Wine For Dummies - Part 3

If you’ve been following our Wine For Dummies series, you’ve no doubt become a connoisseur of red and white wines. Alright, perhaps that dream of grandeur is a little farfetched, but you should at least be able to hold your own at a dinner party or other social gathering. To conclude our series on the almighty grape, we’re going to take a closer look at Champagne, Port and Sherry.

Champagne

Champagne is a term that is often used incorrectly. The term “Sparkling Wine” is generally the accepted term instead. Only Sparkling Wines produced in the Champagne region in France have the right to be branded under that name. Sparkling Wine is made in a similar fashion to ordinary wine but once the wine has fermented, it is bottled and extra sugar and yeast added to it. It is then left to ferment further after which the yeast and sediment is removed. It is then corked with a large champagne cork.

Champagne or Sparkling Wine is best served chilled at about 7 degrees Celsius. The best glasses for this type of beverage are tall, narrow necked ones called flutes. This is to prevent the drink from losing its bubbles too quickly. Champagne or Sparkling Wine is categorised by the degree of sweetness. “Brut” is the driest of all, while “Extra Dry” is less dry than Brut. Sec is a sweet Sparkling Wine and Demi-Sec is the sweetest of all.

Port

Port is a fortified wine, which originated in Portugal and is often served as a dessert wine. It is typically a sweet wine but can come in dry and semi-dry variations too. Port is produced in the same fashion as wine, with brandy being added to stop the fermentation from leaving residual sugar in the wine. This addition also helps to boost the alcohol content. This beverage is best served slightly chilled at around 18 degrees Celsius in a narrow wine glass which is only half filled. This keeps the alcoholic content from overwhelming the other flavours.

There are several variations of Port, the first of which is White Port. This Port is made from a selection of white grape varieties after which it is aged and fortified. This Port can be sweet or dry depending on the type of grape used. Ruby Port is the most basic of Port variations. It is made with a blend of red grape varieties and from several different years of wine. This Port type tends to taste of berries and has light tannins. Tawny Port is a ruby port, which has been aged for several years in small oak barrels. Aging the Port in this way gives it a buttery, nutty caramel flavour. Late Bottled Vintage Port was created with the restaurant market in mind as it is filtered and pre-aged by the winemaker. This great advantage of this Port is that once opened, it will last for a full month before starting to lose its flavour. Vintage Port is the high end of Port releases. Only the best years are declared a vintage, and only grapes from that year are used in that Port. This variation is often best left to age for another ten years before it is at its best flavour.

Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine made in and around the town of Jerez in Spain. Sherry is different from other wines in that it is fortified with brandy after fermentation has taken place. Because of this, all natural sherries are dry – sweetness is applied later. Sherry is best served at approximately 14 degrees Celsius and in small glasses. Try to drink the sherry within five to ten years of its original date, as it does not age quite as well as wine would.

Like most wine-related products, there are several types of Sherry.

- Fino is the driest and palest of the varieties
- Manzanilla is a variety of Fino.
- Amontillado is a variety of Sherry that was aged first under a cap of flor yeast and then exposed to oxygen. This produces a darker result than Fino, but lighter than Oloroso.
- Oloroso is a type of sherry aged oxidatively for a longer time producing a darker and richer wine.
- Palo Cortado is a rare variety of Sherry that is aged like an Amontillado, but develops similar characteristics to Oloroso – in this way it has the crispness of Amontillado and the richness of Oloroso.
- Sweet Sherry is created when any one of the aforementioned varieties of dry Sherry is sweetened with Pedro Ximénez or Moscatel wine.
- Cream Sherry is a common variety of sweet Sherry made from Oloroso.
- Medium Sherry is made from Amontillado.

Congratulations, you’ve now passed the SouthAfricanFoodies.co.za Wine For Dummies Course. You know all the in’s and out’sof the wine-world and can confidently navigate through a wine list without any embarrassment. Cheers to that!