Free Wine Course at The Waiter's Academy: Lesson One. Basic Wine Knowledge. Wine Characteristics.

The Wine Knowledge Basics lesson will lay the groundwork for your further education about wine. Sign up now for free:
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What is wine, how it is made, and what are the wine characteristics?
What is Wine:
Wine is an alcoholic beverage typically made from the juice of grapes (or other fruits) through fermentation. Wine could be red, white, rose and could contain different levels of alcohol, sugar, tannin, and acidity.
Winemaking process:
Harvesting the grapes - the year the grapes are cut is the year that will be written on the wine bottle
Destemming and crushing - the grapes are brought into the winery and the first thing is to make sure there are no stems or
leaves in the mix! Their presence may lead to bitterness in the wine. After that, the grapes are crushed to produce the must
Fermentation - the must is moved to a fermentation vessel (could be wood, stainless steel, or concrete) and the yeast in the grapes
starts to produce alcohol from the sugar in the must! Many producers prefer to insert specially selected Yeast, which they believe helps
for a better wine product! Several hundred different strains of wine yeast are available commercially
Pumping over and temperature control - in order to reach the desired color of the wine the winemakers will have to make sure
the skin of the grapes is in constant contact with the juice! We could use several different techniques to accomplish that. Also
important is to control the temperature of the must during fermentation. If the temperature goes over 40*C it could kill the yeast
and impair the wine. Cooler temperatures (25 -28*C) are used to produce fruitier wines and higher temperatures (28-35*C) are
used for heavy tannin wines designed for aging!
Pressing - separating the juice from the must. There are different types of presses but the process is to separate the juice from
the skin and the seeds.
Racking (decanting)- the next procedure is to racked the wine from the dead yeast and other hard particles and to add sulfur
dioxide preservative to avoid oxidation and bacterial spoilage.
Aging - for the aging the wineries are using stainless-steel or concrete tanks, or in small or large oak barrels. It could be for just
a few days before bottling or for more than 2 years
Filtration and bottling - the yeast and anything else that might still be in the juice are filtered. The filtered wine goes in the bottles
and some bottles age for a few more months or years before they could be sold!
Handling and Storing Wine:
The wine should be appropriately stored and served at the right temperature, so your guests could enjoy it in full. Mind you, some people have their own preferences about the temperature of the wine, but we need to stick to the standards.
sparkling and very light-body white wines: 38*-45* F ( 3* 7* C)
-white and rose wine: 45*-55* F ( 7*-13* C)
-red wine: 55*-60* F (13* - 16* C)
-some full-body red wines could be stored at 20*C (68* F)
Storing properly open wines is very important for the business.
-open champagne could last up to three days stored in the fridge with a sparkling wine stopper
-full body white wines, close with a cork and stored in the fridge, could last up to five days
-light body white wines with a cork could last up to 7 days in the fridge
-red wines should be stored in a cool, dark place (or fridge) closed with cork for up to 5 days
Wine Characteristics:
To understand wine, sell it, and match it with the food order of the guests, you have to learn the characteristics of the wine!
There are many types of wine, and you have to know that different people have different preferences and are looking for a particular trait in the wine they want to drink!
Here we will discuss the main wine characteristic and its components:
Body
Contrary to the belief that the wine’s body depends exclusively on the alcohol percentage in the wine, the truth is much more complexed.
The alcohol level in the wine influences the body but so do the sweetness, the bitterness, and the acidity. All those characteristics determine the body of the wine by affecting the intensity of its test. The more intense the wine test, the more body it has!
Alcohol level - the alcohol increases the body of the wine.
Acidity - the more acidity the wine has, the less body it has.
Tannin - the bitter taste in wines comes from the tannin in them, and the tannin in the wine adds to its body. One reason white wines are with lighter bodies than red wines is the absence of tannin in them.
Sweetness - the more sugar the wine has, the more body it has. If you drink sweet wine, you will feel the body immediately. This is why some winemakers keep a small level of sugar in their dry wines, so they taste more full-bodied.
Barrique - winemakers age wine in oak barrels to increase the body and add more flavor.
Carbonation - the bubbles in the wine decrease its body.
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