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cost

Cost is mostly determined by where you are so we have decided to use a very general pricing system. Exact costs in your area can be found on individual wine pages:
$ less than US$10
$$ between US$10-20
$$$ between US$20-50
$$$$ between US$50-100
$$$$$ over US$101

rating

Members of the-wine-guide can vote on the overall quality of a wine and a wine's rating is an average of the votes. You should view this as a rule of thumb. Like a movie review, you may love one film for certain qualities but someone else watching the exact same film may loth it for the same reasons. If a three star wine has a flavor profile that appeals to you, you should give it a shot. But you may want to give one star wines with many votes a miss.

flavor

Flavor profile of a wine. These are determined by votes, users of the-wine-guide chose what flavors they think are in the wine, the top 5 voted flavors will come out on top

origin

The place where a wine is grown. The place of origin is important because like coffee, a grape varietal will pick up distinct set of flavor characteristics based on the soil or climate of the region it is grown in. In Europe this is called terroir, and it is considered so important it is the foundation of their entire naming system.

varietal(s)

A varietal is the type of grape used to make the wine. Each varietal of grape has its own climate that it likes to grow in and a distinct flavor. The type of grape used to make a wine is largely responsible for how a wine will taste. So a bottle of Cabernet from California will have similar characteristics to a Cab from South Africa.

type

The type of wine. A wine can be red, white, rose, dessert (includes ports and other fortified wines, late harvest, ice wine, and anything else sweet), sparkling (includes Champagne), sparkling rose, sparkling red

body

The 'mouth-feel' of a wine. Can range from light, medium to full-bodied. A full bodied wine would be very rich, heavy and dense in character like a dark earl grey tea or a steak dinner. A light bodied wine would be refreshing like chrysanthemum tea or a salad.

White Wines

(wine 101, white wine)

by The Wine Guide

White wines are usually made from white wine grapes. Technically these wines are not white at all but rather yellow in color, white wines can be drunk on their own, or paired with light salads, white meats, or seafood dishes. Without the tannin found in reds, white wines are very approachable to people when first starting to drink wines. Not to say that whites should be regulated to the realm of the novice drinker, there are plenty of serious, complex white wines in the world that deserve your attention.

White wines can also be made using black grapes (the stuff red wines are made from), which is a bit counter-intuitive. Both white and black grapes, when pressed, yield a clear grape juice, what turns a wine red is by allowing the red grape skins to mix and soak with the clear grape juice. Without this soak, red wine grapes can be used to make white wines. Many Champagnes and sparkling wines use the juice of a black grape called "Pinot Noir" as a key component of the wine. The French even call Champagnes that are 100% made with Pinot Noir "Blanc de Noir" or "White from Black" referring to the color of the grape used. But in general, the vast majority of white wines are made using white grapes.

Unless a white wine has a high level of sugar and/or lots of acidity to act as a preservative, white wine does not age as well as their red brothers. To keep wines fresh and to extend the shelf-life, most winemakers use a chemical called sulfites to inhibit bacterial growth and preserve the wine. Because about 5 percent of asthmatics are extremely sensitive to sulfates many wineries label their wines with "contains sulfites" on the bottles. Organic wines sometimes forgo the addition of sulfites, and so they do not add the "contains sulfites" warning on the front of the label. The tannin in reds and the high level of acidity in very dry white wines help to preserve these types of wines, and so they do not need as many sulfites.

Styles

There are a few general styles with regard to white wines:

Fresh & Crisp
Crisp, light and without oak (aging in oak barrels will give a wine an "oaky" flavor, characterized by caramel, vanilla and smoke). Soave, Pinot Grigio, and Sauvignon Blanc all fall into this category.

Aromatic
Strongly scented wines, with medium body. The scent of the wine comes from the varietals used; German Rieslings, Australian Viognier and earthy Cote du Rhone wines are good examples of this style.

Rich
Classically defined by very oaky, rich, full-bodied Californian Chardonnays, or French Burgundies.

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  • total number of wines 5560
  • percentage tasted 36.56%
  • number of outlets 153

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