Wine Tours: What is Wine really?

Wine tours are to help you to explore the ever-expanding vineyard areas of wonderful and exciting. Wine is the drink obtained from the total or partial alcoholic fermentation of the juice of ripe grapes.

As wine tours continue to explore, wine is made up of different components, of which the main one is water, which is present between 82% and 88%. The second most important component is alcohol, which arises thanks to fermentation, and gives the wine body and aroma. The graduation of the wine usually varies between 7% and 17%, depending on the type of wine. The rest of the components appear in less quantity, such as sugars, they influence the taste of the wine; tannins, which give the wine color and texture; volatile substances, which constitute part of the aroma; acids, which also participate in the taste of wine; and some other minor ones.

In wine tours, all these components are what makes each wine different, but the amount in which these appear in the wine is mainly due to the climate, the soil, and the vine that produces the grapes. These factors influence the quality of the grape, and consequently, the components appear in one quantity or another, and, of course, the final quality of the wine.

There are several ways to classify wines, but there are two of the best known, due to the color of the wine and its age. Depending on the grape used, we can find red, white, or rosé wines, but if we look at the age we have young wines, or aged wines, depending on the aging of the wine in wood.

Wine Tours: Color classification:

Red wine: A red wine, it has a range of colors between ruby red and purple. It is made with red grapes, fermenting the grape must together with the skin, since it is this that provides the color.

White wine: This type of wine has a range of colors that goes from pale yellow to mahogany. It is mostly made with white grapes, but it can be the case of red grape preparations, in which the must-have not been in contact with the grape skin.

Rosé wine: Rosé wine has a range of colors from salmon pink to more orange tones. It is very common to find elaborations with red grapes, in which the must is in contact with the skin, but for less time than in the case of red wines. You can also find cases in which red and white grapes are mixed.

Wine Tours: Age classification:

Young wine: A young wine is hardly aged in wood, less than 6 months. We can find young wines both among reds and among whites or rosés.
Aged wine: These wines are aged in wood for at least 6 months and another period of aging in the bottle. The most common aged wines are reds, although it is increasingly common to find aged white wines. Depending on the aging time, these wines can be classified into three other types, although the minimum aging time for each type varies depending on the Denomination of Origin:
- Aging Wine: Normally it must be aged for at least 6 months in wood, and up to a maximum of two years in the bottle.
- Reserve Wine: These are wines with a minimum of one year of aging in wood and a maximum of 3 years in the bottle.
- Gran Reserva wine: They must have a minimum of two years of aging in wood and a maximum of 5 years in bottle.

The two previous classifications are not exclusive, being able to find young reds, aged whites, young rosés, etc.

The Wine Tours regulations contemplate, among other things, the type of grape that a wine can contain and in what percentage, the alcoholic graduation that they can have, the minimum aging that a wine must have to be considered young, or great reserves; the origin of the grapes, etc.

In most of the plantations dedicated to the production of wine tours, the type of vine used is the ‘Vitis Vinifera’, which is widespread in all countries with temperate climates.

But what is wine really? For some, it is nothing more than the definition itself and all the details that we have told, but for others, it may be sharing happy moments with friends or family, tasting the flavors of a land, remembering pleasant moments in our lives, etc. Each person has their own concept of what wine is since each of us likes to enjoy it in a different way, and each moment is unique, but at Wine Tours, we think that wine is best enjoyed in the company.

Now that you know what wine really is, if you want to continue delving into this exciting world, I invite you to read also this article of Create your own wine labels for free with Adobe Spark where you can see tips, and much more.