Near the end of or after the alcoholic fermentation, all red wines go through a months’ long transformation called malolactic fermentation.

Far smaller in scale is a microclimate, or the climate in which a vine exists. A microclimate is defined as that area around a vine that extends 6 feet (2 meters) above the ground and about 3 feet (1 meter) into the soil, below the ground.

Merlot’s aromas and flavors include blackberry, cassis, baked cherries, plums, licorice, dark chocolate, and mocha. What merlot usually lacks is cabernet sauvignon’s occasional hint of green tobacco or dried mint.

Spain’s most famous red grape, tempranillo (tem-pra-KNEE-oh), makes a huge range of wine styles depending on where it is grown in Spain—and it’s grown in dozens of places.

PRECISION

During malolactic fermentation, a by-product called diacetyl (die-ASS-i-tuhl) is produced. Diacetyl is the molecule that makes butter taste buttery. So, wines that have experienced malolactic fermentation—like chardonnay—are often buttery.

It can be (and is) made into everything from blush wine to sweet fortified wine. But the zinfandel that knowledgeable wine drinkers love—true zinfandel—is a soft-textured dry red wine crammed with jammy blackberry, boysenberry, and plummy fruit. Made in this style, it’s usually concentrated, medium to full in body, and notorious for (temporarily) s

DISTINCTIVENESS

Here the wine is legendary—deeply yellow with a coppery cast, superbly concentrated, exquisitely balanced, full-bodied, full of extract, with just enough acidity to hold it all together, and a mega-mouthful of flavor.