What Is Wine? A Beginner’s Guide to How Wine Is Made

Quick answer: what is wine?

Wine is an alcoholic beverage made by partially or completely fermenting fresh grapes or grape must. Grape must means the juice and other grape material used before or during fermentation.

During alcoholic fermentation, yeast consumes some of the natural sugar in grape juice and converts it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Other compounds are produced too, contributing to the wine’s aroma, flavour and texture.

From there, the wine may be pressed, matured, blended, clarified, filtered, stabilised and bottled. The exact pathway depends on the style of wine being made.

That is why wine is not one single taste or colour. A wine’s character can reflect its grape variety, where the grapes grew, when they were harvested, whether the skins were included during fermentation, how the wine matured and how it was finished.

How grapes become wine

The journey from vineyard to bottle usually follows a broad sequence, although not every wine takes exactly the same path.

1. Growing and harvesting

Grapes are grown and harvested for the type of wine intended. Harvest decisions can affect the grape’s sugar, acidity, flavour and ripeness.

2. Sorting and preparation

After harvest, grapes may be inspected and sorted. They may then be crushed, destemmed or transferred as whole bunches, depending on the winemaking approach.

3. Pressing or skin contact

Some grapes are pressed early to separate juice from skins. Others remain with their skins for a period of time.

This distinction is particularly important for red wine. Dark grape skins contain colour compounds and tannins—compounds that can contribute colour and a drying, grippy sensation in the mouth.

4. Alcoholic fermentation

Yeast converts grape sugar into alcohol, carbon dioxide and secondary products. Fermentation may happen through naturally present yeasts or through selected yeasts added by the winemaker.

If fermentation consumes most of the available sugar, the wine may taste dry. If some sugar remains, the wine may taste sweet. Sweetness is also influenced by acidity, alcohol, temperature and flavour compounds, so sugar alone does not tell the whole story.

5. Maturation and finishing

After fermentation, wine may mature in stainless steel, oak, concrete or another vessel. It may also undergo additional processes, such as malolactic fermentation, clarification, filtration or stabilisation.

Malolactic fermentation is a secondary bacterial process used in some wines, but it is not an obligatory stage for every wine.

The wine may then be blended or otherwise prepared for bottling. Finally, it is packaged and labelled.

For a more detailed production explanation, see How wine is made.

The main wine styles

Red wine

Red wine is generally made by fermenting grape juice with some or all of the grape skins. This allows colour and tannin to be extracted.

The simple idea that “red grapes make red wine” is incomplete. Skin contact is usually the major source of red-wine colour, and the length and conditions of that contact matter.

White wine

White wine is generally made by pressing grapes and fermenting the juice with little or no extended skin contact.

White wine can be made from white or red grapes if the juice is separated from coloured skins early enough. White wine is not automatically light-bodied or free from tannin.

The differences between red and white wine are explained in more detail in Red wine vs white wine.

Rosé

Rosé is made by limiting colour extraction from red grapes. This may involve short skin contact, direct pressing or a method called saignée, in which some juice is removed from crushed red grapes and fermented separately.

Rosé is not best understood as simply mixing red and white wine. Its colour and style depend on the production method and the grapes used.

Sparkling wine

Sparkling wine contains noticeable dissolved carbon dioxide, creating bubbles and pressure in the bottle or glass.

The carbon dioxide may come from a further fermentation or another permitted production pathway. Sparkling wine is therefore a broad category, not one single method.

“Champagne” is not a generic name for sparkling wine. It is a protected geographical name, so protected terms should not be used casually as synonyms for a style.

Learn more in What is sparkling wine?.

Sweet wine

Sweet wine contains enough perceptible sugar to taste sweet. That sugar may remain because fermentation stopped before all the sugar was consumed, or because it was preserved or introduced through a permitted production method.

A sweet wine is not automatically a fortified wine, dessert wine or wine made from one particular grape variety.

Fortified wine

Fortified wine has grape spirit or another grape-derived spirit added during or after fermentation. The timing can affect the wine’s alcohol and sweetness.

“Fortified” describes a production category, not one uniform flavour. Read more in What is fortified wine?.

Variety, style, region, producer and vintage

Wine labels can contain several kinds of information. These terms are related, but they do different jobs.

• Grape variety: the type of grape used, such as Chardonnay, Riesling or Shiraz.
• Wine style: the broad category, such as red, white, rosé, sparkling, sweet or fortified.
• Region or Geographic Indication: the place where the wine originated. In Australia, a Geographic Indication, or GI, is a protected geographic term identifying wine from a defined place.
• Producer: the business or winemaking operation responsible for making, bottling or presenting the wine.
• Vintage: the harvest year stated for the wine, where a vintage claim is made.

A region does not guarantee one flavour, and a grape variety does not dictate one inevitable taste. For example, wines made from the same variety can differ because of climate, growing conditions, harvest timing, fermentation, maturation and blending.

A town, vineyard or familiar locality is not automatically a registered GI. Australian GI names and their boundaries should be treated as protected terms rather than interchangeable place descriptions.

Australian wine terms and labels

In Australia, the grape commonly called Syrah in many other countries is usually labelled Shiraz. Shiraz and Syrah refer to the same grape variety, not two unrelated grapes.

Australian Shiraz can be made in different styles. Its character may vary with region, climate and winemaking, so the word “Shiraz” is not a guarantee of one national flavour profile.

Australian wine GIs are arranged hierarchically as zones, regions and subregions. A label such as “Barossa Valley” describes geographic origin, while “Shiraz” describes the grape variety. The two terms answer different questions.

Australian labels may also identify details such as:

• alcohol by volume, often shown as % alc/vol;
• standard drinks;
• bottle volume;
• country of origin;
• supplier information;
• variety, GI and vintage, where those claims are made and meet the applicable requirements.

A label is a useful map, but it is not a promise that the wine will taste a particular way. Australian labelling rules can change, so detailed legal or regulatory questions should be checked against current official guidance.

How to start tasting wine

You do not need specialist vocabulary to taste wine. Start by noticing what is in the glass.

• Appearance: What colour is it? Is it clear? Does it have visible bubbles?
• Aroma: What smells do you notice before and while tasting?
• Flavour: What is the overall impression in your mouth?
• Acidity: Does it feel fresh and mouth-watering?
• Tannin: Does it leave a drying or grippy sensation?
• Body: Does it feel light, medium or full in your mouth?
• Finish: How long do the flavours and sensations last after tasting?

These are observations, not quality scores. A high-acid wine is not automatically better, and a full-bodied wine is not always more alcoholic. Wine’s body can be influenced by alcohol, sugar, extract, acidity, tannin, temperature and serving context.

For a practical introduction, read How to taste wine. You can also explore wine aroma, wine body, acidity and tannins.

The simple idea to remember

Wine begins with grapes, but it is not defined by grapes alone. Yeast transforms grape sugar through fermentation, and every stage after that can influence the finished drink.

When you look at a bottle, separate the questions:

What grape was used? What style is it? Where did it come from? Who made it? What does the label tell me about the vintage and alcohol?

That framework is enough to start understanding wine with confidence.