a. Cabernet Sauvignon (Ka-ber-nay soh-vin-yoh)
Where it is produced : Bordeaux, California, Washington, Australia, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria.
Characteristics : Known as the “King of Red Wine”, it is the most popular red wine grape to date. It’s color is medium to dark red with usually strong tannins. When grape is young, it has vegetal aroma – mint and green bell pepper. With greater maturity, it develops softer tannins with strong flavor of blackcurrent. The very good wines are able to age for long and may develop chocolate, leather, tobacco, lead pencil or cedar aromas.
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The skin of grapes and derived from it during fermentation tannins, pigments and aromatic substances are paramount in the creation of red wine. During the fermentation, and often after its completion, is the extraction of poly phenols. The art of creating red wine – to make this process efficient and on time to stop him. As for the white varieties, an important criterion for the maturity of red grapes is the level of sugar and acids in berries, as well as the quantity and quality of tannins in their skin and bones.
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