True wine connoisseurs know that, depending on the time of year, time of day, weather and mood, wine can be a pleasant addiction, inspiring us, giving us peace of mind or getting up. There are many wine classifications, once you know what there are you can expand the options, so that each moment can be accompanied by a wine. Wines can be classified according to different criteria, for example, according to the sugar level, the origin of the grapes or the alcohol content of the grapes. Today we will focus on the classification of wines by amount of gas in the wine.
According to this criterion, wines can be divided into those containing carbon dioxide Those that do contain carbon dioxide, in turn, are divided into several types: sparkling wine, semi-sparkling wine, pearl wine or pearl wine and aerated wine.
The gas in a wine is carbon dioxide, and can come from the fermentation itself or be added later. Depending on how much pressure the bottle retains, the wine is classified as still, needle, pearl or sparkling. It is the same criterion that separates a table target from a cava or a champagne.
| Type | Carbon pressure | Where the gas comes from | Wine of Vega Tolosa |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quiet | virtually none | — | Vega Tolosa Tardana |
| Of needle | light, can be seen in the mouth | fermentation or addition | — |
| Of pearl or peeled | between 2 and 3 atmospheres | fermentation | — |
| Sparkling | from 4 atmospheres in bottle | second fermentation in bottle | Brut Nature Tardana · Capricho DiVino Brut Nature |
A quiet wine is one that does not conserve appreciable carbon dioxide: when served it does not form a bubble or foam. It is the category of most whites, reds and table rosés, and the reference against which the others are defined.
The first type is wine which itself contains an indication of absence of restlessness. Wines called quiet are those that do not have the presence of gas in wine and their alcoholic strength is less than 15o. These wines are the white, rosé and red wines. Quiet wines are more commonly consumed, which can also be known as table wines. Undoubtedly, the method of production of still wine differs according to the type of wine we want to make.
They can be; white wine which is fermented must without skins; fermented rosé wine in contact with grape skins and must in order to achieve that colour; and the red wine that is fermented next to the skins in search of polyphenols and tannins.
A frothy retains carbon dioxide from a second fermentation made inside the bottle. When packaged by the traditional method, its minimum pressure is 4 atmospheres at 20 °C. Hence the fine and persistent bubble, and its long aging.
Sparkling wines are next in this classification in terms of carbon dioxide content. By their origin or special elaboration, these wines retain part of the carbon dioxide from its own fermentation or added sugars. This gaseous carbon dioxide is released in the form of bubbles without foam. They are usually pink or white.
It should be noted that sparkling wines are characterized by a long aging and a second fermentation in bottle, which gives them a high carbon content. The famous Spanish cava is mainly a sparkling wine. The wine that stands out in the sparkling wine list is Vega Tolosa Brut Nature Gran Reserva from the Vega Tolosa winery. In an original bottle, Audrey Champ is a delicate natural brut, made with a traditional method. The wine is made from an original coupage of the best grapes, carefully grown in La Manchuela: Chardonnay, Macabeo and Sauvignon Blanc.
This wine created to delight the most demanding tastes, choosing exclusivity when sharing this bottle. It has pale yellow color with light greenish tones, it is clean and bright. It is characterized by abundant fine bubbles, with crown formation. By tasting this wine, you will feel clean, long, elegant and fruity aroma in the mouth, which is a good taste balance.
A semi-sparkling wine is a young wine that retains a light bubble, far below that of a sparkling wine. It's not a cava or a sparkling: the needle is perceived only in the mouth. It is advisable to drink it in the same year and serve it somewhat cold.
Special attention should be paid to needle failure. The semi-sparkling wines are young, non-sparkling wines. If you're looking for a real bubble, our Brut Nature Tardana and the Capricho DiVino Brut Nature are made by the traditional method. These wines should be consumed in the same year, in order to appreciate their freshness and the charm of their bubbles. Semi-sparkling wine can also be aerated. This occurs when part of the carbon dioxide which contains the semi-sparkling wine has been Added.
Although ‘needle’ wine is neither a cava nor a sparkling wine, thanks to its elaboration, this type of wine retains a small amount of gas in wine. When the time comes and you open the bottle, this gas comes out in the form of bubbles, but it does not form foam.
For the production of semi-sparkling wine, the same grape varieties are used as for the production of other types of wines. For white wines they usually use the same ones that go to the elaboration of cava, for example, Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel. For rosés are usually used Grenache, Sirach, Tempraniyo, Merlot and the like.
Therefore, wine does not require a specific grape variety. In some cases, when the wine is made with Moscatel grapes, the product is a little sweeter than that made with other grape varieties.
To really enjoy semi-sparkling wine, it should be served a little cold so that you can fully enjoy the freshness and tenderness of this drink. This wine is ideal for cooling off on a hot summer afternoon.
Pearl wine or peeled wine is a wine with carbon dioxide at a pressure slightly higher than semi-sparkling wine (between 2 or 3 atmospheres). They are sometimes included in semi-sparkling wines.
It is the one to which carbon dioxide is added artificially, instead of preserving it from fermentation. It shares with the natural sparkling the presence of bubble, but not its origin or its profile: organoleptically they are different wines.
At the end of the conversation about gas in wine, it is necessary to talk about aerated wine. This wine contains carbon dioxide from sources other than wine (exogenous). But it must be borne in mind that it can also contain part of natural carbonic gas (endogenous) from fermentation. According to Vinetur, the digital wine magazine, andn Spain, aerated wine, is to which carbonic is added, regardless of whether the wine contained part of carbonic of natural origin.
In this wine the pressure is not limited, except when it is bottled in champagne form, then its minimum pressure will be 4 atmospheres at a temperature of 20o C. Its elaboration is a simplified form of the ‘Granvás’ system, where the second natural fermentation phase is replaced by the addition of CO2.
They do not resemble natural sparkling wines from an organoleptic point of view. The only thing that makes it related to natural sparkling wine is the presence of carbon dioxide. However, in the case of this wine, the gas is less integrated into the wine, so the size of the bubble is larger and its persistence in the glass is smaller.
Behind all these characteristics there is a wonderful world of quality wines, whose choice will be successful in any case. You just have to find a worthy excuse to taste these wonderful wines.
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