Wine classification Today, underThere are about 10 million hectares of wine in the world. The undisputed leaders in the world wine market are Spain, Italy, France and Portugal. They are followed by Romania, Germany, Hungary, Greece, Bulgaria, the USA, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa. The CIS countries occupy the fourth place in the world in terms of total wine production. The pan-European classification of wines is based on the one adopted in France. According to it, absolutely all grape wines are divided into two groups by type: still (natural, liqueur, aromatized) and sparkling. Natural wine is the simplest type, which is obtained naturally. Grape juice ferments with the help of yeast, which converts sugar into alcohol. The strength of still wines is from 8 to 15 degrees.
Liqueurs and spirits are prepared on the basis of natural wines.flavored. The strength of liqueur wines reaches 15-20 degrees. To obtain a product with such a high alcohol content, a strong alcoholic drink, such as brandy, is added to still natural wine. Flavored wines are obtained on the basis of still wines with the help of herbs, spices and seasonings. In our country they are also called "original". The most popular flavored wines are, as you know, vermouths. The only difference between sparkling wines and still wines is the content of dissolved carbon dioxide. In sparkling drinks, it is not removed, but safely accumulates in the bottle. And the best sparkling wine, without a doubt, is champagne from the French province of Champagne. Two other characteristics of wine are color and degree of sweetness. Here, too, there are their own classifications. Wine can be white, pink, red. According to the degree of sweetness, dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet and sweet.
It is interesting that white wine can be made fromany grape variety, be it white, red or black. The processing method is important here. To obtain white wine, the pressed grape juice is strained, and fermentation occurs without the skin. Red wines are usually made from red grape varieties, and the pressed juice ferments together with the skin. And finally, the mystery - these are pink wines. Although here everything is extremely simple. Pink wines are made from red grapes, but the preparation method remains the same as for their "white brothers". The nuance is that the must ferments together with the skin for several hours, and then it is removed. In such a short period of time, the coloring agents do not have time to completely pass into the must, as a result of which the desired pink color is obtained. As for the degree of sweetness, most natural wines are dry (the sugar contained in them turns into alcohol). In semi-dry and semi-sweet wines, sugar remains due to the characteristics of a particular grape variety.
Which wine to prefer, red, white orpink - it's a matter of taste. The main thing is that it really is of high quality and tasty. By the way, scientists from Stanford University's School of Business, together with colleagues from the California Institute of Technology, conducted a study according to which it turned out that people like expensive wine more, regardless of its actual quality. The experts offered a group of volunteers to taste several samples of Cabernet Sauvignon and choose the wine that they liked more than others. All participants in the experiment knew the price of each bottle, which, however, did not correspond to the actual cost. For example, a bottle of wine for $90 was given out by researchers as a Cabernet for only $19, and a wine costing $5 was called 9 times more expensive. As a result, most participants in the experiment called the most expensive wine the most delicious. The experiment illustrated how psychological expectations can affect the level of pleasure received. In addition, special devices showed that the supposedly more expensive wine caused stronger activity in the brain center responsible for pleasure. At the same time, the activity of the brain region associated with the sense of taste remained at approximately the same level. Sweet emotions, pleasant impressions and a sparkling mood to you, friends!
