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Classifying wines

Ashwini Patil Avate

Posted On Friday, June 11, 2010 at 12:01:17 AM

These days with the growing trend towards wine consumption, some enthusiastic few, have started building their own wine cellars at home here in India. I have had people asking me about how to store wines and classify them. Here are a few tips :

There are table wines, still wines, single estate wines, signature wines, etc. but what details should be taken into account in order to classify them?

  • Country wise
  • Region wise (Within the group of quality wines there are those with a geographical indication or appellations)
  • Grape variety wise
  • Wine type (The first level of wine is a table wine, which can also be called “vino de la tierra” in Spanish, vin de table in French )
  • There are also single estate wines known as “vinos de finca” (sometimes also using the term “pago”). An estate is an area of land with extraordinary conditions of soil and microclimate that favour the growth of a certain type of grape.

    As a result, the grapes grown on such an estate are better quality and their specific characteristics are enhanced, giving rise to wines that stand out from those from other areas due to their personality and style.

    Over the centuries, all wine-producing regions have selected such special estates, calling them by different names: “Crus” in Bordeaux and Champagne, “Clos” in Burgundy, “Vigneti” in Italy and “Pagos” in Spain.
  • A signature wine does not come under the criteria of an appellation but is set apart by its style, provided by its winemaker and making it easy to identify.

    You could start with collecting local Indian wines and grab a bottles when you travel abroad! So here’s to building your own cellar! Cheers!







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