When faced with a large wine list, or a shelf stacked high with bottles,
the world of wine can seem overwhelmingly complex.
To start off, almost all wines can be grouped into one of three
‘types’ – still, fortified or sparkling.
- Still wines
Simply put, a still wine is any wine that is not sparkling. This is the
largest category of wine by far – most wines you can think of are still
wines, so we need to further categorise them into styles in order to
understand them better.
- Sparkling wines
Sparkling wines are fizzy because they have carbon dioxide trapped
within them. This extra sparkle is perfect for celebratory occasions and
these wines make excellent gifts and aperitifs. Be sure to serve
sparkling wines well chilled – this will help to keep them bubbly for
longer once opened.
- Fortified wines
A fortified wine is a wine that has had extra alcohol added to it, in
the form of a neutral high-strength grape spirit. They typically have
between 15-22% alcohol by volume.
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