- Winemaking Basics
- Making Dry Red Wines
- Making Dry White Wines—To Oak or Not to Oak
- Making Rosé, Blush, and Blanc de Noir Wines
- Putting the Bubbles in Champagne
- Fortified Wines: Porto, Sherry, and Madeira
- Dessert Wines Made Eight Ways
- "Reading" a Wine by its Bottle Color and Shape
- Summary
Summary
And now for the best news of all—you have already done your homework on wine vocabulary by reading this chapter. You have learned all of the important winemaking terms for whites, reds, Rosé, Champagne or sparkling wines, fortified wines, and dessert wines in this chapter. And don’t worry if you need a brush-up on your wine vocabulary as you read through this book; our A to Z Dictionary of wine terms can be found in Appendix B.
In the next chapter, we will have a very easy time becoming conversant in vintage years and their influence on each type of wine. Until then, please keep in mind two of my favorite aphorisms (aphorisms are short pinpoint sayings that embody general truths):
Younger Tastes Better—This is especially true for moderately priced wines. And it really means that you do not know enough about wine—as yet—to buy older vintages with confidence and your hard-earned cash.
Please resist buying older wines if you do not know how they have been stored or transported. All wines age more quickly in general distribution.
Bland is Bad—As with food, you pay for, and want, more intensity of taste and flavor in better wines. As I’ve said before, if the wine has no concentrated fruit, it is not worth any price—no matter what is on the label.