10 Types Of Red Wine You Must Know About
There are primarily two varieties of wines: white and red. But what gives the red wine its rich, dark color? This is due to time the grapes are allowed to stay with the juice with their skins, stems and seeds. After picking grapes, the more the grapes stay in the barrels, the darker is the red wine. You also need to know that wines are light bodied, medium bodied and full bodied. Light bodied means they taste much like water and are light while medium bodied and full bodied are heavy. Read on to know what are the types of red wine.
1. Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is termed as the queen of red wines because it is the most sought after red wine in the world. It tastes best when it’s aged for about 5-10 years which allows the flavors to mellow. It comes in medium bodied to full bodied form and has rich fruit characteristics. It comes in a variety of flavors such as plum, cherry, blackberry, blueberry, warm spice, vanilla, tobacco and sometimes leather aromas and flavors.
2. Syrah
Also known as Shiraz, this is typically an Australian wine. The variety of this wine depends upon the region where it is produced. Syrah is either produced with herbs and has a peppery flavor or with chocolate, smoke and spice. Syrah is most famously grown in Rhone in France.
3. Merlot
A Merlot is usually ready to drink which means you don’t need to age it. It is available in a wide variety like blueberry, blackberry, cherry and sometimes it is paired with plum fruit as well as chocolate, herbs, and notes of leather. It is a medium bodied wine which has many juicy flavors. It is often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and this develops a more structured wine.
4. Beaujolais Nouveau
This wine with its light, fruity flavor is grown from the Gamay grape in the Beaujolais region in France. Strawberry and raspberry are the flavors that dominate this type of red wine. Another important characteristic of this wine is that it has to be served chilled at around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Chianti
There is one grape that reigns in the making of the Chianti wine – Sangiovese. The wine gets its name from the Chianti region of Tuscany. There are varieties in this wine such as the Chianti Classico D’annata – a young vintage wine, Riserva – one that will mature as medium vintage wine and Vinsanto – a perfect wine when it’s allowed to age. The flavors dominated by Chianti are cherry, plum, strawberry, cinnamon and vanilla.
