🍷 Wine Fundamentals

What you’ll learn

1. What Wine Really IsDefine wine as fermented grape juice and map the grape-to-glass production arc.Wine is grape juice fermented by yeast, which converts sugar into alcohol and CO₂. The production arc — ripening/harvest, crush, fermentation, aging (steel or oak), bottling — contains nearly every winemaking decision. Harvest timing sets the balance of sugar (alcohol) versus acidity.
2. The Four Building BlocksIdentify wine's structural components — sweetness, acidity, tannin, alcohol — and why balance matters.Tasting structure is easier and more useful than chasing flavors. Sweetness and alcohol are two fates of grape sugar; acidity provides freshness and food-friendliness; tannin is a drying texture from skins and oak, mostly in reds. Most table wines are 11–14.5% ABV; fortified wines 15.5–25%.
3. How to Taste MethodicallyApply the see-swirl-smell-sip method and understand why smell dominates flavor.Each tasting step has a purpose: color hints at age and grape, swirling releases aromatics, smelling captures most of 'flavor,' and sipping reads structure first. The tongue senses only five basic tastes; the rest is retronasal smell, which is why blocking the nose blanks a wine.
4. Red, White and RoséExplain that color and tannin come from skin contact, not grape color.Most grape juice is clear; red wine gets color and tannin by fermenting on dark skins, while whites are pressed off skins immediately. Rosé is red-grape juice given only brief skin contact (hours to days). Blending red and white to make rosé is banned in most of Europe.
5. The Grapes That Matter MostRecognize the personalities of the major international grape varieties.A few 'international varieties' dominate: reds Cabernet Sauvignon (tannic, blackcurrant), Merlot (soft, plummy), Pinot Noir (pale, delicate), Syrah (dark, peppery); whites Chardonnay (neutral, shape-shifting with oak), Sauvignon Blanc (grassy, zesty), Riesling (aromatic, dry to sweet). Their signatures travel across regions.
6. Why Place MattersExplain terroir and read a wine's climate from its structure and fruit.Terroir is the sum of a site's climate, soil, sun and slope that the vine expresses. Climate (warmth) is the largest factor: cool climates give lighter, higher-acid, lower-alcohol wines with red/green notes; warm climates give riper, fuller, higher-alcohol, jammy wines. The cool/warm axis predicts regional style.
7. The Winemaker's FingerprintDetect winemaking choices — oak, sweetness, sparkling — in the glass.Oak barrels add vanilla/toast/spice and soften texture with a little oxygen; steel adds nothing. Sweetness is set by when fermentation is stopped. Sparkling wine's fizz is a trapped second fermentation; a Champagne bottle holds about 5–6 atmospheres of pressure.
8. When Wine Goes WrongName and diagnose the common wine faults by smell.Cork taint (TCA) smells of wet cardboard and strips fruit — the reason for screwcaps. Oxidation gives nutty, bruised-apple notes; Brett smells barnyardy; volatile acidity smells of vinegar/nail polish; reduction smells of struck match or rotten egg and often swirls off. Recognizing faults is the flip side of knowing what 'right' smells like.
9. Serving and PairingServe wine at the right temperature and pair food using three structural rules.Serve whites cool (not frigid) and reds slightly cool, not warm; air (swirling/decanting) opens a wine. Pairing rules: acid cuts fat and refreshes; tannin is tamed by protein and fat; match the weight of wine to the weight of the dish. Most pairings are fine — enjoyment is the real goal.

Questions this course answers

Grounded in trusted sources

• Jancis Robinson — The Oxford Companion to Wine
• Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding, José Vouillamoz — Wine Grapes
• Karen MacNeil — The Wine Bible
• WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) study materials
• Vinovest — wine alcohol content guide (2026); BBC Science Focus — Champagne bottle pressure

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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