Types of Wine

There are so many types of wines out there that it can be extremely frustrating to try and choose the right bottle for the right occasion. Even a small store could carry a bewildering number of different types of wines and, sometimes, too much choice can take the fun out of choosing a nice bottle in the first place. But, we’re here to demystify wine for you a bit – so let’s take a look at the basic types of wine available to you.

Table Wines

Table wines are basically your average (or not so average) bottle of red or white wine that you might drink when you are out socially in a bar or over a meal. You can also include Rose wines in this category. In most cases, table wines won’t have alcohol content over 14%. Varieties with these types of wine include, dry, medium and sweet. Well known red wines at the moment include: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chianti, Pinot Noir and Syrah/Shiraz. Well known whites include: Chablis, Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

Sparkling Wines

Sparkling wines – as you can tell by the name – are sparkling! So, you can count champagne here as well as any other kind of sparkling wine. Bear in mind that you can only drink real champagne if it comes from the Champagne region in France – any other types of wines here must be classified as being simply sparkling. But, don’t let this put you off trying different types of sparkling wine – there are some fine wines out there in this category that can give real champagne a run for its money (and they’ll cost you less!).

Dessert Wines

Dessert wines are the types of wines that you will drink during or after the dessert course of your meal. These tend to be sweet wines – you’ll usually enjoy a glass or two here rather than the whole bottle which might well make you feel a bit ill! Most dessert wines – some people call them fortified wines – are of a higher alcohol content than standard types of wines as they usually have some form of sprits added to them. Which is another reason not to drink too much of them at once! Popular types of wine here include Madeira and Port