Winemaking

 Wine manufacturing, also known as winemaking, involves several steps that are essential in producing a quality wine. Here are the basic steps involved in the process of wine manufacturing:

Harvesting: Grapes are harvested when they are fully ripe, usually during late summer or early fall. The timing of the harvest is crucial, as it can affect the quality of the wine.

Crushing and Pressing: After the grapes are harvested, they are transported to the winery and crushed to extract the juice. The juice is then placed in a press, which separates the juice from the skins, seeds, and other solid materials.

Fermentation: The extracted juice is then transferred to stainless steel tanks or oak barrels to undergo fermentation. Yeasts are added to the juice, which converts the sugar in the juice into alcohol. This process can take anywhere from a few days to several months, depending on the type of wine being produced.

Clarification: After fermentation, the wine is cloudy and contains sediment, which needs to be removed. The wine is clarified through a process called racking, which involves transferring the wine from one container to another, leaving behind the sediment.

Aging: After clarification, the wine is aged to allow the flavors to develop and the tannins to soften. This can take anywhere from a few months to several years, depending on the type of wine being produced.

Bottling: Once the wine has aged to the desired level, it is bottled. During this process, the wine is usually filtered to remove any remaining sediment.

Corking: After the wine is bottled, a cork is inserted to seal the bottle. The cork allows the wine to breathe and age further, and it also helps to prevent oxidation.

Labeling: The final step in the wine manufacturing process is labeling. The wine is labeled with the name of the winery, the type of wine, the vintage, and other relevant information.

Overall, wine manufacturing is a complex process that requires careful attention to detail and a deep understanding of the factors that contribute to the quality of the wine. From harvesting to labeling, each step in the process plays a critical role in producing a wine that is delicious, complex, and satisfying to drink.

ORIGIN OF MADEIRA WINE

Madeira wine originates from the Portuguese island of Madeira, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of Africa. The island was discovered in the 15th century during the Age of Discovery, and the first vineyards were planted soon after. The wine was initially produced as a cheap fortified wine for sailors traveling long distances, as the high alcohol content helped preserve the wine during the journey.

In the 17th century, the island's wine industry began to flourish, and Madeira wine became a popular drink among European nobility. Its popularity continued to grow, and by the 18th century, it was one of the most highly prized wines in the world.

Madeira wine's unique flavor profile is due in part to the process by which it is produced. The wine is heated and oxidized during the aging process, which gives it a distinctive nutty, caramel-like taste. The wine is also fortified with brandy, which increases its alcohol content and helps preserve it.

Today, Madeira wine is still produced on the island of Madeira, and the wine is protected by EU regulations, which require it to be made in a specific way and from specific grape varieties. Madeira wine is a popular dessert wine, and it is often used in cooking to add depth and complexity to dishes. 

WINE FACTS

ñ The most popular corkscrew, the wing-type, is cheap and easy to use, but it frequently mangles corks and leaves small pieces of cork in your wine. It also tends to pull out just the middle of an old, dry cork. Far superior are the Screwpull, which is also easy to use, and the waiter’s corkscrew, which requires just a little know-how to use effectively. No matter what type you use, you should also have a two-pronged (Ah-So) device to remove problem corks.
ñ Zinfandel first appeared in the United States in the 1820s when Long Island nursery owner George Gibbs imported several grape vines from the Imperial collection in Vienna. One of the vines was Zinfandel. (The current thinking is that Zinfandel originated in Croatia where it is called Plavac Mali.) In the 1850s, Zinfandel made its way to California.
ñ An Italian white wine called Est! Est! Est! got its name from a medieval story. A bishop was planning to travel the Italian countryside and asked his scout to find inns that had good wines, marking the door “Est” (“It is” or “This is it”) when he found one. The scout was so excited about the local wine found in the area that he marked one inn’s door “Est! Est! Est!” Another version of this story is that a priest was on his way to minister to a congregation in the boondocks. Upon discovering the wonderful local wine, he sent the message “Est! Est! Est!” back to Rome, renounced the priesthood, and spent the rest of his life enjoying the wine.
ñ The auger or curly metal part of a corkscrew is sometimes called a worm.
ñ Graves is thought to be the oldest wine region in Bordeaux.
ñ The Puritans loaded more beer than water onto the Mayflower.
ñ In terms of acreage, wine grapes rank #1 among all crops planted worldwide.
ñ Although “château” means castle, it may also be a mansion or a little house next to a vineyard that meets the requirements for winemaking with storage facilities on its property.
ñ Château Petrus is the most expensive of the Bordeaux wines. Its price is as much due to its tiny production as to its quality. Petrus is made from at least 95% Merlot grapes.
ñ The Egyptians were the first to make glass containers around 1500 B.C.E.
ñ The 1855 Classification of Médoc châteaux listed only the best properties. “Best” was defined as those properties whose wines were the most expensive. The top estates were then divided into five categories (the “growths”) based on price.
ñ Margaux is the largest of the Médoc appellations.
ñ Pomerol is the smallest Bordeaux appellation.
ñ “Grand Cru” is French for “great growth” and designates the best. In Burgundy it refers to the best vineyards which usually have multiple owners. In Bordeaux its meaning varies by the specific region, but it always refers to properties under a single ownership.
ñ Rose bushes are often planted at the end of a row of grape vines to act as an early warning signal for infestation by diseases and insects like aphids. A vineyard manager who notices black spots or root rot on the roses will spray the grape vines before they are damaged.

ñ In Empire, California, some 400 copies of Little Red Riding Hood are locked away in a storage room of the public school district because the classic Grimm’s fairy tale recounts that the little girl took a bottle of wine to her grandmother. --- Roger Cohen, New York Times, April 23, 1990   [The crazies aren’t limited to Kansas.]

WINE FACTS

ñ Labels were first put on wine bottles in the early 1700s, but it wasn’t until the 1860s that suitable glues were developed to hold them on the bottles.
ñ Top Napa Valley vineyard land sells for over $100,000/acre!
ñ In the year 2000, there were 847 wineries in California.
ñ Wine is often called the nectar of the gods, but Sangiovese is the only grape named after a god. Sangiovese means “blood of Jove.”
ñ Ninety-two percent of California wineries produce fewer than 100,000 cases per year. Sixty percent produce fewer than 25,000 cases.
ñ Egg whites, bull’s blood, and gelatin have all been used as fining agents to remove suspended particles from wine before bottling. Egg whites are still commonly used.
ñ “Brix” is the term used to designate the percentage of sugar in the grapes before fermentation. For example, 23° brix will be converted by yeast to 12.5% alcohol, more or less, depending on the conversion efficiency of the strain of yeast used.
ñ In describing wine, the term “hot” refers to a high level of alcohol, leaving an hot, sometimes burning sensation.
ñ In the production of Port, the crushed grapes are fermented for about two days. Then the fermentation is halted by the addition of a neutral distilled spirit or brandy. This raises the alcohol level and retains some of the grapes’ natural sugar.
ñ American wine drinkers consume more wine on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year.
ñ As of 2000, 554,000 acres in California were planted to grapevines.
ñ “Still wine” does not come from a still. The phrase refers to wine without bubbles, which includes what is also referred to as table wine.
ñ Fiasco [fee-YAHS-koh]; pl. fiaschi [fee-YAHS-kee] - Italian for “flask.” The word is most often connected with the squat, round-bottomed, straw-covered bottle containing cheaper wine from the Chianti region. The straw covering not only helps the bottle sit upright, but protects the thin, fragile glass. Fiaschi are seldom seen today as the cost of hand-wrapping each flask for cheaper wines has become prohibitive, and the more expensive wines with aging potential need bottles that can be lain on their sides.
ñ As early as 4000 BC, the Egyptians were the first people to use corks as stoppers.
ñ The wine industry generates 145,000 jobs in California.
ñ California has 847 wineries. Napa County is the home of 232 of them.
ñ Market research shows that most people buy a particular wine either because they recognize the brand name or they are attracted by the packaging. Not Beekman’s customers!
ñ Portugal has 1/3 of the world's cork forests and supplies 85-90% of the cork used in the U.S.
ñ There are only three legal categories of wine in the U.S.: table, dessert, and sparkling. In the early 1950s, 82% of the wine Americans drank was classified as dessert wines. These included Sherry, Port, and Madeira. I don’t have current national figures, but  Beekman’s sales of wine today are 90% table wine, 7% sparkling wine, and only 3% dessert wine!
ñ Until 1970, Bordeaux produced more white wine than red. Today red wine represents about 84% of the total crop.
ñ California produces approximately 77% of the U.S. wine grape crop
ñ There is at least one commercial winery in every state of the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska!

ñ Putting ice and kosher salt in a bucket will chill white wine or Champagne faster.

WINE FACTS

ñ Wine grapes are subject to mold when there’s too much moisture. Tight clustered Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir are most susceptible to mold. The looser clusters of Cabernet Sauvignon allow for faster drying of moist grapes and thus make it less susceptible.
ñ In 1945, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild began a series of artists’ labels, hiring a different artist each year to design a unique label for that vintage. The artists have included such notables as Chagall, Picasso, Miro and Warhol. The 1993 label was sufficiently controversial in this country (the stylized juvenile nude on the label offended the Political Correctness Police) that the Chateau withdrew the label and substituted a blank label instead.
ñ It is the VERY slow interaction of oxygen and wine that produces the changes noticed inaging wine. It is believed that wine ages more slowly in larger bottles, since there is less oxygen per volume of wine in larger bottles. Rapid oxidation, as with a leaky cork, spoils wine.
ñ Before harvest, the canopy of leaves at the top of the vine is often cut away to increase exposure to the sun and speed ripening.
ñ The average age of a French oak tree harvested for use in wine barrels is 170 years!
ñ The lip of a red wine glass is sloped inward to capture the aromas of the wine and deliver them to your nose.
ñ “Cold maceration” means putting the grapes in a refrigerated environment for several days before starting fermentation to encourage color extraction. This is being done more and more frequently with Pinot Noir since the skins of this varietal don’t have as much pigmentation as other red varietals.
ñ Frenchman Georges de Latour came to America in the late 1800’s to prospect for gold. He didn’t find much gold, but he founded a truly golden winery: Beaulieu Vineyard.
ñ Mycoderma bacteria convert ethyl alcohol into acetic acid, thus turning wine into vinegar. However, most incidents of spoiled wine are due to air induced oxidation of the fruit, not bacterial conversion of alcohol to vinegar.
ñ The world’s most planted grape varietal is Airén. It occupies over 1 million acres in central Spain where it is made into mediocre white wine, but some quite good brandy.
ñ Bettino Ricasoli, founder of Brolio, is credited with having created the original recipe for Chianti, combining two red grapes (Sangiovese and Canaiolo) with two white grapes (Malvasia and Trebbiano). Today the better Chiantis have little or no white grapes in them and may contain some Cabernet. They are thus deeper in color and flavor and more age worthy.
ñ From 1970 until the late 1980s, sales and consumption of wine in the United States held a ratio of about 75% white to 25% red. At the turn of the Millennium, the ratio is closer to 50-50.
ñ In the year 2000, Americans spent $20 billion on wine. 72% of that was spent on California wines.
ñ In ancient Rome bits of toast were floated in goblets of wine. There is a story that a wealthy man threw a lavish party in which the public bath was filled with wine. Beautiful young women were invited to swim in it. When asked his opinion of the wine, one guest responded: “I like it very much, but I prefer the toast.” (referring, presumably, to the women)
ñ “Cuvée” means “vat” or “tank.” It is used to refer to a particular batch or blend.
ñ Beaujolais Nouveau cannot be legally released until the third Thursday of every November. The due date this year (2001) is November 15th.

ñ We’re seeing more and more synthetic corks these days, but the latest technology to prevent contaminated corks is the use of microwaves.

WINE FACTS

MORE WINE FACTS

ñ Jefferson and wine: From Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, by Stephen E Ambrose, comes the following historical note. Jefferson took up residence in the President’s House in 1801, after his inauguration as the 3rd President of the United States.

   “Jefferson ran the place with only eleven servants (Abigail Adams had needed 30!), brought up from Monticello. There were no more powdered wigs, much less ceremony. Washington and Adams, according to Republican critics, had kept up almost a royal court. Jefferson substituted Republican simplicity - to a point. He had a French chef, and French wines he personally selected. His salary was $25,000 per year - a princely sum, but the expenses were also great. In 1801 Jefferson spent $6500 for provisions and groceries, $2700 for servants (some of whom were liveried), $500 for Lewis’s salary, and $3,000 for wine.”

ñ Dom Perignon (1638-1715), the Benedictine Abbey (at Hautvillers) cellar master who is generally credited with “inventing” the Champagne making process, was blind.

ñ Thomas Jefferson helped stock the wine cellars of the first five U.S. presidents and was very partial to fine Bordeaux and Madeira.

ñ To prevent a sparkling wine from foaming out of the glass, pour an ounce, which will settle quickly. Pouring the remainder of the serving into this starter will not foam as much.

ñ Old wine almost never turns to vinegar. It spoils by oxidation.

ñ U.S. 1998 sales of white and blush wines were 67% of total table wine sales. Red wines were 33% of sales. At Beekman’s, the best we can calculate (since we don’t track the color of wine sales from Chile, Australia or Spain or of jug wines) is that our sales of white and blush comprised only 45% of total wine sales. Reds accounted for 55%. That’s in dollars, not unit sales. American wines accounted for 47% of our wine sales vs. 53% for imported wines.

ñ In King Tut’s Egypt (around 1300 BC), the commoners drank beer and the upper class drank wine.

ñ According to local legend, the great French white Burgundy, Corton-Charlemagne, owes its existence, not to the emperor Charlemagne, but to his wife. The red wines of Corton stained his white beard so messily that she persuaded him to plant vines that would produce white wines. Charlemagne ordered white grapes to be planted. Thus: Corton-Charlemagne!

ñ When Leif Ericsson landed in North America in A.D. 1001, he was so impressed by the proliferation of grapevines that he named it Vinland.

ñ Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century. It was only after this that bottles were lain down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.

ñ Merlot was the “hot” varietal in 1999, but in 1949, the “darling of the California wine industry” was Muscatel!

ñ The Napa Valley crop described in 1889 newspapers as the finest of its kind grown in the U.S. was hops.

ñ When Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii in volcanic lava in A.D. 79, it also buried more than 200 wine bars.

ñ The “top five” chateau of Bordeaux, according to the 1855 Classification, were actually only four: Lafite-Rothschild, Latour, Margaux and Haut-Brion. In the only change to that historic classification, Mouton-Rothschild was added in 1973.

ñ Grapevines cannot reproduce reliably from seed. To cultivate a particular grape variety, grafting (a plant version of cloning) is used.

ñ Wine has so many organic chemical compounds it is considered more complex than blood serum.

WINE FACTS

Q & A (part 1)
1. How many acres are planted to grapes worldwide?
2. Among the world's fruit crops, where do wine grapes rank in number of acres planted?
3. How many countries import California wines?
4. What was the primary fruit crop in Napa Valley during the 1940's?
5. How many gallons of wine were lost in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake?
6. When was phylloxera first discovered in California?
7. How many acres of Napa County vineyards have been replanted in the last 15 years because of phylloxera?
8. How many more acres of Napa County vineyards will need replacement?
9. How long does it take to harvest a commercial crop from newly replanted grape vines?
10. How many varieties of wine grapes exist worldwide?
11. How much does it cost per bottle to age wine in a French oak barrel?
12. How much does it cost per bottle to age wine in only new French oak barrels?
13. How much white zinfandel is consumed in this country?

Answers:
1) 20 million
2) #1
3) 164
4) Prunes
5) 30 million
6) August 19, 1873
7) 10,450
8) 4,450
9) 4-5 years
10) 10,000
11) 90 cents
12) $2.50
13) Too much!


Q & A (part 2)
1. When was the first known reference to a specific wine vintage?
2. How old was the wine being “reviewed”?
3. A bottle of opened wine stored in the refrigerator lasts how much longer than it would if stored at room temp?
4. How many oak species are there?
5. How many are used in making oak barrels?
6. What percent of an oak tree is suitable for making high grade wine barrels?
7. The 1996 grape crop in Napa Valley was down what percentage from normal?
8. What are the top three U.S. states in terms of wine consumption?
9. What percentage of legal-aged Americans contacted in a Nielson phone survey drink wine?
10. What percentage of restaurant wine sales do red wines represent?
11. What is the average cost of the grapes used to produce a $20 bottle of wine?

Answers:
1. Roman Historian Pliny the Elder rated 121 B.C. as a vintage “of the highest excellence.”
2. 200 years old! Pliny the Elder wrote the history of the Roman Empire around 70 A.D.
3. 6-16 times longer
4. 400
5. 20
6. 5%
7. 20-25%
8. CA, NY, FL
9. 58%
10. 55%
11. $2.64

WINE FACTS

The Irish believe that fairies are extremely fond of good wine. The proof of the assertion is that in the olden days royalty would leave a keg of wine out for them at night. Sure enough, it was always gone in the morning. - Irish Folklore

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), "The Devil's Dictionary", 1911: CONNOISSEUR, n. A specialist who knows everything about something and nothing about anything else. An old wine-bibber having been smashed in a railway collision, some wine was poured on his lips to revive him. "Pauillac, 1873," he murmured and died.

Fill up, fill up, for wisdom cools
When e'er we let the wine rest.
Here's death to Prohibition's fools,
And every kind of vine-pest!    - Jamrach Holobom

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), "The Devil's Dictionary", 1911: WINE, n. Fermented grape-juice known to the Women's Christian Union as "liquor," sometimes as "rum." Wine, madam, is God's next best gift to man.

There are about 400 species of oak, though only about 20 are used in making oak barrels. Of the trees that are used, only 5% is suitable for making high grade wine barrels. The average age of a French oak tree harvested for use in wine barrels is 170 years!

1 grape cluster = 1 glass
75 grapes = 1 cluster
4 clusters = 1 bottle
40 clusters = 1 vine
1 vine = 10 bottles
1200 clusters = 1 barrel
1 barrel = 60 gallons
60 gallons = 25 cases
30 vines = 1 barrel
400 vines = 1 acre
1 acre = 5 tons
5 tons = 332 cases

The bill for a celebration party for the 55 drafters of the US Constitution was for 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 bottles of whiskey, 22 bottles of port, 8 bottles of hard cider, 12 beers and seven bowls of alcohol punch large enough that "ducks could swim in them."

The Manhattan cocktail (whiskey and sweet vermouth) was invented by Winston Churchill's mother.

In the 1600's thermometers were filled with brandy instead of mercury.

The longest recorded champagne cork flight was 177 feet and 9 inches, four feet from level ground at Woodbury Vineyards in New York State.

Foot treading of grapes is still used in producing a small quantity of the best port wines.

In ancient Babylon, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead (fermented honey beverage) he could drink for a month after the wedding. Because their calendar was lunar or moon-based, this period of free mead was called the "honey month," or what we now call the "honeymoon."

Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the liquid to determine the ideal temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, for adding yeast. From this we get the phrase "rule of thumb."

In English pubs drinks are served in pints and quarts. In old England, bartenders would advise unruly customers to mind their own pints and quarts. It's the origin of "mind your P's and Q's."

How big can a wine bottle get?
Capacity (Liters) followed by the number of standard size bottles contained:
Standard (.75)  1
Magnum (1.5)  2
Jeroboam (3)  4
Rehoboam (4.5)  6
Methuselah (6)  8
Salmanazar (9)  12
Balthazar (12)  16
Nebuchadnezzar (15)  20

Thomas Jefferson’s salary was $25,000 per year - a princely sum, but the expenses were also great. In 1801 Jefferson spent $6,500 for provisions and groceries, $2,700 for servants (some of whom were liveried), $500 for Lewis’s salary, and $3,000 for wine.”

Thomas Jefferson helped stock the wine cellars of the first five U.S. presidents and was very partial to fine Bordeaux and Madeira.

Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century. It was only after this that bottles were lain down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.

The Napa Valley crop described in 1889 newspapers as the finest of its kind grown in the U.S. was...hops.

What is the ideal temperature for wine?
Whites: chilled (45-55 degrees F) for a few hours in the refrigerator.
Reds: slightly cooler than room temperature (about 65 degrees); Younger fruity reds benefit from chilling.
Sparkling Wine: thoroughly chilled; refrigerate several hours or the night before serving.
Dessert Wine: room temperature.

Chilling tones down the sweetness of wine. If a red wine becomes too warm, it may lose some of its fruity flavor.
Should I ever use a decanter for my wines?

A decanter is used mainly to remove sediment from older red wines.  Also, it can be used to open up young red wines.  Otherwise, wine will “breathe” enough in your glass and decanting is not necessary.

Why should I swirl wine in my glass before I drink it?
By swirling your wine, oxygen is invited into the glass, which allows the aromas to escape.

Some of the best-known grape varietals and their characteristics:
Sauvignon Blanc - Sauvignon Blanc is a white wine best known for its grassy, herbal flavors. Sauvignon Blanc is also called Fume Blanc, and is a popular choice for fish and shellfish dishes.
Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio) - The low acidity of this white varietal helps produce rich, lightly perfumed wines that are often more colorful than other whites. The best ones have pear and spice-cake flavors.
Chardonnay - Chardonnay is a white wine which can range from clean and crisp with a hint of varietal flavor to rich and complex oak-aged wines. Chardonnay typically balances fruit, acidity and texture.  This varietal goes well with everything from fish and poultry to cheeses, spicy foods and nut sauces.
Muscat - The white Muscat grape produces spicy, floral wines that often do something most other wines don't: they actually taste like grapes. Muscats can range from very dry and fresh to sweet and syrupy. This varietal is often served with puddings and chocolate desserts.
Gewurztraminer - Gewurztraminer is a white wine that produces distinctive wines rich in spicy aromas and full flavors, ranging from dry to sweet. Smells and flavors of litchi nuts, gingerbread, vanilla, grapefruit, and honeysuckle come out of this varietal.  It is often a popular choice for Asian cuisines and pork-based sausages.
Riesling - Rieslings are white wines known for their floral perfume. Depending on where they're made, they can be crisp and bone-dry, full-bodied and spicy or luscious and sweet. The flavor is often of peaches, apricots, honey, and apples and pairs well with duck, pork, and roast vegetables.

Champagne/Sparkling Wine - These wines are made effervescent in the wine-making process. Champagnes and sparkling wines range in style from very dry (Natural), dry (brut) and slightly sweet (extra Dry) to sweet (sec and Demi-Sec). Many sparkling wines are also identified as Blanc de Blancs (wines made from white grapes) or Blanc de Noirs (wines produced from red grapes).
Pinot Noir - Pinot Noir is a red wine of light to medium body and delicate, smooth, rich complexity with earthy aromas.  They are less tannic than a cabernet sauvignon or a merlot.  Pinot Noirs exude the flavor of baked cherries, plums, mushrooms, cedar, cigars, and chocolate.
Zinfandel – Primarily thought of as a Californian varietal (though recently proven to have originated from vineyards in Croatia), Zinfandel is a red wine with light to full body and berry-like or spicy flavors. The Zinfandel grape is also widely used in the popular off-dry blush wine known as White Zinfandel. The Red Zinfandel pairs well with moderately spicy meat dishes and casseroles. 
Syrah (Shiraz) - Syrah can produce monumental red wines with strong tannins and complex combinations of flavors including berry, plum and smoke. It's known as Shiraz mainly in Australia and South Africa.
Petite Sirah - Petite Sirahs are red wines with firm, robust tannic tastes, often with peppery flavors. Petite Sirahs may complement meals with rich meats.

Merlot - Merlot is a red wine with medium to full body and herbaceous flavors. Merlot is typically softer in taste than Cabernet Sauvignon.  It’s flavors and aromas include blackberry, baked cherries, plums, chocolate, and mocha.

Cabernet Sauvignon - Cabernet Sauvignon is a red wine known for its depth of flavor, aroma and ability to age. It is full-bodied and intense, with cherry- currant and sometimes herbal flavors. Cabernet Sauvignon may have noticeable tannins.

The World of Wine & Spirits

STYLES OF VERMOUTH

There are three general styles of vermouth, in order from driest to sweetest: extra dry, bianco/white, and sweet/red.

 Sweet red vermouth is drunk as an apéritif, often straight up, as well as in mixed drinks like the Manhattan. Dry white vermouth, along with gin, is a key ingredient in the mixing of martinis. Red vermouths are sometimes referred to as Italian vermouths and white vermouths as French vermouths, although not all Italian vermouths are red and not all French vermouths are white.

VERMOUTH

Vermouth is a fortified wine, flavored with aromatic herbs and spices ("aromatized" in the trade) such as cardamom, cinnamon, marjoram and chamomile. Some vermouth is sweetened; however, unsweetened, or dry, vermouth tends to be bitter. The person credited with the second vermouth recipe, Antonio Benedetto Carpano from Turin, Italy, chose to name his concoction "vermouth" in 1786 because he was inspired by a German wine flavoured with wormwood, an herb most famously used in distilling absinthe. The modern German word Wermut (also spelled Wermuth) means both wormwood and vermouth. The herbs in vermouth were originally used to mask raw flavours of cheaper wines, imparting a slightly medicinal "tonic" flavour.

STYLES OF MADEIRA

Reserve (5 years)- This is the minimum amount of aging that a wine labeled with one of the noble varieties is permitted to have.

Special Reserve(10 years)-At this point the wines are often aged naturally without any artificial heat source.

Extra Reserve (over 15 years)-This style is rare to produce with many producers extending the aging to 20 years for a vintage or producing a "colheita". It is richer in style than a Special Reserve Madeira.

Colheita or Harvest-This style includes wines from a single vintage but aged for a shorter period than true Vintage Madeira. The wine can be labeled with a vintage date but include the word "colheita" on it.

Vintage or Frasquiera-This style must be aged at least 20 years

TYPES OF MADEIRA

There are four major types of Madeira, named according to the grape variety used. Ranging from the sweetest to the driest style, they are:

v Malvasia (also known as Malmsey or Malvazia)

v Bual or Boal

v Verdelho

v Sercial 

MADEIRA

Madeira is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands. The wine is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines which can be consumed on their own as an aperitif, to sweet wines more usually consumed with dessert. Cheaper versions are often flavored with salt and pepper for use in cooking. The islands of Madeira have a long winemaking history dating back to the Age of Exploration when Madeira was a standard port of call for ships heading to the New World or East Indies. To prevent the wine from spoiling, neutral grape spirits were added. On the long sea voyages, the wines would be exposed to excessive heat and movement which transformed the flavor of the wine as the wine producers of Madeira found out when an unsold shipment of wine returned to the islands after a round trip. Today, Madeira is noted for its unique winemaking process which involves heating the wine up to temperatures as high as 60°C (140°F) for an extended period of time and deliberately exposing the wine to some levels of oxidation. Due to this unique process, Madeira is a very robust wine that can be quite long lived even after being opened.

MARSALA IN COOKING

Marsala wine is frequently used in cooking, and is especially prevalent in Italian restaurants in the United States. A typical Marsala sauce, for example, involves reducing the wine almost to a syrup with onions or shallots, then adding mushrooms and herbs. One of the most popular Marsala recipes is Chicken Marsala, in which flour-coated pounded chicken breast halves are braised in a mixture of Marsala, butter, olive oil, mushrooms, and spices. Marsala is also used in some risotto recipes, and is used to produce rich Italian desserts such as zabaglione,tiramisu and shortcake.

CHARACTERSTICS & TYPES

Marsala is produced using the Grillo, Inzolia, and Catarratto white grape varietals, among others. Marsala wine was traditionally served as an aperitif between the first and second courses of a meal. Contemporary diners will serve chilled with Parmesan (stravecchio), Gorgonzola, Roquefort, and other spicy cheeses, with fruits or pastries, or at room temperature as a dessert wine. Marsala is sometimes discussed with another Sicilian wine, Passito di Pantelleria (Pantelleria Island's raisin wine).

Different Marsala wines are classified according to their color, sweetness and the duration of their aging. The three levels of sweetness are secco (with a maximum 40 grams of residual sugar per liter), semisecco' (41-100 g/l) and sweet (over 100 g/l). The color and aging classifications are as follows:

Oro has a golden color.

Ambra has an amber color. The coloring comes from the mosto cotto sweetener added to the wine.

Rubino has a ruby color.

Fine has minimal aging, typically less than a year.

Superiore is aged at least two years.

Superiore Riserva is aged at least four years.

Vergine e/o Soleras is aged at least five years.

Vergine e/o Soleras Stravecchio e Vergine e/o Soleras Riserva is aged at least ten years. 

MARSALA

Marsala is a wine produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily. Marsala wine first received Denominazione di origine controllata, or DOC, status in 1969.

While the city's natives sometimes drink "vintage" Marsala, the wine produced for export is universally a fortified wine similar to Port. Originally, Marsala wine was fortified with alcohol to ensure that it would last long ocean voyages, but now it is made that way because of its popularity in foreign markets. 

MISTELLE

Mistelle (sifone in Italian, mistela in Spanish) is sometimes used as an ingredient in fortified wines, particularly Vermouth, Marsala and Sherry, though it is used mainly as a base for apéritifs such as the French Pineau des Charentes, It is produced by adding alcohol to non-fermented or partially fermented grape juice. The addition of alcohol stops the fermentation and, as a consequence Mistelle is sweeter than fully fermented grape juice in which the sugars turn to alcohol.

FOTIFIED WINES

Although grape brandy is most commonly added to produce fortified wines, the additional alcohol may also be neutral spirit that has been distilled from grapes, grain, sugar beets, or sugarcane. Regional appellation laws may dictate the types of spirit that are permitted for fortification.

The source of the additional alcohol and the method of its distillation can affect the flavor of the fortified wine. If neutral spirit is used, it will usually have been produced with a continuous still, rather than a pot still.

During the fermentation process, yeast cells in the must continue to convert sugar into alcohol until the must reaches an alcohol level of 16%–18%. At this level, the alcohol becomes toxic to the yeast and kills it. If fermentation is allowed to run to completion, the resulting wine will (in most cases) be low in sugar and will be considered a dry wine. The earlier in the fermentation process that alcohol is added, the sweeter the resulting wine will be. For drier fortified wine styles, such as sherry, the alcohol is added shortly before or after the end of the fermentation.

In the case of some fortified wine styles (such as late harvest and botrytized wine), a naturally high level of sugar will inhibit the yeast. This causes fermentation to stop before the wine can become dry. 

FOTIFIED WINES

Fortified wine is wine to which a distilled beverage (usually brandy) has been added. When added to wine before the fermentation process is complete, the alcohol in the distilled beverage kills the yeast and leaves residual sugar behind. The end result is a wine that is both sweeter and stronger, normally containing about 20% alcohol by volume (ABV). The original reason for fortifying wine was to preserve it, since ethanol is a natural antiseptic. Even though other preservation methods exist, fortification continues to be used because the fortification process can add distinct flavors to the finished project.

Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine in that spirits are produced by means of distillation, while fortified wine is simply wine that has had a spirit added to it. Many different styles of fortified wine have been developed, including port, sherry, madeira, marsala, and vermouth. 

Although grape brandy is most commonly added to produce fortified wines, the additional alcohol may also be neutral spirit that has been distilled from grapes, grain, sugar beets, or sugarcane. Regional appellation laws may dictate the types of spirit that are permitted for fortification.

The source of the additional alcohol and the method of its distillation can affect the flavor of the fortified wine. If neutral spirit is used, it will usually have been produced with a continuous still, rather than a pot still.

During the fermentation process, yeast cells in the must continue to convert sugar into alcohol until the must reaches an alcohol level of 16%–18%. At this level, the alcohol becomes toxic to the yeast and kills it. If fermentation is allowed to run to completion, the resulting wine will (in most cases) be low in sugar and will be considered a dry wine. The earlier in the fermentation process that alcohol is added, the sweeter the resulting wine will be. For drier fortified wine styles, such as sherry, the alcohol is added shortly before or after the end of the fermentation.

In the case of some fortified wine styles (such as late harvest and botrytized wine), a naturally high level of sugar will inhibit the yeast. This causes fermentation to stop before the wine can become dry.