All wines live on a spectrum of dry to sweet. This categorisation is directly related to the amount of residual sugar left in the wine. These grape sugars (glucose and fructose) do not get converted into alcohol during fermentation, aka they’re whatever is left in the bottle once it’s ready to drink. Your perception of this sugar is balanced with the acidity of the wine, as a high sugar wine can still taste less sweet than others, depending on its acidity level (think of sweet and tart lemonade).

A dry wine can have up to 9g/l of residual sugar and still be categorised as dry. Moving up the scale, off-dry simply means the next level of sweetness up from dry. Above and beyond the acidity level, this is where our senses deceive us. The spectrum widens greatly where some sweet wines, one example being the famous Tokaji wines from Hungary, can have over 450g/l of sugar. We call this style 'luscious'.

Malbec

Your classic Malbec is almost always made in a dry style. Malbec is usually an unoaked wine with flavour notes of black fruits, sometimes coffee, chocolate and blueberry. Malbec is widely grown in Argentina and the Mendoza region has become almost synonymous with the grape. In France, Cahors is a safe go-to for tasty Malbec wines. On The Wine Flyer try our unique Patagonian Malbec from Familia Schroder.

Sauvignon Blanc

Ever popular, the Sauvignon Blanc grape white wine styles are crisp and refreshing with rich tropical fruit, through to aromas like lemongrass. Flavour notes of nettle, gooseberries and blackcurrant leaves also come through. This variety is grown all over the world, producing dry, aromatic and extremely distinctive wines. New Zealand is known worldwide for their Sauvignon Blanc production, France, Chile and South Africa also produce popular styles.

On The Wine Flyer try New Zealand’s Yealands Est L5 Sauvignon Blanc; Meinert Wines Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa; Chile’s Vilcún Sauvignon Blanc Reserve or our French Domaine de La Rochette, Touraine Sauvignon Blanc.

Chardonnay

This is a fairly easy to grow grape variety, often known as the non-fussy grape that adapts to different climates. It is grown all over the world, including Burgundy, Chile, California, New Zealand, Australia and England. The adaptable grape expresses notes of apple, melon and honeysuckle, while taking on the techniques used in harvesting and production, enabling wine makers to create quite oakey, crisp and dry and tropical fruit flavours. On The Wine Flyer try Chapel Down Kit's Coty Chardonnay 2019, Penfolds Bin 311 Chardonnay 2018, or the Hahn Family Wines Chardonnay from California.

Pinot Noir

One of the oldest varietals, this style of grape is temperamental and seductive. It is sensitive to crop size, heat and rain so is not suitable for very warm regions or those with wet autumn rains. However when it thrives it produces delicately coloured, deeply fruited expressions that contain notes of cherry, forest fruits and sometimes forest floor and violets. Try The Wine Flyer’s South African Paul Cluver Village Pinot Noir or the Patriarche Père & Fils Pinot Noir from the heart of Burgundy. As a key Champagne grape, it also shines in sparkling wines like Champagne Castelnau Brut Rose NV and the Hattingley Valley Classic Reserve.

Viognier

Containing a signature apricot note, the Viognier is a highly aromatic white grape varietal that also produces lighter tangerine and citrus scents, and ranges in intensity from light to creamy. It's often used to blend with powerful reds to soften and enhance the final wine with a delicate aromatic fruit floral, what would otherwise be a robust and strong wine. It balances well but only if co-fermented. On The Wine Flyer try the Viognier Viento Aliseo Dominio de Punctum, or the Yalumba Samuels Collection Eden Valley Viognier.

When we describe 'body' in a wine, we're referring to how the wine feels in your mouth when drinking. Factors that affect a wine’s body include the level of alcohol in the wine, acidity, tannic structure in red wines and residual sugar. Often, body is described depending on the % of alcohol in a wine but in fact, there is a lot more going on in your glass contributing to or lessening the body.

Similar to a skimmed milk versus full fat cream, wines with higher alcohol percentage, tannins and winemaking differentiations are more ‘viscous’. Viscosity is how much a fluid resists flow. The more viscous something is, the thicker and slower moving it is, such as honey or treacle compared to water. Related to wines, a red wine for example with a high alcohol % and firm tannins will be more viscous and feel heavy bodied, compared with a 12.5% wine with light tannins.

White wines can often be described as light-bodied, a good example being a fresh, crisp Pinot Grigio from a cooler climate where acidity and alcohol balance to enable a lighter mouthfeel. In contrast, a powerful red Bordeaux blend will, almost without exception, contain a high level of alcohol, complex fruit profile and a lesser acidic perception resulting in a heavy bodied wine.

Tannins

As noted, tannins impact the taste and feel of the wine in your mouth. They do this by creating that astringent, ‘dry’ mouth feeling, sometimes coming across quite bitter. Tannins come from the seeds and skin of the grape, which is released into the wine during fermentation.

The length and method of fermentation, and the choice of grapes used, all influence the tannins in the wine. Different grapes have naturally higher tannins than others, thinner skinned grapes like Pinot Noir have less tannins, while Malbecs, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz grapes have thicker skins and seeds, and tend to have more tannins.

The aromas on the nose and notes of flavour on the palate are derived in three different ways. These are often known as primary, secondary and tertiary flavour characteristics.

Primary

These are the grape characteristics that naturally appear in the final wine due to the profile of the grape or grapes, if a blend, used. Here we are talking about the lemon and lime citrus or stone fruits like peach and nectarine in white wines.  

A Provence style rosé wine will likely have notes of ripe raspberry and strawberry and maybe some honeydew melon as these are characteristics of the Grenache grape often used as the principal grape in the blend.

Secondary

These are aromas that appear in the wine due to the winemaking method that has been used. For example, if oak barrels are used to ferment or age the wine, this can impart certain flavour characteristics such as toast, tobacco, cedar, smoke, spice, butter and vanilla.  

In stark contrast, 'clean' winemaking where the grapes are protected throughout the fermentation in stainless steel tanks is done to ensure no secondary flavours at all exist in the final wine - the wine is made to show off the primary notes - such as a crisp and fresh Riesling with lime and apricot but absolutely nothing oaky, buttery or spicy!

Tertiary

This category of flavours are derived from ageing of the wine over time often known as the development notes. Some wines are made to be consumed fresh and early after bottling, these wines will never benefit from bottle age and therefore never have tertiary flavours.  

However, some wines are made with ageing in mind such as Rioja from Spain. In fact, they can't be released for sale until they have had the designated time in the bottle. This is to ensure the character of the wine is as it should be and the wine has taken on some ageing notes to taste - correct and to the style intended by the winemaker. In Rioja, these characteristics will be dried fruit, maybe some prune and fig and potentially some forestry pine.

There are numerous factors to consider when buying wine, but having a foundational understanding of these elements and where your taste preference lies will help next time you’re staring at a shelf full of different wines