Whether you are a seasoned wine nerd or a budding enthusiast there is always something new and fascinating to learn about the wine world. Here we start with our series of interesting facts (at least we think the are interesting) about all things wine.
1. Origins of wine - Although a much debated topic, the region that is now Georgia is often considered the birth place of this beautiful juice with evidence of wine production dating as far back as 6000bc.
2. Orange wine - An often misunderstood style of wine that has become increasingly mainstream. Again most likely its origins lie in Georgiawhere they still make some of the most beautiful examples of this style of wine. It is in fact an ancient method of winemaking that involves fermenting white grapes with the skins in tact hence why this is sometimes referred to as skin contact wine. This skin contact gives the wine a deeper more "orange" or "amber" colour as well as more tannin and body. Think of it more as a white wine made more similarly to how you would make a red wine.
3. Old World vs New World - These are often terms that we hear but what do they actually mean. Well in essence Old World wine is anything made in the more historic wine regions of the world so generally meaning Europe and the Middle East. New World on the other hand refers to the areas of the wold where grape species suitable for producing wine were brought to, so the Americas, Australia, New Zealand etc. Some of these areas did have native grape species but often were not suitable for wine production or wine as simply nor made there until people who knew colonised these areas.
4. Abruzzo's FREE wine fountain - In the town of Caldari di Ortona in Abruzzo a continuously flowing wine fountain has been installed giving locals and tourist 24 hour access to FREE red wine!! Now that is worth travelling for.
5. Grape species - There are more than 10,000 known grape types on the planet however only 100 or so are used often commercially.
6. Phylloxera the deadly plague - in the late 19th century almost 2/3 of European vineyards were decimated due to a tiny aphid known as Phylloxera. An insect native to North America was brought over to Europe by accident and with no natural resistance it soon wreaked havoc. Jump forward to today and a hefty percentage of European vines are actually grafted onto American rootstocks as they provide better resistance to this deadly little aphid.
7. Old Vine Heritage - The Barossa Valley in Australia is often lauded to have one of the highest concentration of old vines with a high number still producing grapes dating back nearly 200 years. Due to Phylloxera Europe does not have as a high a concentration of these old vines but there are still isolated pockets that exist. One such vine located in Maribor Slovenia is listed in the Guiness book of world records and is over 400 years old.
8. White wine from red grapes? - Yes it is true you can make white wine from both red and white grapes. The skins is what generally gives colour to wine so if a red grape is pressed gently only the clear juice will be extracted. In fact this is a very common process in regions like Champagne where the Blanc De Noir (white from black) style is very famous.
9. How many grapes make up a bottle? - Although this can vary drastically, on average it is somewhere between 600 and 800 grapes that go into one bottle. This however can greatly depend on grape size, wine production techniques and juice extracted.
10. Wine Ageing - So we all have asked the question when should I drink this wine? Or How long will it keep for? Well of course there are wines that age beautifully and will reward patience but did you know that around 90% of wines produced are supposed to be consumed within 1 year. Of course bulk factory made wines make up a huge percentage of wine production so this stat is somewhat skewed. The producers we work with are a little more artisan favouring natural, organic or biodynamic production and the wines they produce generally taste great with a wee bit of age.