To make it simple, we will classify the wine into 4 main categories; Red, White, Rose and Sparkling.
1. Red Wine
Production of red wine is quite similar to making white wine but only with the addition of grape skin, grape pip and seed incorporated into the fermentation process. Red wine will be fermented in higher temperature, to extract color, tannin, aroma and flavors with different level of concentration varies by duration of fermentation.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel can also be a good choice to start with for wine beginners.
Food Pairing: If it is a light-bodied red wine, go with grilled vegetables, white meat or chicken. A medium-bodied to full-bodied can get along well with meat dishes such as steaks, hamburgers or smoked meat but when you feel like pairing wine with Asian dishes, you can read it from here.
2. White Wine
Many of you may understand that white wine is made of white grapes alone, but actually it can be either red or black grapes. The exact way to make white wine is to extract the red pigments away and utilize on grape juice only. Mostly, white wine will provide flavor character including bright, savory, and creamy based on the inputs. Recommended varieties for wine beginners are Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Moscato.
Food Pairing: Creamy cheese (Soft Cheese), white bread, meat, fish, seafood or salads.
3. Rose Wine
Rose wine with a pink rose color is made from red or black grape with a short fermentation time, about 12-36 hours only. However, there is another popular style to make this Rose, by just straight away blending red wine and white wine together. The flavor of this wine ranges from dry to sweet and comes with a pale to dark pink color and a lower level of tannin.
Food Pairing: Rose wine always goes well with a light flavor dishes like fish, poultry, or fruit.
4. Sparkling Wine
When thinking of Sparkling wine, we will be reminded of a celebration. The sparkling bubbles from carbon dioxide (CO2) occur naturally or specifically are added during the fermentation process.
Sparkling wine can be categorized further by region, for example; Cava in Spain, Asti or Prosecco from Italy and Champagne from the Champagne region in France.
Food Pairing: If you are holding a party, try pairing the sparkling wine with salad, cheese, fish, or bread.