Classification of wines

To understand all the intricacies and peculiarities of the most diverse wines produced in all parts of the world, only a highly skilled sommelier with many years of experience can. But to learn the most general provisions that will help, at least, orient in the long rows of bottles lined up on store shelves, is not so difficult. We will try to find out which classification of wines is accepted in Russia, and whether it differs from other generally accepted classifications. Domestic wine-making, especially in the Soviet period, has far gone from European traditions, therefore the division we have adopted will not always correspond to world standards.

The most complex in the world, but also the most ancient, is considered the multistage classification of French wines, followed by Italian and German.

According to the point of view of domestic winemakers, wines are divided into two main features: the color and the presence of carbon dioxide in the product. By the first sign they are red and white, on the second - quiet and effervescent.

Further, the classification of wines implies a more detailed division within each of these general categories. So, quiet wines can be:

• Dining. Such wines contain only alcohol, which is formed during natural fermentation, and do not allow other alcohol-containing additives. In this subgroup, in turn, it is customary to select sweet (sugar content in which ranges from 3% to 8%), semisweet (from 1% to 2.5%) and dry (with a minimum sugar content not exceeding 0, 3%).
• Aromatized. These are vermouths, which are produced with the use of a small share of alcohol and infusions of some plants. The sugar content in such wines can reach up to 16%, and alcohol up to 18%.
• Fastened. In their production it is considered possible to use alcohol-rectificate. They can be dessert, with an increased percentage of alcohol (up to 17%), and strong, in which alcohol can contain up to 14%. Dessert wines are divided into liqueur, sweet and semisweet by the amount of sugar contained in them.

Depending on the quality of the final product and the time spent on its production, quiet wines are usually divided into:

• Ordinary. It's the fault, in which the interval between the release of finished products and the direct processing of grapes takes three to four months. Domestic classification of wines treats them as cheap and low-grade.
• Vintage. These are wines, aged before clogging from one and a half to two years and created from the highest quality grape varieties according to special recipes.
• Collectible. This is a stand-alone group of vintage wines of the highest quality, which are additionally aged for at least three years.

Effervescent wines also have a separate classification. It is based on the way in which the product produces bubbles of carbon dioxide.

• Champagne wines. In their production, saturation with carbon dioxide is a direct consequence of the fermentation process occurring in closed vessels under pressure. It is interesting that only in Russia such wines are called champagne. For example, the classification of Italian wines calls them somewhat differently, considering that only wine that is produced in France, directly in the province of Champagne, can be called champagne.
• Sparkling. For such wines, a secondary fermentation procedure is used.
• Carbonated. In them, carbon dioxide saturation occurs artificially through saturation. Classification of wines treats them as the lowest-grade of this kind of effervescent species.
• Natural sparkling semisweet. When they are made, grape juice is fermented in hermetically sealed vessels under pressure, and the process is artificially interrupted at a certain point.