Wine basics

Question 1

Wine

Answer 1

-An alcoholic beverage
-made with fermented grapes
- can technically be made with any fruit; get mostly made with grapes.

Question 2

Wine grapes

Answer 2

• different than table grapes
• smaller
• contain seeds
  -thicker skins

Question 3

Wine varieties

Answer 3

• thousands
• most are cultivars of one grapevine species —> vitis vinifera

Question 4

Grapevines

Answer 4

• woody, perennial plants
• produce crop once a year
• different climates affect how sweet (or tart) the wine ultimately tastes.

Question 5

Vintage

Answer 5

• year the grapes were harvested.

Question 6

Non-vintage

Answer 6

• blend of several vintages.

Question 7

Single-varietal wine

Answer 7

• wine made with mostly or only one grape variety (e.g. Merlot, assyrtiko)

Question 8

Wine blend

Answer 8

• made by blending several different varietal wines together

Question 9

Field blend

Answer 9

• made with different varieties that are harvested and unified together

Question 10

Styles of wine

Answer 10

1. Still
2. Sparkling
3. Fortified
4. Aromatized wines (e.g. vermouth)

Question 11

Organic wine

Answer 11

in the U.S. —> must be made organically, no added sulfites

In the E.U. —> may contain sulfites but w/ lower maximums than non-organic wines.

Question 12

Ways wines are labeled

Answer 12

1. By variety / wines labeled by grape. —> countries require minimum of the listed variety to be included in the bottle (e.g. 75% of gamay variety in the bottle. )

• US requires 75% | 85% required in Australia, Austria, Argentina, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Hungary, Greece, Canada.

2. By region —> strict rules of the region dictate what’s in the bottle. (Common in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Hungary)
3. By name —> use made-up, fantasy name made up by the winery to specify special wine blend, or the name of the vineyard etc.

Question 13

Standard servicing of wine

Answer 13

• 5 ounces (150ml)
• standard bottle = 5 servings (750ml)

Question 14

What is moderation?

Answer 14

• no more than 2 glasses a day for men
• no more than 1 for women

Or during a party + an alc. free day w/:
- no more than 3 for men
- no more than 2 for women

Question 15

Cause of headache

Answer 15

• dehydration
• fermentation -derived biochemical amines like tyramine.

Question 16

Avoid headache?

Answer 16

• drink 8oz/full glass of water per every serving.

Question 17

“contains sulfites”

Answer 17

• labeled if wine contains more than 10ppm (parts per million)
• legal limits —> high as 350 ppm w/most ranging between 50-150ppm.
  ( can of soda = 350ppm)

Question 18

Calories

Answer 18

• 1 standard serving of dry wine w/ 13% ABV = 0 carbs + 103 calories.
• 1 standard serving of sweet wine w/ 5% ABV = 29g carbs (from sugars) + 132 calories.

Question 19

Wine Traits

Answer 19

1. Body
2. Sweetness
3. Tannin
4. Acidity
5. Alcohol

Question 20

Body

Answer 20

• categorization of wine by intensity level from lightest to richest.
• taste receptors taste body in wine using the traits of tannin, sweetness, acidity and alcohol that affect the body of wine differently:

Tannin —> increases body in wine. (Red wines contain tannin, white wines do not; red wines tend to taste more “full bodied”)

Sweetness—> increased body ; sweet wines taste more full bodied than dry wines.

Acidity —> decreases body.

Alcohol —> increases body.

Carbonation —> decreases body. (Sparkling wines = taste lighter)