Africa has been producing wine for around three centuries now. A lot of early settlers were Huguenots who got expelled from France on religious grounds and wended their way here and these guys knew their wine.

Huguenots : The Huguenots were French Protestants who were members of the Reformed Church established in France by John Calvin in about 1555, and who, due to religious persecution, were forced to flee France to other countries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

One of the most famous wines in the 18th century was Constancia, which was made here. Apartheid finished all that. Now that all that is over, good times are around the corner for South African wines. Most of the high quality wine comes from the Cape Province, which is also regarded as one of the most beautiful wine-making areas of the world. All the vineyards are within a 100 km radius of Cape Town. The more well known include Swartland to the north, Paarl to the northwest, and Stellenbosch to the immediate east. Unlike many countries where wine regions are scattered and separated by wide areas of land, in South Africa they literally touch each other, forming a jigsaw of appellations immediately surrounding the city. The exceptions are the Orange River Valley and Douglas, further to the north. South Africa mainly produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc (Steen) and Pinotage. While the first three wines are well known around the world, Pinotage is more regional. Pinotage is a powerful red, a cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsault. Most South African wines aren't labeled by region, but rather by grape variety and style. The grape itself, and the reputation of the winery that made the wine, are the two things to watch for.

Wine Laws of South Africa - The quality designation is Wine of Origin, followed by the name of the region. If a wine carries a vintage on the label, it must be produced from at least 75% of grapes of that particular harvest. If a grape variety is mentioned on the label, the wine must be produced from 75% of the stated variety. The Wine of Origin designation appears as a seal on the side of the neck of the bottle. It certifies that any information given on the label relating to vintage, origin or grape variety is correct.

New Zealand

One of the fastest growing wine-making regions in the world, this is really taking on its antipodal big brother. Some great whites are happening. Watch out for the Marlborough area and the big baby there is Cloudy Bay - some big French names have an interest in it and action will definitely happen. The other area to look for is Hawkes Bay and the names to watch out for here are Te Mata and Esk Valley. Buy these while they are still affordable.

Reading a Wine Label

Wine labels are of two types, varietal (which focus on the grape variety used) and geographic (focusing instead on the region which produced the wine). You'll find that most new world wines have "varietal" labels while old world wines have geographic ones. A wine from the old world will normally not mention the grapes/s it's made from as winemakers from this region, believe that making a wine is a combination of several factors, one of which is the grape as opposed to the new world winemakers, who believe in the different school of thought. In the case of a new world wine in most cases, you'll notice the name of the vineyard on the label, the vintage (year produced), the area (or appellation), and the grape variety (varietal). This is a unique distinction from the European producers.

Lets look at an example now of how to read an Old world wine label and a new world one.

First the old world typified by the French Bordeaux label you see above:

How to read Australian Wine Label

Now lets look at reading a new world wine label and take an Aussie wine as an example. Far simpler.

Opening of a Wine Bottle (extracting cork)

A good wine like people of blue blood is not into mingling, and especially with the cork whom it's kept at arms distance for many a year. So, the primary skill in opening a bottle is to remove the cork and remove it in such a way that you are able to use it to plug the mouth of the bottle again without it being in a million pieces.

The first step is to remove the foil covering the top of the bottle. If you have one, then use a foilcutter. The way to use this tool is to twist it around the top of the bottle and the four circular blades neatly slice through the covering capsules so that the top part of the capsule can easily be removed. Else use a knife to make a thin incision in the foil covering the top of the bottle, then peeling it off. Next wipe any dust or dirt off the bottle with a cloth or wet paper towel (especially the rim). Remember that the cork has originally been inserted into the mouth of the bottle by compressing it and then when it enters the mouth of the bottle it expands to embrace the neck. Therefore extracting a cork requires applying a certain amount of leverage on it. After all it was Archimedes who said in around 240 BC, "Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I will move the earth." He probably had just invented the latter day version of the corkscrew when he made this statement. The way to use this kind of corkscrew is to keep screwing the screw into the cork, with all the time the 2 parallel "wings" of the corkscrew rising until they are parallel with the screw and have reached their maximum height of ascension. Now bring both wings down and you shall see the cork rise. If the cork has not risen sufficiently for you to remove it then repeat the above procedure. This may have the detrimental impact of harming the cork however so it's best to get it done with the first time around.

How to open a Champagne bottle

The most important thing to bear in mind is that there is a certain amount of carbon dioxide in a bot of sparkling wine which causes considerable pressure to build up in the bottle, therefore the cork if released inappropriately can lead to at least the loss of an eye.

1. You'll find that the top of most champagne bottles is covered by this thin foil. First step is to take out a knife and neatly make a thin cut around the base of the cap, thus freeing the foil.


2. Secondly you may have observed the wire cage which encases the cork and holds it back. Very carefully twist the loop of the wire cage and keep twisting until the loop is freed off the bottle. At all times keep a gentle hold on the cork.


3. Next hold the bottle at a 45 degree angle (sketch of champagne bottle at 45 degree angle) and rotate the bottle while holding the cork firm. Theoretically this is supposed to be done gently but firmly. After a period of time you'll find that the cork pops out gently. That process undertaken, now pour a little wine into each glass and let the bubbles settle before coming back and pouring the rest.

Breathing & Decanting

If you ever need vinegar (albeit a bit on the expensive side), then leave your bottle of wine open for around 12 hours and oxygen will work its dark deeds on the wine. Breathing however which involves exposing wine to air before drinking it is generally considered to benefit younger wines (those within the first third of their lives - varies from wine to wine) as opposed to older ones (those in the last one/third of their lives). You can perhaps compare a bottle of wine to a room which has been closed for some time and needs to be aired a bit before it can be lived in, the best way of which is to open the windows. It's always a bit tricky to judge exactly how long the wine should be aerated for. Generally if it's a youngish white wine expert opinion suggests it'll require not more than an hour of aeration whereas a youngish red wine could do with around an hour and a half. It's always better to err on the side of moderation though. There's another school of thought, which believes that the wine should be tasted immediately after opening to see how long it needs to be aerated for or if it can be drunk immediately. Ok if you're a connoisseur, if you're not then avoid. The question you're probably asking is why the hell do we have to go through this rigmarole of breathing. Well you'll benefit in a couple of ways, one there's a term called "bottle stink" which applies to smells which may or may not creep into the airspace inside. Aeration can help clear this stale air and also secondly help the wine develop it's bouquet.

Decant

Decanting is an operation, which aims at transferring a wine from a bottle to a carafe in order to eliminate sediments and serve a clear wine. Old vintages, specially red wines tend to precipitate with time. Those precipitations (mostly tartrate crystals and color) affect in no way the taste of the wine, but are not pleasant to the eye if present in the glass at the time of drinking. Decanting the bottle before serving ensures that the wine in the carafe, and hence in the glasses, will be perfectly clear. Prior to the actual act of decanting it's always helpful to keep the bottle upright for a day to let the sediment settle.

Practically, decanting is done by pouring slowly the wine from the bottle into a carafe under the light of a candle. Shine the candle or flash a torch from under the neck upwards. When the sediments reach the shoulder of the bottle, one stops pouring. Few milliliters are wasted in the process. Decanting should be done very carefully so that the wine is not too much in contact with the atmosphere.

Old wines are like venerable old persons and should be handled very gently not to destroy any component of their exceptionally complex bouquet. The other purpose which decanting serves is aeration (the need for which has been outlined above).

Observing and Smelling :

All liquor where you wish to smell and sip should be had in tulip glasses as the aroma is caged in here (this includes Single Malt whiskies). Wines should be filled to one-third of the glass.

First, the colour. - Hold up the glass against a white surface. A red wine will be lightest red to almost brown. A rose' will be pinkish and a white wine will be anything from pale yellow to deep gold. In both red and white wines, colour is an indication of body (intensity of flavor). The lighter the colour the lighter the body and vice versa. In wines as in diamonds, colour and clarity are measures of soundness. Hold up the glass against a white surface. A red wine will be lightest red to almost brown. A rose' will be pinkish and a white wine will be anything from pale yellow to deep gold. In both red and white wines, colour is an indication of body (intensity of flavor). The lighter the colour the lighter the body and vice versa. In wines as in diamonds, colour and clarity are measures of soundness.

A couple of helpful tools to help you out with this process have been produced by the French (Le Nez due Vin, which literally means the nose of wine and is a set of boxed sets of concentrated smells) and the Americans (Professor A.C. Noble of the University of California, Davis) who've produced a wine aroma wheel for ready reference when you're sniffing your way around.

Aromas :

The normal types of aromas you can expect to find are :

1. Herbs and spices

2. Flowers

3. Fruits

4. Smells associated with deserts

5. Earthy, woody scents

6. Unpleasant smells

Tip: - Maintain a notebook to jot down your impressions on each wine you drink, with your likes and dislikes next to it. This would make it easier for you when you're actually buying wine off the shelf.

Tasting & Drinking

Tasting - There is more hype per square inch to wine tasting than to any other activity relating to anything to do with your mouth (with the possible exception of kissing). I remember attending a wine-tasting workshop that was organized by Alliance Française, where the entire process was imbued with an almost ecclesiastical ritual. I came away very psyched. Later a friend's father who has been into fine wines for decades did much to demystify the whole thing. Remember, you are the best judge of what you like. So begin by sticking to one wine and drinking it regularly. You will become familiar with one wine and when you taste another one you'll be able to make out the difference. Take in a small amount and run it over your tongue before swallowing it. Let the after-taste develop. Most experts agree that this is the most distinctive part of the wine.

Drinking - Say you are at a restaurant, the chances are you will be presented a red wine at room temperature. Don't be embarrassed to ask the steward to cool your bottle. And if he gives you a supercilious "don't you know red wine is drunk at room temperature? " look - let him have it on the jaw, it your money. I will go as far as to say, mildly cool (10 minutes. in a wine bucket to about 18-20 degrees C) even the best wine while it breathes and you'll be surprised. The aromas of a wine's bouquet are released according to their volatility and the temperature at which they are served. Served too cold, it will release little, if any bouquet. Served too hot, there is danger of oxidation, destruction or a combining of the highly volatile aromas or a loss of the aromatic elements. Warm red wine, unless drunk as mulled wine, can taste flat and indifferent.

Tasting Terms:

Acidity- Does not refer to a common digestive condition in India, but to a positive quality in wine. It does not mean that the wine is sour, but that it possesses a degree of tartness.

Aftertaste- The lingering flavour a wine leaves in your mouth after you swallow it. The longer it lasts, the better the wine.

Balance- The major components of fruitiness, acidity and alcohol will all be in harmony in the good wines. None of these elements will be overpowering.

Chewy- A term used to describe a rich red wine with the right amount of tannin in them. Also called "big" or "meaty". Tannins are these chemicals which are present in the skin of the red grapes and which give red wine its longevity.

Cooked- This means that the wine tastes coarse like stewed or over-cooked fruit. It's a negative aspect.

Corked- A distinctive musty smell. If you get a bottle that is corked, it means that the wine has had it.

Crisp- Normally used for white wine, it indicates a fresh, clean quality.

Fruity- When the flavour of the grape is evident in the wine. One way of checking out what we mean is to put a very small quantity of vodka (say 5 ml) into a glass of Tropicana grape juice. A positive attribute.

Flowery- Tastes of flower blossoms (so they say- the only flower I remember having consumed is cauliflower).

Green- Tastes like unripe fruit.

Mean. Or thin. Low on fruit or flavour (like most Indian wines).

Nose- Literally the smell. It may be called the aroma in young wines or the bouquet in mature wines.

Oaky- Good quality wines may be aged in oak barrels. The flavour of the wood in the barrels rubs off ob the wines. Normally a positive attribute, unless its overdone.

Tannic- A trait in red wines. It is a very harsh astringent quality often found in young red wines. Imagine drinking strong black tea. There is this harsh sensation at the sides of you mouth. That is tannins at work.

Temperature do’s and don’ts

First of all, "room" temperature is not necessarily bringing a wine to the temperature of the room, especially when this temperature can be more than 20 C. In fact, it means bring a wine to a temperature 16/17 C. On the other hand, it is wrong to think that only an opened bottle can be brought to room temperature since heat exchanges occur through the bottle also.

The lower the temperature is, the more wine tannins are highlighted. This explains why red aged/wines, full-bodied wines have to be brought to room temperature. If they are chilled too much they may end up tasting like only light red wines should be cooled.

The higher the temperature is, the more mellow character of a wine seems heavy, the acidity "biting". This explains why dry and mellow white wines are cooled.

Carbon monoxide has a tendency to burst out with more violence when the temperature is high. Champagne and other sparkling wines are served very cold so that gases are barely perceptible and therefore the wine pleasant.

How to spot faulty wine

Have you ever wondered what you are supposed to do what to when the restaurant waiter, or the sommelier if you're moving up in the world, pours you a taste? It's simple; it's so you can send back if it's faulty. The problem is how do you know when a wine is faulty? Here we describe the most common faults with wine.

Champagne Bottle Sizes

Fermentation mostly happens in the standard or magnum bottle. Other bottles named after biblical figures are filled with champagne fermented in the standard or magnum bottles. Some of the unique sizes were made for special occasions or people and hence named after the person.

Jeroboam (4 bottles) 3 liters:

Jeroboam (actually Jeroboam II), was the King of Israel during the year of Rome's founding (753 BC).

Rehoboam (6 bottles) 4.5 liters:

A son of Solomon, Rehoboam (meaning "the clan is enlarged" according to Willard Espy) became king of Judah in 933 BC.

Methuselah (8 bottles) 6 liters:

Methuselah was an antediluvian patriarch described in the Old Testament as having lived 969 years and whose name is synonymous with great age. He may well have evolved from a character of earlier Sumerian legend that lived for 65,000 years.

Salmanazar (12 bottles) 9 liters:

Shalmaneser (alternatively spelled Salmanazar) was an Assyrian monarch who reigned around 1250 BC.

Balthazar (16 bottles) 12 liters:

Balthazar ("King of Treasures") is the traditional name of one of the Three Wise Men, the other two being Melchior ("King of Light") and Gaspar ("The White One").

Nebuchadnezzar (20 bottles) 15 liters:

Nebuchadnezzar II, originally nabu-kudurri-usur meaning "Nabu protects the boundary," became King of the Chaldean Empire in 604 BC.

First Growth

 First Growth, Second Growth and the 1855 Classification of Medoc, Bordeaux :

The classification of wines as a means to rate wines for market purposes has been attempted since the 14th century in France, Germany and Italy, but the only classification that has had any lasting value and is still respected today is the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. By request of Napoleon III's Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1855, wine brokers were asked to rank the wines of the Médoc according to price. While that would seem to be a controversial method, the reality was that at the time (and arguably still today) price was directly related to quality. The brokers agreed on a five-class classification of 61 of the leading Medoc châteaux, the most prominent Graves châteaux Haut-Brion, and a two-class classification of Sauternes and Barsac. The Classification was issued through the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce. Within each class, the châteaux were listed based on price in descending order. The official Classification of Sauternes-Barsac of 1855 was based on both price and the acclaim of sweet wines at the time. Château d'Yquem was raised to grand premier cru, a rank higher than any other first growth red wine. The only change in the classification of 1855 occurred in 1973 after Baron Philippe de Rothschild lobbied to move Château Mouton-Rothschild from the top of the second growths up to first growth. At the time of the classification, the wines of Pomerol and St-Émilion were not viewed as stylish, as these areas were viewed as being detached from the rest of Bordeaux. Therefore they weren't included in the classification. Pomerol is the smallest of the fine red-wine producing districts within Bordeaux and the only region to have never been classified, although Château Petrus is often included among the first growths. The Classification of St-Émilion was formally established in 1955, and since has been amended 3 times and will continue to be amended on the basis of wine quality, vineyard boundaries and prices. Cheval Blanc, Ausone, and Pavie are a few the great wines from this fine region. The red wines of Graves were not officially classified until 1953, and then only in a one-class system, and were immediately listed alphabetically rather than by price in order to avoid conflict. This is the system in Bordeaux. Each region has its own system of classification.