Wine

:This article is about the beverage. See Wine (software) for an article about the software of the same name.

Wine grape varieties

Wine is usually made from one or more varieties of the European species, Vitis vinifera. When one of these varieties, such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, or Zinfandel, for example, is used as the predominant grape (usually defined by law as a minimum of 75 or 85%) the result is a varietal, as opposed to a blended wine. Blended wines are in no way inferior to varietal wines; indeed, some of the world's most valued and expensive wines from the Bordeaux, Rioja or Tuscany regions, are a blend of several grape varieties of the same vintage.

Related Topics:
Varieties - Species - Vitis vinifera - Pinot Noir - Chardonnay - Zinfandel - Varietal - Bordeaux - Rioja - Tuscany

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wine can also be made from Vitis labrusca, from other species or from the hybrid of two species. Vitis labrusca, Vitis aestivalis, Vitis rupestris, Vitis rotundifolia and Vitis riparia are native North American grapes, usually used for eating in fruit form or made into grape juice, but sometimes used for wine, eg. Concord wine. Hybrids of vinifera with other species were originally developed to combine American hardiness and resistance to phylloxera with European flavor. Although only rarely used and generally prohibited by law in traditional wine regions, hybrids are planted in substantial numbers in cool-climate viticultural areas.

Related Topics:
North America - Concord - Phylloxera

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The variety of the land, the local yeast cultures and the climate and conditions under which grapes are grown, (called "terroir") combined to offer a great variety among wine products, which are further increased by the fermentation process itself and by improvements attained with proper aging, sometimes for several decades or more. However, variety is not in itself a sought-after quality for large producers of table wine or more affordable wines, where consistency is more important for large and modern factory wines, and mass-market wine brands. Their producers will try to hide any hint of often-unremarkable "terroirs", or climatically under-performing harvest years, by:

Related Topics:
Yeast - Terroir - Table wine - Wine brand

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• blending harvests of various years and vineyards;
• pasteurizing the grape juice in order to kill indigenous yeasts (to be replaced with "choice" cultivated yeasts); and
• using flavor additives.

See also: List of grape varieties

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~