Wine 101: What you need to know about Red Wine

What is red wine?

So first thing first, red wine is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting the juice of dark-skinned grapes. While white wine can be made from dark-skinned and light-skinned grapes, red wine can only be made from red grapes.

To make a bottle of red wine, you need to grow and harvest the grapes (no surprise). Then, harvested grapes are crushed, combined with yeast for the alcoholic fermentation stage. Then comes the pressing, aging, racking, filtering, and bottling process. After putting the cork in and labelling, the result is the red wine bottle you are holding.

What are Red Wine Characteristics?

The Colour

Red wine is special for its colour. It can range in hue from deep, opaque purple to pale ruby and everything in between. At an early age, red wine has a bright and youthful tone. The more it ages, the browner it turns.

Tannin

Tannins are natural compounds that exist inside grape skins, seeds and stems. These are what give the wine a certain texture, structure and age-ability. Tannins determine a certain type of wine’s dryness or astringency, and create a drying sensation in your mouth. Tannins work as a natural antioxidant to protect the wine, and that’s why some wines are age-worthy. It’s no surprise that red wine is believed to be beneficial for health since it’s full of natural antioxidants!

Range of flavours

Red wines have a wide range of flavours, from fruity, floral, herbs, spicy, to earthy. These flavours and aromas are not added to the bottle but are produced by different varieties of grapes.

Acid

Acid serves as a preservative of wine. This essential component provides freshness and structure, and a bit of balance in how red wine tastes. When tasting, the acidity is perceived as the tart and sour attributes which balance against the sweetness and bitterness of tannins components. The main acid types in red wines are tartaric and malic.

How to Pair Food with Red Wine?

Red wine is perfect for any occasion, from formal dinners to cozy home parties, or a quick glass of wine to relax in the evening, you can always use red wine. When it comes to pairing food with red wine, matching the weight of the wine with the richness of food is the rule of thumb. Full-bodied red wines like Cabernet and dense, heavy food like Steak and strong cheese, is the true pairing. While light-bodied red wines pair well with lighter food, such as roasted chicken and vegetables. If you want no fuss, simply pair a glass of red wine with everything, even dried nuts and fruits work.

During this winter, a glass of red wine beside the fireplace is the game-changer. Visit our wide selection of red wines, pick a bottle for yourself, and get it delivered within 1 hour for selected suburbs, or at most 24 hours in Melbourne. Just stay home, your favourite local liquor store got your back!