WINES AND BASIC OENOLOGY

In the Philippines, there are no wine grapes but do we do have wine produced from our local
ingredients. These are the local wines we have:

1. Duhat wine or the Philippine Black Plum wine – the wine is made from the fermented juice of
duhat or Philippine black plum.
2. Tuba or Palm wine - is a sweet wine made from fermented juice of palm tree. There are several
types of palm tree where tuba can produced: coconut, nipa or sasa and kaong or sugar palm.
Bahalina is a bottle of palm wine in the local market
3. Basi or Sugarcane wine – it is a wine made from fermented sugarcane juice.
4. Tapuy or Rice Wine – it is equivalent to the popular Japanese rice wine sake.
5. Other tropical fruit wines:
 Strawberry wine
 Mango wine- both green and yellow mango wine
 Guava wine
 Bignay wine

WINE – is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from fruits and mostly grape
- Alcoholic beverage made by fermenting fruit juices particularly grape juice

Wine Terms:
 Vin (van) – French
 Vino – Italian, Spanish and Portuguese
 Wein (Ven) - German

Categories of Wines
 Still wine/table wine – a wine without carbon dioxide
1. Unfortified still wine – wine without alcohol, with 4-14% alcohol volume.
 Red wine
 Rose wine
 White wine
 Flavored wine
2. Fortified still wine – wine with added alcohol with 25- 30% alcohol volume
 Dry fortified
 Sweet fortified
 Aromatic wine/vermouth
 Sparkling wine – wine that contains carbon dioxide

 Sparkling wine terms:

 France – vin (wine) mosseaux (sparkling): Champagne
 Italy – vino (wine) spumanti (sparkling)
 Spain and Portugal – vino espumante/Cava
 Germany – schaumwein: sparkling wine
Champagne – a world famous sparkling wine produced in the champagne region in France. “All
champagnes are sparkling wine but not all sparkling wines are Champagne.” What does it mean?
Champagnes are exclusively produced in the region of champagne, outside champagne region, the wine is
termed vin mosseux of French sparkling wine.

Two types of Champagne:

 Non-vintage champagne – a type of champagne aged at least 2 to years and no vintage date
indicated in the label
 Vintage Champagne – a type of champagne aged at least 5 years or more and a vintage date is
indicated in the label.

Methods of Producing Sparkling

1. Champagne Method (Methode Champinois) – also known as the traditional method. In this
method champagne or sparkling wine is produced using the second fermentation in the bottle.
2. Charmat or the Bulk Process Method - in this method sparkling wine is produced using second
fermentation in a large stainless steel known as charmat.

Factors Affecting the Quality Wine:

1. The types of grape used – the best type of grapes that produces excellent quality of wines is the
vitis vinifera.
2. The types of soil/location - in the world grapes are usually planted in chalky, sandy and lime soil
and in slopes. Terroir is the combination of soil, location and climate.
3. The Climate- vitis vinifera are best grown in places with temperate climate warm sunny days and
cool nights.
4. The skill/knowledge of the wine maker – the winemaker’s knowledge and skills are very
important factor in creating a particular type of wine.

Types of grapes used in making in making wines:

Single species grapes

1. Vitis vinifera
2. Vitis labrusca (wine and table)
3. Vitis riparia (wine grape rootstock and hybridization source)
4. Vitis rotundifolia (table and wine)
5. Vitis rupestris
6. Vitis aestivalis (wine)
7. Vitis mustangensis (wine)

The vitis vinifera varieties: wine grape

Red grapes
Classic or International varieties (all are of French origin)
 Cabernet Sauvignon (noble grapes)
 Merlot (noble grapes)
 Pinot Noir (noble grapes)
 Syrah
Other varieties:
 Muscat (no specific origin)
 Mourvedre (Spain)
 Tempranillo (Spain)
 Sangiovese (Italy)
 Nebbiolo (Italy)

White grapes
Classic or international varieties
 Chardonnay
 Chenin Blanc
 Riesling
 Sauvignon Blanc
 Semillon
Other white varieties
 Gewurztraminer (Italy)
 Pinot Blanc (French)
 Pinot gris (French)
 Pinotage (South-Africa)
 Viogner

Noble grapes – it is a description given to those varieties of grapes that are known to produce excellent
quality wines.

Wines of the World: the Old World and the New World
1. Wine producing countries: Old World
 Armenia  Hungary
 Austria  Italy
 Bulgaria  Moldova
 Croatia  Portugal
 Czech republic  Romania
 Cyprus  Slovakia
 England  Slovenia
 France  Spain
 Georgia  Switzerland
 Germany  Turkey
 Greece

France produces one half of the total wine productions in the world.

Famous Wine regions of France

 Alsace  Corsica
 Beaujolais  Jura
 Bordeaux  Languedoc-Roussillon
 Burgundy  Loire
 Champagne  Provence
  Rhone
 Savoy
 South Wes
 France

Italy - one of the oldest wine producers in the world dates back to the ancient Rome. Most of the wines
produced in Italy are red. Famous varieties used making quality wines are Nebbiolo, Barbaresco, and
Sangiovese.

Regions
 Abruzzi  Lombardy
 Alto Adige  Marches
 Apulia  Piedmont
 Basilicata  Sardinia
 Calabria  Trentino
 Compania  Tuscany
 Friuli  Umbria
 Giulia  Valle de Aosta
 Latium  Venetia
 Liguria  Venezia

Germany
In Germany most of the wines produced are white wines. The most popular variety used is
Riesling.

There are 13 defined regions (“Anbaugebiete”) in Germany

1. Ahr 8. Palatinate of Pfalz

2. Baden 9. Rheingau
3. Franconia or Franken 10. Rheinhessen or Rhenish Hesse
4. Hessische Bergstrabe 11. Saale – Unstrut
5. Mittelrhein 12. Saxony or Sachsen
6. Mosel 13. Wurttemberg
7. Nahe

Spain
Famous wine regions
 Rioja
 Jerez – this region produces the famous sherry wines
 Malaga
Sherry – is a fortified wine produced in southern Spain around the towns of Jerez, Sanlucar de Barrameda,
and El Puerto de Santa Maria.
Sherry Categories:

 Fino Sherry is a very light and delicate Sherry; it often contains 15 to 18% of alcohol
 Manzanilla Sherry comes from the Sanlucar district along the sea coast. This wine is produced
using exactly the same process as Fino, but as weather conditions are very different in Sanlucar
district.
 Amontillado Sherry is similar to Fino. It is deeper in color and drier than Fino and is left in the
barrel longer.
 Oloroso Sherry is deeper/darker in color and has more residual sugar. It is more fortified, and
often contains 17 to 22% of alcohol.
 Cream Sherry is very rich good dessert-style wine.
 Pedro Ximenez Sherry is very rich and is a popular dessert style wine. It’s made from raisins of
Pedro Ximenez grapes dried in the sun.
 Palo Cortado Sherry is very rare, it is an Oloroso wine that ages in a different, natural way not
achievable by human intervention. It often contains 17 to 22%.

Portugal
Portuguese wine regions are grouped into three levels of classification. The famous wine
produced in Portugal both as appetizer and dessert wine is Port.

Three levels of Classification

1. Denominacao de Origem Controlada (or DOCs) which are quality wines produced in specified
region under the European Union wine regulations and thus correspond roughly to the French
Appellation d’origine controlee
2. Indicacao de Proveniencia Regulamentada (IPRs) and are also QWpsr.
3. Vinho Regional (VR’s) which are table wines with a geographical indication under EU regulations.

Port Wine - the wine is produced in the Douro Valley in Alto Douro region, a region that is classified as
World heritage by UNESCO.The wine is exported from the city of Porto, thus acquiring the name Porto (or
Port in England speaking countries)

Varieties of Port Wine: It is based on its color and the vintage.

 Tawny
 White
 Ruby
 Late Bottled Vintage (L.B.V.)

Hungary
Hungarian wine has a history dating back to at least Roman times. Hungary’s best known wine are
the white dessert wine Tokaji and the red wine Bull’s Blood of Eger (Egri Bikaver).

Tokaji aszu was famously christened by Louis XIV of France (1638-1715) “Vinum Regum, Rex
Vinorum”- Wine of Kings, King of Wines.

Some types of Tokaji wine and how it’s made:

1. Szamorodni - this type of wine was known as fobor (prime wine).
 2. Aszu – this world famous sweet, topaz- colored wine that was formerly known throughout the
English speaking world as Tokay.
3. Eszencia – also called nectar wine. This wine is often described as one of the most exclusive
wines in the world.
4. Other sweet wines

Wines of the New World

Wine making countries

1. Argentina 7. Japan
2. Australia 8. Mexico
3. Brazil 9. New Zealand
4. Canada 10. South Africa
5. Chile 11. United States
6. China

Leading Countries producing wines

1. France
2. Italy
3. Spain
4. USA (mostly from Napa and Sonoma Valleys in California)
5. Argentina
6. China
7. Australia
8. South Africa
9. Germany
10. Chile

French Wine Classifications:

1. Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AOC)- it is the highest French wine classifications. It is
categorized into three:
 Regional wines – in the label of wine this what is being written. Appellation Bordeaux
Controlee
 District Wines - the name of the district in a particular region where the wine was
produced is indicated.
 Village wines – in this category of AOC wine, the name of the village in a district where
the wine came from is indicated in the label.
2. Appelation d’Origine Controlee de Qualite’ Superieure (AOCVDQS) - wines of superior quality
produced from a controlled region.
3. Vins de pay
4. Vin de table

Italian Wine classifications

1. Denominazione di origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) – highest quality recognition for
Italian wines
2. Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) – equivalent of the French wine classification
Table Wine categories
1. Indicazione di geografica Tipica – table wine are common wine that are grown in a specific
geographical growing regions.
2. Vino da tavola (Vdt) – this is the designation of wine on the “low end” or at the bottom of the
classification.

German wine Classifications

1. Deutscher Tafelwein or German table wine
2. German country wine
3. Quality wine from the specific region
4. Pradikatswein (superior quality wine)

Pradikat designations
 Kabinett – fully ripened light wine from the main harvest, typically semi-sweet with crisp acidity, but
can be dry if intended to.
 Spatlese – means late harvest
 Auslese- means “select harvest
 Beerenauslese – means select berry harvest
 Eiswein (ice wine)
 Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) - means select dry berry harvest

Spanish wine Classification:

1. Vino de Mesa (VdM)
2. Vinos de la Tierra (VDIT)
3. Vino de Calidad Producido en region Determinada
4. Denominacion de origen
5. Denominacion de origen Calificada

Manufacturing Still wines

Steps:
1. Harvesting – grapes will be picked from the vines either manually or machine
2. Crushing – grapes are pressed to produced a must
3. Fermenting – the yeast breakdown sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide
 Red and Rose wine – skins are soaked in the must to produce color to the wine
 Cuvaison/Vatting – the skin of the grapes is pressed to extract tanning acids and pigments.
4. Racking – fermented musts are placed in casks or barrel
5. Maturing/aging - wine is placed in a barrel tank to develop mellow its taste
 Maturing – wine are placed in stainless steel tank, white and rose wine
 Aging – wine are placed in barrels, red wines. Better red wines are aged 2-3 years in barrels
6. Filtering/Fining/Clarifying - removing sediments in wines before bottling
 Albumen is added to the wine
 Gelatin or bentonite
 Micro filtration
7. Bottling- wines are placed in a bottle and stoppered with cork
Wine Names:
1. Varietal names – name the variety of the grapes that predominates is the ne used in the name of the wine
2. Generic names – name of place where wine came from or produced
3. Brand names- property name, ones belong exclusively to a vineyard or shipper who produces and or bottles
the wine and takes total responsibility for its quality.

Factors to Consider in Selecting Quality Wines

1. The wine Classification
2. The vintage of the wine
3. The price of the wine
4. The container of the wine
5. The cork or stopper

Wine Label: EU Regulations

 Type of wine
 The name and address of the wine producer, bottler
 The country of origin
 Wines volume
 Percent alcohol by volume

Oenology – refers to the science and study of wines and wine making.

Viticulture – the manner of cultivating grapevines

Vinification – deals with wine production, from grape selection till bottling

Vintner – is a winemaker in a winery or wine company; he may also be called an oenologist.

8 Steps in Winemaking
1. Manual/Mechanical harvesting of grapes
2. Crushing, destemming and pressing or grapes
3. Initial Fermentation
4. Clarification, initial filtration and stabilization to remove solid particles or impurities in the wine
5. Secondary Fermentation and aging to improve the taste of the wine
6. Blending to ensure the consistent quality of wines year after year
7. Fining to remove the tannim ( which gives a dry pucker mouth feel) and other remaining solids
particles and impurities in the wine
8. Bottling/packaging

Sizes of Wine Bottles

1. Balthazar – a large bottle holding 12 liters, the equivalent of 16 regular wine bottles
2. Fifth – the regular wine bottle, holding 750ml
3. Jeroboam or Double Magnum – a large bottle holding 3 liters, the equivalent of four regular wine
bottles
4. Magnum – a bottle holding 11/2 liters, the equivalent of two regular wine bottles
5. Methuselah or Imperial – a large bottle holding 6 liters, the equivalent of 8 regular wine bottles
6. Nebuchadnezzar – a large bottle holding 15 liters, the equivalent of 20 regular wine bottles
7. Quart – a wine bottle which holds 1 liter
8. Rehoboam – a large bottle holding 4 ½ liters, the equivalent of six regular wine bottles
9. Salamanzar – a large bottle holding 9 liters, the equivalent of 12 regular wine bottles
10. Solomon – a large bottle holding 18 liters, the equivalent of 24 regular wine bottles
11. Split – a wine bottle that holds 6 ounces (187 ml) or ¼ the equivalent of a typical 750 ml bottle;
considered a single serving of wine
12. Tappit hen – a large Scotch wine bottle equivalent to 3 bottles or more
13. Tenth – a wine bottle that holds 12 oz (375ml), the equivalent of ½ of a typical 750ml bottle; holds
a double serving of wine

Six Kinds of Wines

1. Aromatized wine - Wine flavoured, fortified and treated with herbs and special flavourings, such
as roots, barks and flowers. Examples are:
 Vermouth – dry/white/French and sweet/red/Italian and
 Commandaria – amber, sweet dessert wine from Cyprus
2. Aperitif wine - This wine is served before a meal to whet the appetite. Examples are:
a. Dubbonet – ruby-colored French aperitif usually served with lemon juice or used in cocktails;
b. Lillet – red or white French aperitif served chilled or over ice;
c. Pineau des Charentes – red/rose and white French aperitif made from grape must and eau
de vie; served chilled and
d. Suze – famous brand of French bitters flavoured with gentian roots
3. Fortified wine – a wine that is strengthened by the addition of liquor, usually brandy, to reach 15 to
22% alcohol. There are five popular fortified wines.
 Sherry – a Spanish fortified wine made from white grapes, fortified with brandy, and
served in a copita, a tulip-shaped sherry glass. Fino and Manzanilla aperitif sherries are
served chilled; amontillado sherry is medium dry/sweet and served with soup/cheese;
oloroso and sweet/cream sherries are served after the meal.
 Port – a sweet Portuguese fortified wine: ruby-dark, slightly sweet bottled aged; tawny-dry,
light and aged in casks; vintage- full and sweet exceptional port decanted before drinking;
crusted- blended port bottled unfiltered, sealed with a driven cork and also decanted
before drinking; white – dry or sweet port made from white grapes.
 Madiera - Portuguese fortified wine in four variants: Sercial – the driest kind; Verdelho –
medium-dry ; Bual/Boal – medium sweet; and Malvasia or Malmsey – the sweetest kind
 Marsala – Italian fortified wine; dry kind served chilled with chesses; served kind served
with dessert
 Malaga – sweet dessert Spanish fortified wine.
4. Natural/Still wine - this type of wine is usually drunk along with one’s meal. Basically, dry wines
are served at the start of the meal and sweet wines with dessert or after the meal.

Three major types of still table wines

 Red wine – this type of table wine is made from black or red grapes. Some
famous red wine grape varieties are:
 Cabernet franc
  Cabernet Sauvignon
 Carmenere
 Gamay
 Grenache
 Malbec
 Merlot
 Mourvedre
 Nebbiolo
 Petit Verdot
 Pinot Meunier
 Pinot Noir
 Syrah(france)
 Gewurztraminer (Germany)
 Barbera
 Chianti
 Dolcetto
 Nebbiolo and Sangiovese (Italy)
 Carignan
 Grenache and Tempranillo (Spain)
 Touriga Nacional (Portugal)
 Pinotage (South Africa)
 Petit Sirah/Durif and Zinfandel (USA)
 Rose wine – this type of table wine is made from black or red grapes. The grapes
are pressed and the Must is left for some time to obtain the desired pinkish shade.
It is serves chilled, preferably in a tulip-shaped wine glass. Blush wine is the
North American term for pale pink, sweet wine.

Red grapes to make rose wines are:

 Cabernet franc
 Cinsault
 Gamay
 Grenache
 Mourvedre
 Pinot Noir
 White wine – this type of table wine comes from black-green or yellow-skinned
grapes.

White wine Varieties are:

 Chardonnay
 Chennin Blanc
 Muscat
  Pinot Blanc
 Pinot Gris
 Riesling
 Rousanne
 Sauvignon Blanc
 Semillon and Viogner (France)
 Gewurztraminer and Riesling (Germany)
 Gruner Veltliner
 Pinot Blanc
 Sylvaner (Austria)
 Muller-Thurgau (Switzerland)
 Trebbiano/Ugni blanc (Italy)
 Albarino (Portugal)
 Torrontes (Argentina)
5. Sparkling wine - this is a bubbly wine which underwent a secondary fermentation. It’s bottle is
thicker than the other wine bottles in order to withstand the pressure created by the extra carbon
dioxide within the wine.
The most expensive sparkling wine is Champagne which is made from Meunier, Pinot
Chardonnay and Pinot noir grapes in the Champagne region of france and undergoes secondary
fermentation in the bottle using the traditional method champenoise process.

Other kinds of Wines made worldwide these are:

a. Altar wine – wine used by the Catholic Church in its Eucharistic celebration
b. Alcohol – Free wine – this type of wine is made the same way as other aforementioned wines but
its alcohol is removed using the cold (or reverse osmosis or fine filtration method) or hot treatment
method (which removes most of the flavour due to the heat used)
c. Biodynamic wine – the wine produced using the principles of biodynamic agriculture-exactly the
same as organic farming method using no pesticides
d. Fruit wine – also called country wine; includes non-grape wines made from other fruits.
e. Ice wine – Expensive, sweet dessert wine made from grapes allowed to be frozen while still on the
vine; most come from Canada (where it is called Ice wine) and Germany (where it is called
(Eiswein)
f. Kosher Wine – This Jewish wine is produced under the supervision of a rabbi to be considered fit
to drink
g. May wine – This light German wine is flavored with sweet woodruff, strawberries and other fruits.
h. Natural Wine – a wine made with minimal chemical/technological intervention.
i. Organic wine- wine made from grapes grown without the use of artificial fertilizers, insecticides or
pesticides.
j. Pomace wine – this wine is made from pomace, the remains of the crushed or pulped
grapes/fruits after the juice has been extracted (including crushed stalks, skins, pulp and pips)
k. Vin doux naturel – this is a sweet wine whose fermentation is stopped through the addition of
alcohol to retain its sweetness.
l. Other wines – wines made from flowers, fruits legumes, rice, roots, tree sap and vegetables.

Purpose of purchasing wines:

1. Everyday use
 2. Special occasion
3. Laying Down

Tips in storing wines

1. Temperature (10-21 degrees Celcius/50-60 degrees Farenheit and away from any heat source)
2. Light (choose a dark place; too much light makes wines flat/musty; do not expose to direct
natural/artificial light; avoid fluctuations in light source)
3. Stability (vibrations damage the flavour of wines)
4. Humidity (maintain 55-75% humidity to prevent the natural cork from drying out)
5. Security ( due to its high cost)

Opening a Bottle of Still red Wine

1. Observe proper serving temperature, 60-65 degrees F.
2. Use a wine basket when serving red wines
3. Use a reliable corkscrew
4. After the extracting the cork, wipe the inner neck of the wine bottle to remove bits of the cork left
there which may be swept with the wine during pouring
5. Allow red wines to breathe before serving by pouring in a decanter thirty minutes before service

Opening a Bottle of White Wine

1. Observe proper serving temperature, not more than 10 degrees C (50 degrees F).
2. Use a reliable corkscrew and other wine accessories.
3. Serve in a white wine glass

Opening a Bottle of Sparkling Wine

1. The proper serving temperature for sparkling wines is 5.5-8.5 degrees Celsius
2. Be careful when opening a sparkling wine bottle
3. Do not shake and be ready with two glasses in case the wine is lively
4. Have a clean napkin handy to wipe any spills and to protect your fingers from the wine
5. Do not point the cork at people
6. Remove the foil and holding the wine bottle properly “aimed”
7. Grasp the cork and turn the bottle (not the cork) steadily