1.A major factor that will influence a wine’s taste is the variety (or combination of varieties) of grape used. There are too many to list here, but you are sure to have heard of those such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz.
2.Another factor that leads to the huge variation in the taste of wines comes from its terroir - i.e. the land on which the vines are planted. The soil type, degree of slope, climate, hours of sunlight and other factors can wildly influence a wine.
3.After planting a new crop of vines it will take five years or so before grapes from it can be harvested.
4.One ton of grapes will make around 720 bottles of wine; to put it another way around one and a quarter kilos of grapes go into making just one bottle.
5.The largest wine producers in the world? At number one, France (of course), then Italy, Spain and the USA.
6.Although the monk Dom Perignon did not invent champagne as popular myth suggests, he did in fact found many principles used in its production which are still followed today.
7.Some wines use grapes affected by noble rot, a grape fungus which can vividly enhance the flavors of a particular wine.
8.When you measure by the number of acres planted, grapes are the world’s number one fruit crop.
9.In the 1860s, a few cuttings from new world vines were brought to Europe. Unknown to the winemakers who brought them back, they carried with them
a parasite called Phylloxera vastatrix which ate the roots of vines. The parasites spread from these few vines to almost the whole of Western Europe. The only way to save the native crops was to graft them with vines that were native to America. Thus most European wine today actually has roots in American vines!
10.As a general rule, the darker a wine, the warmer the climate in which its grapes were grown. This applies to both red wine which can be extremely deep red (even purple edging towards black) in colour and also to white wine which can have a golden, almost brown hue.
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