Classification of Wine
It is commonly known that quality of wines greatly varies and depends on many factors. Besides that people have very different tastes when it come to wines. To make the costumer’s choice as easy as possible there is a practice of classification of wines all over the world although methods of classification greatly vary from country to country and sometimes even from region to region.
The classification of wine is usually regulated by wine law which also includes regulation of procedures in winemaking and viticulture. Wines are most commonly classified according to the geographical or regional origin, used grape varieties, vinification methods and style and vintage.
Classification of wine according to their regional origin (appellation) is
especially common in Europe where terroir plays a very important role, while some
wines have been even named after certain regions such as the Bordeaux and Champagne.
Wine that is labelled as Champagne must be even made from grapes that is grown in
the Champagne region in France in most parts of the world.
Outside Europe, wine is more frequently classified by variety of grape and vintage. However, wine from some winegrowing regions outside Europe such as Napa Valley in California, Hunter Valley in Australia and many others are also recognized worldwide for reflective distinctive terroir characteristics. Since quality of wine also greatly depends from year to year wine label frequently also displays year in which the grapes was grown.
Wine can be also classified according to vinification methods and styles. Thus we know red or white wine, sparkling or still wine, dessert wine or fortified wine, etc. Sometimes wines are also classified by sweetness which is often described with dryness.