%20(1).jpg)
Pinot Noirs, and many more, you may easily get confused about which ones to buy for your collection.
Don’t worry - we’ve got you covered!
This article explores the five main types of wine - red, white, rose, sparkling, and dessert wine. You find out everything you need to know about them - from their taste and aging potential to the best food pairings.
We’ll also tell you the top wine recommendations (for drinking and even investing), and a hassle-free way to buy these fine wines.
.jpg)
The unique characteristics of a wine variety are determined by various factors like the terroir, grape varieties used, climatic variations, and winemaking techniques. Wines made from different grape varietals have varying characteristics like tannins (phenolic compounds) and acidity levels, which affect their taste.
To make it simpler, let’s broadly divide the different types of wine into five main categories - red, white, rose, sparkling, and dessert wines.
Ready to discover which wine suits your style?
With dark, brooding flavors and beautiful ruby-garnet colors, red wine makes the perfect wine gift for an oenophile.
Simply put, red wine is wine made from dark-skinned grape varieties. The wine grapes are fermented along with their skins to give the wine unique color, flavors, acidity, and tannin levels.
.jpg)
Here are some common characteristics of red wine.
In New World wine regions, the wines are labeled by their grape variety. In Old World regions, the labels mention the wine region (for example, Burgundy, Chianti, or Beaujolais.)
There are several red wine types, but the easiest way to understand them is through its grape varietal.
The Cabernet Sauvignon wine varietal is an offspring of the ancient red wine grape, Cabernet Franc. Wine drinkers admire Cabernet Sauvignon red wine for its ‘green bell pepper’ notes and complex aromas.
It is grown almost in all major wine regions of the world.
The wine made from this red grape has blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry, and creme de cassis fruit flavors with hints of chocolate, tobacco, cedar, and mint.
These wines can age for a minimum of 7-10 years and can go up to two decades.
Cabernet Sauvignon and other full-bodied reds (like Cabernet Franc) are best served in tall and broad-bowled red wine glasses.
Our favorite Cabernet Sauvignon wines are:
Pinot Noir is a red grape that produces light to medium body dry wine.
A Pinot Noir wine tasting reveals dominant strawberry, cherry, and raspberry flavors. Oak barrel aging gives the wine spicy cinnamon and tobacco notes.
A good Pinot Noir varietal wine can effortlessly age for 10-30 years. It is best served in an aroma collector ‘Bourgogne’ wine glass.
Our favorite wines from the Pinot Noir grape are:
A hardy grape varietal, the Merlot wine grape produces a variety of flavors depending on where it's grown. Cooler climate Merlot wines have fruity raspberry, candied berries, and cherry flavors, while Merlot from a warm wine region has more herbaceous notes.
Merlot is also used as a blending grape (along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec) in the red Bordeaux wine blend.
Merlot wines can age from 3 to 15 years.
The best Merlot wines to try are:
Other famous red grape varietal styles include Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petit Sirah, Syrah (Shiraz), Zinfandel, Petit Verdot, Tempranillo, and Grenache.
.jpg)
Elegant and seductive, white wines are usually the star of fancy evening soirées.
Here’s everything you need to know about them.
White wine is made by fermenting green-skinned grape varieties. White wines can also be produced from black grapes by simply removing the skins off the grape before fermentation.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Here are some of the best white grape varietal wines:
Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that produces dry, crisp, and medium-bodied varietal wine. This dry wine has a citrus fruit flavor of green apples with fresh gooseberry and bell pepper flavors.
Sauvignon Blanc is also used as a blending grape in the white Bordeaux wine blend.
It can age up to 7 years, but Sauvignon Blanc blends can age from 10-20 years.
This wine type should be served in a small, U-shaped wine glass.
Our favorite Sauvignon Blanc wines are:
The Riesling grape variety grows best in cooler wine regions. It is mainly grown in Germany, France, and some of the new world regions.
Riesling wines have a distinct acidity and robust fruit flavor of green apple, apricot, peach, and pear.
Dry Riesling wines can age for 5-15 years, while sweet Rieslings can spend 20-30 years in the cellar.
The top Riesling wines are:
This wine grape displays different flavors in different climates - rich and creamy in Napa Valley to light and crisp in Pouilly-Fuisse.
Cooler climate regions like Chile produce light-bodied varietal wine with citrus notes, while warm climate Chardonnays (like Spain and California) have more fruit flavors.
Most Chardonnay wines can age for 5-7 years but some exceptional vintages can age for more than a decade.
The best wines made from this white grape are:
Other white grape wines include Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio), Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Viognier, Marsanne, and Semillon.
.jpg)
A delicious blush wine, Rose is super-popular among wine drinkers and investors alike.
Rose wine is made from red wine grape varietals by macerating the grape juice with the grape skins for only a few hours. This limited contact with grape skin is what gives the wine light pink color.
Rose wine can be sweet, dry, and even sparkling.
While most Roses are meant to be drunk early, some exceptional sparkling Roses like Dom Perignon Rose can age for up to 30-40 years.
.jpg)
The best rose wines are:
.jpg)
When it comes to celebrations, sparkling wine is another option you should look for!
Sparkling wine is a fizzy drink with carbon dioxide bubbles that gives it a shimmering look.
Sparkling wines are produced by fermenting the wine twice. They are produced from two main methods - Methode Traditionelle (or Methode Champenoise) and the Charmat method.
In the traditional method, the secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle, while in the Charmat method, the wine is fermented in pressurized tanks.
.jpg)
Here are some common sparkling wines characteristics:
.jpg)
Sparkling wines are produced worldwide with unique styles, but Champagne is the most admired one.
This French wine is produced in the Champagne wine region of France. It is made from the traditional ‘Methode Champenoise’ from a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes.
This cellar-worthy French wine can age for 5-20 years.
The top Champagnes to buy in 2021 are:
These popular wines are also produced in the US, England, Hungary, Romania, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and Chile.
.jpg)
The last on this list is sweet wine, commonly called dessert wine.
A dessert wine is produced when the winemaker ferments the grape juice only partially, so the wine is left with some residual sugar. This residual sugar gives the wine a sweet flavor.
Sweet wine should be served in a compact, small-sized wine glass.
.jpg)
Here are some common characteristics of dessert wines.
.jpg)
Ice wine and fortified wine are two very popular dessert wine styles.
Icewine (Eiswein) is produced from partially frozen grapes with concentrated juice and naturally high residual sugar levels.
It has strong citric notes balanced by honey, stone fruit, and tropical fruit flavors.
The best ice wines can age comfortably for 20-30 years.
The top ice wines are:
Fortified wine is made by adding distilled spirits like brandy before the fermentation is completed - effectively stopping the fermentation process.
Some famous fortified wines are Madeira and Port from Portugal, Marsala from Italy, and Sherry wine from Spain.
While Marsala and Sherry are early-drinking wines, Port wines can age for 20-50 years.
Our best fortified wine recommendations are:
Before we end this comprehensive guide to types of wines, here’s something which you may be curious about:
.jpg)
Investing in wine is a lucrative opportunity if you want to diversify your typical investment portfolio. This is based on the fact that some of the best wines improve in taste and value over time.
Over the past 15 years, the fine wine industry has delivered 13.6% annual returns - much higher than mainstream investments. Wine has also outperformed the S&P 500 by 1000% in the past two decades.
While it's true that some wines are excellent for long-term investments, not every wine is worth cellaring. A Barbera d’Asti is perfect for your Sunday steak dinner, but it may not be an investment-worthy wine like a high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir from the world’s best winemakers.
Thankfully, a trusted wine investment company like Vinovest can help you buy and store the right wines that will potentially yield significant returns in the long run.
Vinovest is a leading online wine investment company that helps you buy authentic fine wines from Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Argentina, or anywhere else in the world.
Besides buying, Vinovest also helps you store your Chateau Lafite, Pomerol, and other authentic wines and sell them at the right time to earn maximum returns.
Here's how to start investing with Vinovest
Here are a few reasons to consider Vinovest as your wine investment partner:
Vinovest’s AI-driven online platform makes buying and selling wines super-easy - with just a few clicks of your mouse!
Vinovest buys wine directly from wineries, global wine auctions, and wine exchanges. So you get your Bordeaux and other authentic wines at wholesale prices.
Investing with Vinovest gives you access to a deep network of rare wineries, limited edition wines, and upcoming vineyards, even in lesser-known regions.
Vinovest stores your sweet wine and other collectibles in bonded warehouses with optimal temperature, the right light, humidity, and vibration levels.
Vinovest’s wine experts ensure the provenance of every wine bottle you buy through them. So, you won’t have to worry about a counterfeit bottle of Bordeaux ever again!
Each bottle of Pinot Noir and other fine wines you buy through Vinovest comes with a comprehensive insurance policy covering breakage, loss, and theft.
Vinovest charges a minimal fee of 2.85% (2.5% for a portfolio of $50,000.)
This fee includes buying, storage, authentication, selling, full-coverage insurance, and portfolio management. Also, since your wines are stored in bonded warehouses, you don’t have to pay any VAT or excise duty.
You have complete ownership of every bottle you buy through Vinovest.
Be prepared to be dazzled by delicious red grape wines like Pinot Noir and Merlot, zesty whites like Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Moscato, and fortified wine like Port!
This stunning diversity of wines offers a range of flavors to wine drinkers. On the other hand, they also offer a creative alternative to mainstream investments for keen investors.
Sign up with Vinovest to discover more about fine wine investing and start your investment journey.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Dustin Wilson is a Master Sommelier based in New York City. His career spans some of the top restaurants across the US – Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder, CO; The Little Nell, in Aspen; and RN74 in San Francisco. Dustin is best known for his position as Wine Director of the 3 Michelin-starred restaurant, Eleven Madison Park. This expertise led him to have a leading role in the critically acclaimed wine documentary, SOMM, and he was later featured in the film’s sequel, SOMM: Into the Bottle. Learn More
