Posts Tagged ‘white wine’

Wine is made of mixed chemical substances that come from fruits. The aroma and tastes of wines depend on the fruits, or specifically, grapes that are used to make them.

The color of white wines is more of a golden hew, rather than what its name implies. But as it ages, its color also changes. From a beautiful golden color, which has the distinct fruit taste, to a magnificent amber color that acquires the taste of amber and honey.

Have you ever heard of Chardonnay or Burgundies? They are by far the most popular choices of white wine in constant demand at the market. White wine is available for every occasion and taste. So far, French Chardonnay takes top place when white wines are being compared.

But the label as “most famous of all white wines” goes to Champagne. Many would not believe so, but Champagne too is truly a wine, a white wine to be exact. Champagne is made from a mixture of grapes such as Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier or Pinot Nior. Champagne was first introduced by the French as a lighter alternative to red wine. Champagne is more commonly known as a “sparkling” wine.

The best way to truly appreciate French white wine is by lightly chilling it for at least 30 minutes. Different people have different ways of appreciating white wine. Most prefer drinking it over dinner with poultry or fish. Some prefer using a chilled glass, while some just pop a bottle and drink it straight up. There is no right way in enjoying white wine, its there to satisfy and excite anyones taste buds.

Author: Jimmy Sturo
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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If asked the question “what two wines is France famous for?” you would have a bit of thinking to do, it is safe to say. There is a large number of hugely popular French wines, and just going by grape names it is easy to see that even in the rest of the world, a French lead has been taken on wine production. France, then, is famous for a lot more than two kinds of wine. Asked another way, if the question were asked “Which two wines are the most famous in France or France’s most famous?” then there would be some thinking to do still, but most people would have an answer for at least one almost immediately. That one being, of course, Champagne.

Champagne, among other things, is unique in that only certain wines sharing all of its characteristics in the glass may be called “Champagne”. If you have a glass of sparkling white wine of high quality, made using Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, it may not be Champagne, much though it looks, acts and tastes exactly like it. The fact of the matter is that, unless it comes from the region which gave Champagne its name, it is merely high quality sparkling wine. The Champagne region of France is a small province about a hundred kilometers (60 miles) from Paris, and in viticultural terms it contains Aube, Cte des Blancs, Cte de Szanne, Montagne de Reims and Vallee de la Mame. These areas produce Champagne, all others produce sparkling wine, however delicious it may be.

The distinction between Champagne and sparkling wine may seem like a storm in a teacup when seen from outside the region, indeed from outside France. But within France, and especially in the wine producing regions, where the concept of terroir is of huge importance in terms of describing a wine, the name really means something, and a name as prestigious as “Champagne” will be guarded very jealously indeed.

So, Champagne was the easy one. Which wine would be fit to challenge it? Well, there are many with excellent reputations. Beaujolais is much loved within France, where it is practically a national holiday. Chardonnay is the dinner wine par excellence for many, but is produced as efficiently and often to a higher standard outside France. Indeed, the one wine that has maintained a rivalry with Champagne is another worldwide-recognised French wine – Burgundy. Although the rivalry is all but non-existent today, it was fierce for much of the 17th and 18th centuries, during which both regions produced both red and white wines and competed for the royal seal of approval. France’s most famous king, Louis XIV, at one time exclusively drank Champagne, but when he fell ill a physician blamed this diet for his ailment and prescribed that he should drink only Burgundy. Although this was just an early example of special interest lobbying, it got the attention of the court and the people beyond, and for some time the sales of Champagne were badly affected. Eventually, the makers of Champagne decided to give their attention to harnessing the sparkling white wine they were famous for, and the two regions settled their differences from a position of equal importance which persists today – Champagne as sparkling white, Burgundy as deep red.

Author: Caterina Christakos
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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