Oct 31, 20235 min read

The 5 Different Types Of Wine 🍷

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The unique characteristics of wine are determined by various factors like the terroir, grape varieties used, climatic variations, and winemaking techniques. Wines made from different grape varietals have varying characteristics like tannins and acidity levels, which affect their taste.

A. Red Wine

What Is Red Wine?

Simply put, red wine is wine made from dark-skinned grape varieties. The wine grapes are fermented along with their skins to give the wine unique color, flavors, acidity, and tannin levels.

Red Wine Characteristics And Food Pairings

Color: A red wine can vary from opaque purple to deep garnet and soft ruby color.
Tannin: Usually has high tannin levels, which gives it a dry sensation on the palate.
Acidity: Red wines are slightly acidic with a refreshing mouthfeel.
Taste: Red wines have dominant fruit flavors, including red and black fruit. Oak barrel aging gives them cedar, chocolate, and coffee notes. Old World red wines (from regions like France and Italy) display more terroir-specific notes. The new world wines (from the USA, New Zealand, Australia) are fruitier with subtle earthy nuances.
Varietals: Can be grape varietal wines or a wine blend. Some famous red blend wines are the red Bordeaux blends, Port wines, and the red Rhone wines.
Food Pairing: Red meat dishes like steak, veal, and game go well with red wine.

1. Cabernet Sauvignon

The Cabernet Sauvignon wine varietal is an offspring of the ancient red wine grape, Cabernet Franc. Wine drinkers admire Cabernet Sauvignon red wine for its ‘green bell pepper’ notes and complex aromas.

It is grown almost in all major wine regions of the world.

The wine made from this red grape has blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry, and creme de cassis fruit flavors with hints of chocolate, tobacco, cedar, and mint.

These wines can age for a minimum of 7-10 years and can go up to two decades.

My favorite Cabernet Sauvignon wines are:

2013 Ghost Horse Vineyard 'Spectre' Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA
2017 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA

2. Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is a red grape that produces light to medium body dry wine.

A Pinot Noir wine tasting reveals dominant strawberry, cherry, and raspberry flavors. Oak barrel aging gives the wine spicy cinnamon and tobacco notes.

A good Pinot Noir varietal wine can effortlessly age for 10-30 years.

My favorite wines from the Pinot Noir grape are:

2015 Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits, France
2015 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Romanee-Conti Grand Cru,Cote de Nuits, France

3. Merlot

A hardy grape varietal, the Merlot wine grape produces a variety of flavors depending on where it's grown. Cooler climate Merlot wines have fruity raspberry, candied berries, and cherry flavors, while Merlot from a warm wine region has more herbaceous notes.

Merlot is also used as a blending grape in the red Bordeaux wine blend.

Merlot wines can age from 3 to 15 years.

The best Merlot wines to try are:

2015 Le Pin, Pomerol, France
2018 Petrus, Pomerol, France

B. White Wine

What Is White Wine?

White wine is made by fermenting green-skinned grape varieties. White wines can also be produced from black grapes by simply removing the skins off the grape before fermentation.

White Wine Characteristics And Food Pairings

1. Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that produces dry, crisp, and medium-bodied varietal wine. This dry wine has a citrus fruit flavor of green apples with fresh gooseberry and bell pepper flavors.

Sauvignon Blanc is also used as a blending grape in the white Bordeaux wine blend.

It can age up to 7 years, but Sauvignon Blanc blends can age from 10-20 years.

My favorite Sauvignon Blanc wines are:

2011 Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc, Oakville, USA
2008 Benjamin-Louis - Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Astéroïde, Loire, France

2. Riesling

The Riesling grape variety grows best in cooler wine regions. It is mainly grown in Germany, France, and some of the new world regions.

Riesling wines have a distinct acidity and robust fruit flavor of green apple, apricot, peach, and pear.

Dry Riesling wines can age for 5-15 years, while sweet Rieslings can spend 20-30 years in the cellar.

The top Riesling wines are:

2004 Weingut Keller G-Max Riesling Trocken, Rheinhessen, Germany
2017 Markus Molitor Bernkasteler Doctor Riesling Auslese Trocken, Mosel, Germany

3. Chardonnay

This wine grape displays different flavors in different climates - rich and creamy in Napa Valley to light and crisp in Pouilly-Fuisse.

Cooler climate regions like Chile produce light-bodied varietal wine with citrus notes, while warm climate Chardonnays have more fruit flavors.

Most Chardonnay wines can age for 5-7 years but some exceptional vintages can age for more than a decade.

The best wines made from this white grape are:

2010 Domaine Leflaive Montrachet Grand Cru, Cote de Beaune, France
2007 Leroy Domaine d'Auvenay Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, Cote de Beaune, France

C. Rose Wine

What Is Rose Wine?

Rose wine is made from red wine grape varietals by macerating the grape juice with the grape skins for only a few hours. This limited contact with grape skin is what gives the wine light pink color.

Rose wine can be sweet, dry, and even sparkling.

While most Roses are meant to be drunk early, some exceptional sparkling Roses like Dom Perignon Rose can age for up to 30-40 years.

Rose Wine Characteristics And Food Pairings

Color: Rose wine can range from blush pink to translucent red color.
Tannin: Low tannins.
Acidity: Rose wine has moderate to high acidity.
Taste: Dominant red fruit flavors with subtle floral and citrus notes.
Varietal: Usually made from a blend of red wine grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir. But in New World regions, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, and Merlot varieties are common as well.
Food Pairing: Chicken, salmon, duck, lamb, veggie skewers, and soft cheese.

Popular Rose Wines

2000 Dom Pérignon Vintage Rosé Case Gold Methuselah, Champagne, France
1995 Louis Roederer Cristal Vinothèque Edition Brut Rosé Millésimé, Champagne, France

D. Sparkling Wine

What Is Sparkling Wine?

Sparkling wine is a fizzy drink with carbon dioxide bubbles that gives it a shimmering look.

Sparkling wines are produced by fermenting the wine twice. They are produced from two main methods - Methode Traditionelle and the Charmat method.

In the traditional method, the secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle, while in the Charmat method, the wine is fermented in pressurized tanks.

Sparkling Wine Characteristics And Food Pairings

Color: Can be red, white, or rose.
Tannin: Low tannin levels.
Acidity: Moderate to high acidity.
Taste: Since sparkling wines are

produced from various grape varieties, the flavors vary quite a bit. Most sparkling wines have a distinct citric flavor to them.

Varietal: Can be a varietal wine like Prosecco or a blend of different grape varieties.
Food Pairing: Cream cheese, seafood, fruit desserts

1. Champagne

This French wine is produced in the Champagne wine region of France. It is made from the traditional ‘Methode Champenoise’ from a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes.

This cellar-worthy French wine can age for 5-20 years.

The top Champagnes to buy in 2023 are:

1996 Dom Perignon Rose Gold, Champagne, France

Moet & Chandon Esprit du Siecle Brut, Champagne, France

E. Dessert Wine

What Is Dessert Wine?

A dessert wine is produced when the winemaker ferments the grape juice only partially, so the wine is left with some residual sugar. This residual sugar gives the wine a sweet flavor.

Sweet wine should be served in a compact, small-sized wine glass.

Dessert Wine Characteristics And Food Pairings

Here are some common characteristics of dessert wines.

Color: A dessert wine can be red, rose, or white.
Tannin: This sweet wine has moderate to low tannins.
Acidity: More than 1% acidity to balance the sweet flavor.
Taste: In general, sweet white wines are more floral and nutty, while sweet red wines have strong fruit flavors.
Varietal: Sweet wines are produced as both blends and varietals.