| Tweet |
| Article Index |
|---|
| Grapes & Wines |
| White Wine Grapes |
| Red Wine Grapes |
| All Pages |
It’s not just about location, location, location. Several factors influence grapes and the wines made from them.
Grapes in a wine are a bit like genes in a human being. They can establish potential, but how a wine ends up is also determined by the soil and climate where the grapes are grown and the decisions made by the winemaker. These include: how ripe the grapes are when picked; how long the grapes stay with the skins after crushing; and how completely the sugar in the juice is converted to alcohol. Typically, the riper the grapes, the higher the alcohol and the less complete the fermentation, the sweeter the wine.
A skilled winemaker, by manipulating the ripeness of the grapes and the details of the winemaking, can end up with wines from two quite different red or white grapes tasting almost the same. This is partly why, over the last few decades, many wines from around the world have become increasingly similar in taste, apparently catering to an “international palate.”
This reduces one of the pleasures of wine — the remarkable variety that can emerge from different grapes grown and processed in different parts of the world. The French concept of “terroir,” a word with no simple translation, describes the complex effect the location where they are grown has on the grapes. It’s clearly part of the story, but certainly doesn’t explain everything.
Most of the shelf space in a typical wine store is occupied by wine made from three white wine and three red wine grapes, all of which originated in France. It’s worth remembering, though, that lesser-known grapes are also worth exploring since they lack the pricing power of the established ones and can produce interesting wines of excellent value.
In general, white grapes produce white wines, and red grapes, red. However, the color of red wines comes predominantly from contact between the juice and the skins after crushing the grapes. In some extreme cases, such as pinot noir, the freshly pressed juice is essentially clear. This is why it’s possible to make white Champagne (Blanc de Noirs — white from black) or rosé from red grapes.
