AVA: American Vitricultural Areas. Refers to a naming convention for regions where grapes are actually grown. The best known examples include Bordeaux, Napa and Chianti. Also can be called an appellation. If a wine is labeled as Napa Valley then at least 85% of the fruit must be grown in Napa Valley. If Sonoma County is listed then at least 75% of the grapes must be grown in the named county. Many wine drinkers can use this system to try new wine varietals from famous regions for a fraction of the price. Try a Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon for example.
Yeast: Winemakers
generally have two choices when they are deciding what type of yeast to
use.They can use the yeast that occurs
naturally on the skin of the grapes, or they can purchase yeast which has been
created after being isolated in a laboratory.There is some preliminary research from scientists in New Zealand
showing that natural yeast causes more vibrant flavors in wine….at this time
though adding yeast is still the industry standard across all wine types and
locations.
Tannin:
If you’ve ever thought, why can wine seem dry even though it
is a liquid…here is your answer: tannins.Higher levels of tannins do a few things for wine, they make it possible
for the wine to be aged for a longer time period and they also can be
intentionally left higher to encourage the wine to be paired with food as is
the custom with some French wine.What tannin
actually is, is basically the essentially bitter part of a plant.For our purposes grape seeds and skin have
tannins in them, wine makers are careful to remove seeds without crushing the seeds
to limit the level of tannins.However,
red wine has higher levels of tannins because the wine is essentially soaked
with the skin on to help create a darker color.
