The 8 major types of red wine

First things first, red wine is well…red, but why? It's color can be derived from a vast assortment of grape varietals ranging from grapes that are reddish, deep purple, and even a beautiful blue on the color scale. These grapes give rise to a wine that is color classified with such descriptors as garnet, almost black, dark red, light red, ruby red, opaque purple, deep violet, maroon and the list goes on. It is the grapeskins that are responsible for the red wine’s distinct color spectrum. The skins are in contact with the grape’s juice during the fermentation process, allowing the dispersion of both color and tannins. The individual wine’s particular red hue depends on the grape type used in the process and the length of time the skin’s pigmentation is in contact with juice. There are right around 50 key red wine varietals that consistently manifest themselves in today’s worldwide wine market.

If only one variety (merlot, cabernet sauvignon) is mentioned on the label, then the wine is called varietal and is named after the grape with a capital initial (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon). Varietal wines primarily show the fruit: the wines tastes much depend on the grape variety.

Shiraz

Shiraz grape

(Sah-ra or Shi-raz) Shiraz or syrah are two names for the same variety. Europe vintners only use the name syrah.
Food pairings: meat (steak, beef, wild game, stews, etc.)

Districts: syrah excels in California, in Australia, and in France’s Rhone Valley.

Typical taste in varietal wine: aromas and flavors of wild black fruit (such as blackcurrant), with overtones of black pepper spice and roasting meat. The abundance of fruit sensations is often complemented by warm alcohol and gripping tannins.

The shiraz variety gives hearty, spicy reds. While shiraz is used to produce many average wines it can produce some of the world’s finest, deepest, and darkest reds with intense flavors and excellent longevity. You’ll discover Syrahs of value and elegance by reading my reviews of French wines.







Merlot

Merlot grape

(Mare-lo) Easy to drink. The softness of Merlot has made it an "introducing" wine for new red-wine drinkers.

Food pairings: any will do.

Districts: a key player in the Bordeaux blend, merlot is now also grown in Italy, Romania, California, Washington State, Chile, Australia, etc. It is the fourth wine grape variety in terms of coverage worldwide (after sultanine blanche, airen blanc, and grenache noir).

Typical taste in varietal wine: typical scents include blackcherry, plums and herbal flavors. The texture is round but a middle palate gap is common. The Merlot type of wine is less tannic (rough) than Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cabernet sauvignon

Cabernet grape

(Ca-burr-nay so-veen-yaw) Widely accepted as one of the world’s best varieties. Cabernet sauvignon is often blended with cabernet franc and merlot. It usually undergoes oak treatment.
Food pairings: best with simply prepared red meat.

Districts: cabernet sauvignon is planted wherever red wine grapes grow except in the Northern fringes such as Germany. It is part of the great red Médoc wines of France, and among the finest reds in Australia, California and Chile.

Typical taste in varietal wine: full-bodied, but firm and gripping when young. With age, polyphenols polymerize: the grip fades away. Vanilla taste if present come not from the fruit but from the oak treatment.

Malbec

Malbec grape

(Mal-bek)
Food pairings: all types of meat-based meals, foie gras. Argentine Malbec suits Mexican, Cajun, and Indian dishes, if you insist on having wine with such meals.

Districts: malbec has its origins in the French Bordeaux region. It is grown as côt in the Loire Valley and auxerrois in Cahors. Malbec has also been recognized as médoc noir or pressac again in France. Malbec is widely grown in Argentina, where it is the most popular red grape variety. It is also available in Chile, in Australia, and in the cooler regions of California.

Typical taste in varietal wine: malbec’s characteristics vary greatly depending on where it is grown and how it is transformed. Generally it produces an easy-drinking style, well colored wine that tastes of plums, berries, and spice.

Malbec is often blended with other varieties such as cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and petit verdot to make Bordeaux style wines.

Pinot noir

Pinot Noir grape

(Pee-know na-wahr) One of the noblest red wine grapes. Pinot noir is difficult to grow, rarely blended, with no roughness.
Food pairings: excellent with grilled salmon, chicken, lamb and Japanese dishes (notably sushi rolls).

Districts: makes the great reds of Burgundy (from Bourgogne, France), and good wines from Austria, California, Oregon, and New Zealand.

Typical taste in varietal wine: very unlike Cabernet Sauvignon. The structure is delicate and fresh. The tannins are very soft; this is related to the low level of polyphenols. The aromatics are very fruity (cherry, strawberry, plum), often with notes of tea-leaf, damp earth, or worn leather.

Yet pinot noir is very transparent to the place where it is grown. The staggering range of wines produced makes it pointless to define which personality is the best expression of the variety.

Zinfandel
(Zin-fan-dell) Perhaps the world’s most versatile wine grape, making everything from blush wine (White Zinfandel), to rich, heavy reds.
Food pairings: very much depends on the freshness/heaviness of the wine; tomato-sauce pasta, pizza, and grilled and barbecued meats.

Districts: only found in California.

Typical taste in varietal wine: often a zesty flavor with berry and pepper.

Sangiovese

Sangiovese grape

(San-gee-oh-ve-zee)
Food pairings: a good choice for Italian and other Mediterranean-style cuisines.

Districts: sangiovese produces the Chiantis of Italy’s Tuscany region and, of late, good wines from California.

Typical taste in varietal wine: the primary style is medium-bodied with fresh berry and plum flavors.



Barbera

Barbera grape

(Bar-bear-a) Not as popular as Merlot but with similar attributes.
Food pairings: barbera wines are versatile: they match many dishes, including tomato sauces.

Districts: another classic red of Italian origin. Widespread in California.

Typical taste in varietal wine: juicy black cherry and plum fruit, a silky texture and excellent acidity.

The Most Expensive Scotch Whisky

    In its original form, the word “whisky” meant “water of life.” I’m sure some of you readers out there will agree with that sentiment. Luckily for you, there’s quite a variety of different whiskies (or “whiskeys,” if we’re talking about American or Irish liquors). But my favorite is still the Scotch whisky!

    Scotch whisky is produced and aged, as the name suggest, in Scotland. By law, Scotch must be made from malted grain, must be matured in oak casks for at least three years and must have an alcoholic strength of less than 94.8% by volume. The age statement on a bottle of Scotch is determined by the youngest stock used in its production. The most expensive scotch whiskies in the world were each produced in one of the regions traditionally considered part of the Highlands region.

Whereas malt whisky is produced from pure malted barley without mixing with grain (the cheapest) of whiskey.


The fashion for quality, limited-edition whiskey started in Britain in the 1980s with the rapid expansion in the availability of single-malt Scotches, high-end whiskies made by individual distilleries in Scotland, using only malted barley.


...and below are some of the most expensive whisky that ever made! 

Ladybank Single Malt: $4,700

Ladybank Distillery in Edinburgh, Scotland. Only 300 bottles of this rare single malt Scotch whiskeys are bottled every year, and to get one – you need to become a member. Price of a membership card – about $ 4700 a year.

The Macallan 1947 Fine and Rare Collection: $6,800

These malt Scotch whiskey is matured in casks of sherry and was originally bottled for Italy in 1962, when he was re-poured for a wonderful and rare collection of Scotch Macallan. Distillery using peat to dry barley in kilns due to the scarcity and high price of coal during World War II.Drying barley a peat smoke gives the whiskey, “smoked” flavor that is not in production today Macallans.

 Chivas Regal Royal Salute 50 year old: $10,000

Chivas Regal Royal Salute – in 1953 the 21-year-old, specially blended Scotch whiskey with the smoky flavors of anise and raisins was bottled especially for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.Half a century later, in honor of this event from the malts, embodied in the coronation year of Queen of England, was made the latest version of the drink. Produced only 255 bottles, 10 of which were intended for collectors from America, where for each bottle was paid $ 10 000. This 50-year-old whiskey was bottled in a beautiful blue bottle with 24-carat gold and silver label than, perhaps, partly due to its price.

 The Macallan 1939 40 year old Fine and Rare Collection: $10,125

“Peat and strong,” with the scent of sweet toffee and dried fruits, 1939 Macallan’s – 40-year-old, was first bottled in 1979. In 2002, he was added to the Beautiful and Rare Line distillery and re-bottled. At present, it can be found in about 10,125 $.

 Glenfarclas 1955 50 year old: $10,878

Glenfarclas 1955 / 50 years of aging, 70cl / 44.4%, single-malt Scotch whiskey.

Spicy and silky with a sweet flavor, this is – the oldest party, ever bottled distilleries Glenfarclas.Bottled in 2005 exactly fifty years after it was distilled, was founded by George S. Grant, to celebrate the bicentennial of his birth “the great-grandfather,” John Grant, a farmer and breeder of Aberdeen-Angus breed of cattle, who bought the Glenfarclas distillery in 1865.

Dalmore 50 Year Old Decanter: $11,000

It was released only 60 bottles of single malt whiskey. Poured in 1978, this dark, aged in casks of sherry Dalmore Scotch and has a reputation for intense and very original flavor and is considered by many fans as one of the top 50-year-old whiskey in the world.

 Macallan 55 Year old Lalique Crystal Decanter: $12,500

Attractive crystal bottle – bottle of 55 years Lalique Macallan’s been copied from a bottle of spirits in 1910, Rene Lalique designed and made specifically for the Macallan in the number of just 420 pieces. Each bottle is individually pronumerovna and since 2008 is available for select U.S., UK, Asia and Russia. Cork is made of amber colored crystal in one of the most difficult colors for manufacturers of crystal. 55-year-old single malt Macallan, (40.1%), more than half a century to mature in oak barrels of sherry. Exotic, with a smoky aroma and taste of this whiskey is soft and spicy with a subtle taste of citrus.

 Glenfiddich 1937 Rare Collection: $20,000

Was issued only one bottle of whiskey, it may be the oldest bottle of whiskey in the world. It was bought in 2006 at auction for $ 20,000.

Glenfiddich 50 Year Old

This golden amber Scotch, the darkest of Glenfiddich’s whiskies, is only the second vatting of Glenfiddich 50 Year Old. The first was between 1937 and 1939, when Glenfiddich founder William Grant laid down nine casks—one for each of the grandchildren who’d helped him build his distillery by hand. 

To create this whisky—with its delicate rose petal and violet notes and green tobacco leaf, oak and smoke flavor—two casks, each one matured for 50 years in a cool and dark warehouse, were mingled in an American oak cask by renowned Malt Master David Stewart for another six months before finally being bottled and readied for sale.

 Dalmore 62 Single Highland Malt Scotch: $58,000

This single Highland malt Scotch whisky from the Dalmore Distillery in Inverness, Scotland, was one of only twelve bottles produced in 1943 from four single malts dating from 1868, 1876, 1926 and 1939. Each was labeled with its own unique name, this one being called Matheson after the Dalmore Estate’s owner, Alexander Matheson. It was purchased for £32,000 at the Pennyhill Park Hotel in Surrey, where the anonymous buyer reportedly shared it with five of his friends. It has been speculated that the buyer and his friends are the only people to have actually enjoyed a bottle of the expensive vintage.

 The Macallan 1926 Fine and Rare: $75,000

This whiskey was bottled in 1986 and re-bottled in 2002.The oldest and most sought-after of Macallan's revolutionary Fine & Rare Collection is now sold out. “Dry and concentrated” – what else did you expect from one of the most expensive and oldest temples in the world? In 2005, a South Korean businessman paid $ 75,000 for a bottle of 60-year old in 1926 Macallan’s, the finest and most rare whiskey. This unique Scotch whiskey is still possible to try to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City for $ 3300 for a sip.

 Dalmore 64 Trinitas – $160,100.

Another product Distillery Dalmore, Trinitas has received this name because they were made only three bottles of expensive whiskey. This whiskey – a mixture of rare stocks, including some that are ripened on the distillery more than 140 years. Two bottles were sold in Glasgow in 2010, an American collector and one of the UK investor. This – the first Scottish whiskey, Sold for six-figure sum.

 The Macallan Lalique  – $460,000.

A bottle of 64-year-old Macallan, the oldest whisky ever bottled by the Macallan distillery, became the most expensive whisky in the world when it sold at a charity auction in November, 2010. The catch, however, is that the auction also included a one-of-a-kind crystal decanter.

The decanter was created by Lalique using lost-wax casting, called “cire perdue” in French. The decanter was created to celebrate the anniversary of master glassmaker René Lalique’s birth. It is based on a decanter from the 1920s, when The Macallan distillery was founded. The crystal decanter and its expensive cargo have toured twelve cities to raise awareness for charity: water, including Paris, London, Hong Kong and its final stop at Sotheby’s in New York.

Aisla T’Orten 105 Years Old 1906 - $1.4 million

Some 105 years ago, a terrible fire destroyed the Aisla T’Orten distillery in the Highlands, after only one day of operation. Just one ceremonial cask survived the catastrophe and this is how the fascinating story of the oldest and most expensive whisky begins. The sherry butt spent most of the past hundred years in Aberdeen, in the basement of Allie Sisell, a Scottish historian. In 2010, Mr. Sisell contacted Master of Malt and sold the cask for what we can only guess to have been an enormous amount of money.

On March 8, 2011, the 105 years old spirit (it was distilled on February 17, 1906) was finally bottled by Master of Malt. After exhuming the contents, they were left with only 762 ml of whisky: twelve milliliters were tasted, 50 ml were kept for future generations and 700 ml were bottled into a single bottle.

According to the company’s sales director, Ben Ellefsen, the steep price – £870,000 or approximately $1.4 million – reflects only the special provenance of the spirit: “we’ve left out the extra cost incurred by fancy packaging”. Ellefsen also sais that the company hopes the buyer will enjoy the unique savor of the Aisla T’Orten 105 Years Old 1906 Liquid History and not just keep the bottle in a presentation case.