What is wine? Wine is the alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of grape juice.
What is must? Must is grape juice.
What is fermentation? Fermentation is the natural conversion of the sugar contained in the grapes into alcohol.
What is vitis vinifera? It is the most used grape variety for the production of fine wines.
What is a varietal wine? It is a wine made from one grape variety (e.g. Burgundy, made from Pinot noir).
What is a blended wine? It is a wine produced from more than one variety (e.g. Bordeaux, made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes).
What determines the colour and the majority of aromas in wine? The skin, which contains aromatic substances and polyphenols.
What does the term vintage refers to? It refers to the grape harvest (that is the yield from a vineyard) and to the year in which grapes were harvested.
How many types of wine are there? Wine can be classic or special.
What is classic wine? Classic wine is still wine produced following classic regulations. It can be white, rosé or red.
What is special wine? Special wine is wine produced with the addition of ingredients not mentioned by the classic regulation. Special wines can be: - Sparkling wine (additioned with a mixture of wine, sugar, yeast and minerals to induce a second fermentation), - Fortified wine (additioned with mistelle, concentrated must, alcohol or wine spirit), - Aromatised wine (additioned with alcohol, sugar and herbs or spices exstracts or infusions).
Which factors determine the wine characteristics? The armonic relationship of vineyard site, soil, climate, altitude, water and grape variety (called terroir).
What is an appellation? An Appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine are grown, the maximum grape yield, the alcohol level and other quality factors.
Which are the quality wine appellations? They are GCAO (Guaranteed Controlled Appellation of Origin - the Italian DOCG), CAO (Controlled Appellation of Origin - the Italian DOC) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication - the Italian IGT).
What does the system define? It defines the geographical area of the appellation, admitted grapes and proportions, maximum yield per hectare, minimum alcohol percentage by volume, minimum ageing, chemical and physical characteristics and organoleptic qualities.