What makes a Wine, Wine? (Building Blocks of Wine)

In this post, we will be discussing about what goes into a wine that makes it a wine,i.e., all the characteristics of a wine that builds the charm and personality of a wine.

For all of wine’s complexity, it is born of something utterly simple: a grape. A grape berry is, by weight, 75 percent pulp, 20 percent skin, and 5 percent seeds (there are usually two to four of them). Pulp is the juicy center which contributes to the wine and the sugar present in it becomes so crucial for vinification as it will be converted to alcohol due to fermentation with yeast.

Skin is that sexy part, largely responsible for the aromas and flavor, as well as for its color and tannins, a compound present in skin and seeds of the grape that makes the wine dry and slightly bitter. Once the grape is transformed there are several factors to consider: acidity, alcohol, fruitiness, tannins, dryness and sweetness.

ALCOHOL

Alcohol is a critical constituent in wine, not because of the genial mood it can evoke (although that’s surely part of its charm), but rather because of the complex role it plays in the wine’s structure, and the profound effect it can have on aroma and flavor. Alcohol occurs in wine as a result of yeasts. During fermentation, a yeast cell consumes one sugar compound to produce two ethanol (alcohol) compounds along with two carbon dioxide molecules and some waste particles. One of the most important particle is Glycerol which contributes to the sweetness and slightly viscous mouth-coating texture.

Alcohol also determines the body of the wine. More the alcohol in the wine, the fuller the body. These full bodied wines create a sensory impact equivalent to heavy cream. On comparison, light-bodies wines seem so weightless (dry Riesling from Germany having mostly cold climate resulting to low sugar content and low alcohol).

Alcohol may also influence the aroma and flavor of the wine. High alcoholic wines contain more dominant aroma of alcohol which creates a nasal burn when we put our nose near to the wine bottle, and that is when the wine is said to be "hot". Taste can be influenced negatively if the wine has very high alcohol because it masks the flavors of the wines. The true impression of a wine's character can be mitigated through its other components like tannins, acidity and fruitiness.

ACIDITY

As a grape ripens, its acidity decreases from around 3 percent to less than 1 percent and the sugar level increases from 4 percent to more than 24 percent. Acidity gives wine snappiness, liveliness and freshness to a certain extent. Without a sufficient amount of acidity, a dry wine seems dull, flabby and flat. On the other hand, a sweet wine with low acidity will seem a lot saccharin and candied.

Another factor that this component brings is the spoilage of the wine. many Australian and Californian Chardonnays are not the best candidates because of their low acidity. In fact, in warm regions like countries in Africa, South America and Australia, vine makers adjust the acidity by adding 2 to 3 grams of tartaric acid per litre to the fermenting wine. Tartaric Acid is one of the natural acids present in grapes. While no appropriate language is sufficient to describe the acidity, German winemakers distinguishes the wine acidity into High acidity (sensory equivalent to shattering glass), round acidity (harmonious crispness) and candied acidity (sweet crystalline flavors of candies).

Another type of acidity is Volatile Acidity which comes from the acetic acid formed by Bacteria during or after Fermentation and is not an inherent part of the grapes.A tiny amount of it is not harmful, however, if exposed to air may lead to vinegary smell and taste somewhat sour. These wines are considered to be flawed.

TANNINS

Tannin is among the most intellectually intriguing parts of the wine.The amount of tannin along with the counterbalance of other building blocks contributes to the wine's structure, texture, greatness and ageability.

Plants build tannins for defense and protection. It belongs to a class of complex compounds called phenols and comes primarily from the grapes’skins and seeds (stems, too, have tannin, but stems usually are not used in winemaking). Because red wines are fermented with their skins, and whites are not, tannin is a consideration primarily with red wines.

Tannins provide two things: structure and ageabilty. Structure—which, in wine, is difficult to describe, is the sense that the wine has an underlying “architecture” or the skeleton of the wine. Tannins also act as a natural preservative. Other components being equally important, wines with with significant amount of tannins live longer. A Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux and Syrah from Rhone Valley, France will have a better chance of living longer than a Pinot Noir from Burgundy region of France.

Tannin causes mouth dryness when you drink a full bodies tannic wine. The amount of tannin can be understood by observing the amount of saliva accumulates on our tongue to compensate for the dryness caused by the tannin. Although, tannins in wine soften with age, therefore, a tanin in red wine is seen as an indicator of its ability to age.

FRUITINESS

As the word suggests, fruitiness is simply the propensity of a wine to display ripe, fruitlike aromas and flavors. Fruitiness is most marked in young wines and is rarely found in mature ones. Some varieties—gewürztraminer and gamay, for example, are characteristically very fruity. Gewürztraminer, a white wine made notably in the Alsace region of France, has effusive lychee aromas and flavors; drinking gamay (the red grape of Beaujolais) is like diving into a pool of black cherries. Fruitiness is often confused with sweetness, but the two are distinctly different.

DRYNESS AND SWEETNESS

The term 'Dry' in wines means that no more natural sugar is left in the wine to be converted into alcohol during fermentation. Don't confuse it with the astringest sensory caused by tannins. A little bit of residual sugar (unconverted sugar left after fermentation) does not make the wine as sweet as a sweet wine. A lot of so called “dry” California chardonnays, for example, actually have a little residual sugar to make them taste mellow.

In order to be considered a sweet wine (not a dinner wine), a wine has to have quite a lot of residual sugar. According to European Union legislation, for example, a wine labeled sweet must have at least 4.5 percent residual sugar. Most of Europe’s great sweet wines, however, have considerably more than that. Port, for example, generally has approximately 8 percent residual sugar; Sauternes, 10 to 15 percent; German Trockenbeerenauslesen (TBAs), as much as 30 percent; and some of Spain’s fabled, opulent Pedro Ximénezes have over 40 percent residual sugar.

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