Preferred Wine Cellars
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Red Wine Information
Red wine is made with red grapes and these can range from red to purple and even blue-black. The skins of the grapes give red wine its color because they are in contact with the juice during the wine fermentation. There are about fifty different varietals of red wine, which are popular in today's wine market. Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Petite Sirah, Malbec, and Grenache are some of the better-known ones.
Some red wines are also referred to by where they come from. A Chianti, for example, is made from Sangiovese grapes and a Bordeaux (known in the UK as a Claret) is a French wine made with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. This is good wine information for impressing your friends if the conversation turns to wine.
Light-bodied red wines are light in the mouth but full-bodied ones are richer tasting and this is because they contain more tannin and alcohol. There are lots of ways to describe red wine but common words used to describe popular red wine flavors include cherry, raisin, clove, coffee, raisin, blackberry, leather, plum, cocoa, cinnamon, and toast.
How to Serve Red Wine
Make sure you use egg-shaped or oval bottomed glasses for red wine. Slim, flute-like glasses are better suited to sparkling whites. A good red wine glass should hold ten to twenty two ounces of liquid, which means you can fill it a third or a quarter and swirl the wine around in the glass. This lets it breathe a bit too.
Most red wines are best served between 60 and 65 degrees F. If you serve red wine too warm, the alcohol flavor will be very strong. Serve it too cold and it will have an astringent flavor, which is unpleasantly bitter.
Purple or blue-tinged red wines are made with younger grapes. Orange hues indicate age so if you have aged your red wine in a wine cellar it might take on a more terracotta hue.
Climate and Red Wine
Temperate weather (weather which is not too cold or too hot) produces good grapes. The best grapes to grow in these regions have long growing seasons with thick skins offering the fruit protection. Tannins and color are low in grapes grown in cold places and these grapes will have acid fruit flavors.
Hot weather results in brightly colored grapes lacking in acidity. Wines made from grapes grown in very hot countries will not be very acidic and the wine will be brownish red because of the very ripe fruit and how it oxidizes.
Red Wine and Health
Moderate consumption of red wine is good for you, according to widely believed health and red wine information. One glass a day for women and two a day for men is thought to decrease the risk of stroke, cancer, and heart disease. Drinking more than this does not give the same benefits.
Red wine contains antioxidants. Different antioxidants do different things but they all seem to prevent certain diseases. Excessive drinking though can contribute to more triglycerides in the blood and these can cause heart disease. Alcohol abuse can also cause liver damage, obesity, or osteoporosis, so enjoy the fruits of your wine cellar, but drink in moderation.
