University School Of Hotel Management & Catering Technology(USHMCT) is one of the Best Hotel Management College in Chandigarh under Rayat Bahra University (RBU) and Ms Cassandra Roberts, Dean, USHMCT, shared her experience in Hotel Management industry by explaining Wine Classification.

WINES:-

Definition

Wine is an alcoholic beverage which is obtained from the fermentation of the juice of freshly gathered grapes, the fermentation taking place in the district of origin according to local tradition and practice.
Wine is a living thing. Wine breathes; it is subject to vagaries of temperature, it can catch cold, it can fall sick, it can wither or die. The Bible calls it blood of grapes.

History:-

As per old testament wine played an important role in the lives of the people indeed the actual invention of wine has often been attributed to that worthy old patriarch, Noah who has not read of him in Exodus- not so long after the creation- Planting vineyards and taking a little too much of his own products to be good for him.
About the Greeks and their wine homer tells us much. There was, he says, the wine given to Ulysses “red honey sweet, so strong it was mingled with twenty times its bulk of water, so fragrant that it filled, even when diluted, the room with perfume.”
The favourite wine of the Romans, as Horace tells us, was Falernian, a light but potent wine which flowed freely at banquets of the Caeser. Falernian was made of grapes grown in Campania in South west Italy, and a wine called Falerno is made there to this day.

Wine Classification:-

Wines are classified on the basis of:-

1. Colour
2. Characteristics/Nature
3. Taste
4. Year
5. Body
6. Unspecified Nomenclature

Basis of Colour

Wine Classification on the Basis of Characteristic/Nature 

• Sparkling wine:-Sparkling wine is one where natural gas from fermentation is retained in the bottle or one where the wine has been artificially impregnated with gas. A customs definition of sparkling wine is a wine with a wired cork.

e.g.- Champagne, Asti spumante,Espumosos, Cava, Sekt, Frizante etc.

• Fortified wine: – These are wines which are fortified with spirit like Brandy during vinification (Science of preparing wines) when fermentation process is going on. If fortification is done in the beginning of fermentation the end product is sweet fortified wine. If fortification is towards the end of fermentation, the resultant wine is dry fortified wine.

e.g. – Port, Sherry, Madeira, Marsala, Malaga etc.

• Aromatized wine:- It is a fortified wine in which herbs, roots, flowers, barks and other flavouring agents have been steeped in order to change the natural flavour of wine.In the middle ages wines were flavoured with Myrrh, Myrtle, Cloves, Ginger, Sandalwood and may other natural ingredients.Roman like to flavour their wines with Pepper, SpikewoodCypress, Wormwood, Myrrh, Poppy, Tar, Pitch, Bitumen, Aloes, Chalk, Mastic Gums, Asafoetida.

It also works as aperitifs. Make our appetite ready for food to come.
e.g.- Vermouth, St. Raphael, Lillet, Byrrh, Dubbonet, Noilly prat etc.

(d) House wines:– Any and all wines which are not too expensive or too cheap can be used by any restaurant. No particular brand is branded as house wine.

Wine Classification on the Basis of Taste 

• Sweet wine- Wine produced by grapes having high sugar content, as in these wines even after fermentation a lot of sugar is still left, which is not consumed by yeast, the sugar left renders a very sweet wine.
• Dry wines- Wines produced by grapes with less sugar content and the fermentation is allowed to continue till all the sugar is almost or fully exhausted.

Wine Classification on the Basis of Year 

Vintage wines- The French word Vintage means harvest. Vintage is also referred as Millesime or Recolte in France; in Spain Vendimia, Cosecha in Italy. Although any wine is a vintage wine as any year can be vintage year. However, some year’s climate is so good that the Government in France declares at as Vintage Year for particular region. The various climatic factors for the year to be declared vintage year are-

1. Sunshine
2. Temperature
3. Sugar balance in grapes and its concentration.
4. Right amount of snow etc

Every year two types of wines are produced. One special vintage and the other non vintage. The vintage wines are bottled and sold while non- vintage are kept and improved.
When the vintage year is printed on the bottle it means the wine is from that particular year harvest when the crop was bumper. The bottles not having vintage year printed on them are generally blended to make wine good.

Non vintage wines- This is a fully blended wines.

Wine Classification on the Basis of Body 

• Light Bodied Wines- The term light refers to alcoholic content, texture and weight of wine. Light also refers to sensation of wine. These are not matured in casks, rather left in stainless steel or glass vats before bottling. The alcoholic content should be less than 12%, g. are Macon Blanc, Pouilly Loche, Pouilly Fuisse, Cteaux Champenois ( still white wines from champagne), Beaujolais Noveau etc.
• Medium Body Wines-These are wines which are round, fairly fat with good body, texture, flavoursome g.- Rioja, Meursault, Hermitage, White Beaune etc.
• Full Bodied Wine- These wines have heavy body, texture and higher alcoholic content, rich taste and forceful flavour. g. Meursault charmes, chateau chalon, Australian Chardonnays ( White wines) and full bodied reds are Californian Zinfandels, Australian Shiraz, Italian Barbera, Tauarasi, Bulgarian Maurud.

Wine Classification on the Basis of Unspecified Nomenclature

• Varietal Wines- These are the wines of North America, which are labelled after the main grape variety in the bottle. Single grape variety is used for making wine. Best known examples are-

Red Wines

1. Zinfandel
2. Grenache
3. Cabernet

White wines

1. Sultana
2. Sauvignon Vert
3. Cabernet

• Generic Wines- Generic wines are those wines which are named after the long establishment European areas. Many North American and Australian wines are lebelled are Claret, Burgundy, Chablis, Sauternes, Graves, Hock and even Champagne.
• Green Wine (Vinho Verde)- It is a Portuguese wine, comes from wine grown on the granitic soil in the province of These are acidic wine of low alcoholic content. Red, white and Rose’ wines are made. These are quick Maturing wines.
• Organic Wine- It is a wine in which no chemicals are added in the soil. Producers use the manure of cattle kept by them. Good examples of organic wines are made by Listel in Carmargue region of France near Montpellier.

Viticulture and viticulture methods –
Viticulture denotes how the wine is cultivated. Farming of Vineyards is of prime importance because vineyards without compensatory treatment or neglected vineyards will produce second rate wine. It involves –

• Vine selection.
• Keeping the vineyards healthy.
• Ploughing to aerate the soil.
• Weeding
• Fertilizing
• Pruning to regulate quality.
• Training the wines.
• Spraying to combat diseases.
• Harvesting

Vine Disease –

• Phylloxera – Aphid Phylloxera ( small yellow insect) puncture the roots of vine and forms galls on the underside of leaves. The larvae stick to roots and suck the sap.
• Grey Rot – (Pouriture grise) A grey mould, destroys colour pigmentation in black grapes (growing humid conditions).

Treatment – Anti Rot spray.

• Mildew – Develops in damp areas, yellow patches on leaves treatment spraying copper sulphate.
• Chlorosis – Lime stone in soil causes yellowing and even death of vine plant.
• Frost – It stunts the formation of buds which reduce yields.