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There are four main types of wines: red, white, blush and dessert. Let’s look at the breakdown of these four types, and their sub-types:

Red Wines

• Cabernet Sauvignon tends to be firmer and more tannic than the other varieties.
• Merlot tends to be softer and less tannic than Cabernet. Each of these wines will have aromas and flavors which are somewhat reminiscent of blackcurrant, spice, oak (vanilla), herbs, and even cedar and/or leather in some examples.
• Pinot Noir is much less consistent than either of the two wines above. At its best, it can be the most delightfully complex and exotic of wines, filled with heady aromas and flavors of spice, smoke, and red fruit (raspberry, cherry, plum). However, Pinot Noir does not usually show well at lower- or mid-levels on the price spectrum.
• Zinfandel is a real delight. It is best known in its somewhat tepid incarnation as a blush wine, the ever-popular White Zinfandel. Its real character, however, is only revealed in its full, rich, red self. It can range in style from a Cabernet-like wine with blackcurrant and oak character, to a big, brambly wine with flavors and aromas of peppery blackberry, herbs, and smoke.

White Wines

• Chardonnay is the great grape of the white Burgundies of France. It is also the grape of many expensive (and highly oaked) California wines. It is also one of the wines of choice for the Power Yuppie.
• Sauvignon Blanc is the grape of white Bordeaux wines. These wines can reach a soft, nutty, almost honeyed quality when they are mature. These wines can also be unpleasantly grassy, tart, and/or flatly and insipidly dull and flavorless.
• Gewurztraminer and Riesling are most famous in German/Alsatian wines, but since I have very little experience with German wine, I will restrict myself to some brief comments on the American wines which are made from these grapes. These grapes are generally turned into semi-sweet wines with a floral and/or spicy perfume and hints of honeyed-peach, pear, and tropical fruit in the flavors. They are generally good “next steps” for those who have cut their wine teeth on White Zinfandel; they provide some of the same sweet approachability as does the infamous blush wine while also providing a bit more in the way of flavors and food compatibility.

Blush Wines range from those huge jugs of Carlo Rossi, Paul Masson, and Gallo (which are sweet, possessed of a disturbing aftertaste or undertone which suggests something rotten and decaying, and IMHO entirely undrinkable—have a beer instead) to the Beringer White Zinfandels of the world. In other words, the range is from awful to acceptable. These wines make good picnic fare (burgers and hot dogs, the same sort of thing you might have a cola with), but they generally do not go well with dinner, being too sweet to complement even the spiciest food.

Dessert Wines consist mainly of port and sherry. Both are a very sweet type of wine, and widely available.

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