The vintage year on a wine label is the harvest year of the grapes from which the wine was made. The characteristics of a particular vintage year are determined by the weather conditions and resulting grape crop for that year. A California wine with a vintage date must be made from at least 95 percent of grapes harvested in the designated year.
The characteristics of a particular vintage are determined by the quality of that year’s grape crop. Improvements in wine making over the years have made vintage year less central to choosing a wine produced in most wine regions. Vintages are more important when collecting more expensive wines, especially those designed to be aged, and in growing regions where a less than satisfactory growing season is not compensated for using innovative wine making technology or practices. If you are interested in learning about specific vintages, reading wine publications and tasting wines from different vintages will help you determine a vintage’s characteristics.
A wine is kosher if it is made using strict rabbinical production techniques. A kosher wine cannot include any chemical additives, gelatin, lactose, glycerin, corn products or non-wine yeasts. In addition, the entire wine making process must be conducted by Sabbath-observing Jews under rabbinical supervision. Kosher wines are produced by wineries all over the world.
A dessert wine is usually a sweet wine drank with or for dessert. Due to its sweetness it is drank in smaller quantities than table wine. In the U.S., the classification of dessert wine is that of wines which are fortified (the addition of brandy or other spirits to raise the level of alcohol in the wine) whether they are sweet or dry.
White wines are generally made with grapes with yellow or green skins. White wines can also be made from black-skinned grapes if the juice is separated from the grape skins early enough–i.e., before fermentation. Red wines get their color from being fermented in contact with the skins of dark grapes. Rosé gets its pink color by either a short contact time with the skins of dark-colored grapes before fermentation or by mixing finished red wine with finished white wine.
The following is a synopsis of the basic steps taken to make wine: Grapes are crushed to release the sugar in their juice. The juice naturally ferments when yeast comes in contact with the sugar in the grape juice. The result is alcohol and carbon dioxide. Red wine is made with dark-skinned grapes and fermented with the grape skins. White wines are made with white grapes, or if made with some dark-skinned grapes the grape skins are removed prior to fermentation. Rosé wines have contact with the skins of dark-skinned grapes just long enough to impart a pink color. The fermented wine is then separated from the grape solids and transferred into a vat or casks where it is clarified, stabilized, and may be taken though optional processes. Finally, the wine is bottled.