What does table wine mean? What is table wine

Everyone who is at least a little interested in the topic of winemaking knows well what table wine means. Unlike dessert, it is served not at the end of the meal, but with the main courses. In many countries, inexpensive wines for everyday use are called canteens.

Speaking about what table wine is, it is necessary to understand what the category of wines is in general. This is the compliance of raw materials and technology with industry standards of a country or a particular region. The standards regulate permitted grape varieties, cultivation methods, vine yield, aging time and many other factors.

Methods for the production of table wine are practically not regulated. The bottle rarely indicates the grape variety and vintage (harvest year). However, this does not mean that the wine is bad, just that its quality lies solely on the conscience of the winemaker.

The situation is different with local geographical wines. They have in strict order on the label indicate the grape variety, appellation and year of harvest.

Here are examples of how to recognize table wine on the labels of manufacturers from different countries.

• Vin de Table - France. This category includes most of the French wines, and they can be made from wine material collected outside the country. Wines undergo only simple laboratory testing for safety.
• Vino da Tavola - Italy. The blend can include any grape varieties, their number is not regulated.
• Vino de Mesa - Spain. These wines also do not have requirements for appellation, vine cultivation methods and vinification technology.
• Tafelwein - Germany.

What does this or that marking on a bottle of wine mean?

Thus, the state guarantees a certain minimum of consumer properties. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the world's wine classification system was imperfect, and falsification of drinks was common. Any winemaker in France could write "Bordeaux" on a bottle to pass off his wine as an exquisite drink from the famous region.

In the 30s of the XX century, France issued a series of laws regulating winemaking, and introduced a system of protection of wines by geographical name. Other countries have adapted the classification for themselves, and the world of winemaking has become more orderly. Now we can be sure that dry table wine from France, Italy or Spain, labeled with the appropriate sign, will be completely safe to drink. Taste and aroma will also be expected and will not bring unpleasant surprises.

As a rule, dry red and white wines are chosen as table wines. They are more versatile in combinations with products. Until now, the rule "red to meat, white to fish" works fine, although there are a huge number of private exceptions.

Table wines are served at a temperature of 14 to 18 degrees Celsius. Too cold wine becomes sour, and too warm - unpleasantly sluggish. Remember that it is always better to overcool the wine than overheat it. Table wine poured into glasses quickly reaches room temperature, and it is almost impossible to correct warm wine.

When choosing alcohol for family gatherings or a romantic evening, it is easy to get confused. What kind of designations you will not see on the label!

Producers offer a whole range of different wines:

• canteen;
• dry;
• fortified;
• dessert;
• semi-sweet;
• geographical.

And that is not all! Moreover, dessert may well be, for example, geographical. And what does table wine mean - is it possible to buy a bottle of semi-sweet table wine if the price looks very tempting? Or “canteen” is one classification, and “semi-sweet” is already “from another opera”?

Table wines have a number of common features:

• produced by complete (or incomplete) fermentation of the wort;
• can be made in any country;
• exempt from any requirements for sugar content, grade and type of raw materials used, production technology.

These are natural drinks containing no more than 14% alcohol by volume.

These wines are divided into:

• semi-dry;
• semi-sweet.

How is it different from usual?

There is no ordinary wine as such. Any alcoholic beverage is subject to classification.

You may catch the eye of a bottle of dessert,. It is possible that you will give preference to vintage - it is able to decorate a festive table.

But if you see a "table" addition, be aware that the manufacturer had the right to make a drink according to his own recipe, so its taste may differ from what is expected. Wines with the same name, one of which is table wine, can be completely different.

Dining and geographical - what's the difference?

Geographical wine appeared in the international classification just a few years ago. Such an inscription on the label means: alcohol is produced in a certain country using certain grape varieties.

The dining room, on the other hand, is a “box with a surprise”: winemakers have every right not to indicate in which state the grapes for the drink were harvested.

What is the difference from sweet?

Can table wine be sweet? Most likely, if you read such an inscription on the bottle, it is a fake: after all, these wines have a different production technology.

If the must for table must ferment completely (or almost completely), then for the preparation of a sweet process is interrupted in the early stages and alcohol is added.

What are the differences between dry and sweet wines?

Dry is obtained after fermentation is completed naturally. This is a rather weak alcohol, its maximum strength is 11 revolutions. It has a small percentage of sugar content, not more than 1.

Sweet wines are prepared with the addition of alcohol, they are slightly stronger than dry ones, and the proportion of sugar in them rises to 8% or more.

Dry ones do not last long, especially when opened. Sweet can be drunk little by little, stretching one bottle for several weeks.

Collectible and vintage

The wine can be ordinary - that is, aged less than a year, but more than 3 months, made from inexpensive grape varieties.

Collectible will definitely be more expensive, because it exposure is at least one and a half years. Only a certain grape variety is used to make a particular vintage wine. A producer who claims that his wine is vintage, thereby provides a guarantee of compliance with manufacturing technology.

The most expensive wines collectible. 6 years is the minimum age for such a drink. The number of bottles is usually limited, so this wine can cost a lot of money.

How to drink dessert table wines?

If we adhere to the classification of wines adopted by international standards, then table wine can hardly be a dessert wine - they are prepared using different technologies. Therefore, the rules for the use of these wines are different.

Table wines are often dry and semi-dry. Canteens - that is, they are served at the table, and therefore should not interrupt the taste of the main dishes. Their task is aid digestion, stimulate appetite. These wines are warmed up before serving. They drink this wine with hot dishes: fish, meat, and sometimes soups.

Desserts are usually served with something sweet. Ice cream or cake will go great with a drink. Just make sure that the taste of wine is brighter than the taste of dessert. You can pour wine into glasses after it has cooled slightly.

If, picking up a bottle of wine, you learn from the accompanying inscription that it is table wine, this is not at all a reason to put the bottle back and look at other alcohol. Yes, this wine does not have strict standards. Yes, it is not known on what land the grapes were harvested.

But your chances of acquiring a truly tasty and even healthy drink are high if you come to buy from a large trusted store. Such stores do not work with unscrupulous suppliers selling dubious products. Therefore, luck may well be on your side and for little money you can taste a great drink.

Do you like table wines? Please tell us about those of them that you think are worthy of attention. We will gladly taste!

What is this popular drink and how is it different from its other classmates? Table wine - literally what is consumed at the table, eating. That is, its direct purpose is to accompany the meal, it usually does not represent any gastronomic value on its own.

What does table wine mean?

This is the lowest (and also officially accepted) category in the international system for classifying wines in terms of quality and origin. Moreover, bunches of grapes for table wine can be grown in one area, and the drink itself is made in another country. On the label with this product there will be a marking "canteen" in the language corresponding to the manufacturer. For example, in France - Vin de table, in Italy - Vino da tavola, Tafelwein - in Germany, and Table wine - in the States.

What is the difference?

What does table wine mean? The pan-European (as well as the worldwide) category is distinguished primarily by a simple bouquet and a relatively low pricing policy. A minimum control over product quality is applied: the main thing to watch is that table wine is made from grapes, and only from grapes, and that the final product is safe for the health of consumers. As a rule, there are no additional requirements for taste, varietal composition, characteristics and parameters such as strength and acidity with sweetness.

But this does not mean that table wine is not so tasty. You just can't tell from the label on the bottle what you can expect from the contents. This is exactly what distinguishes the table category from drinks controlled by origin and made according to the requirements of appellations - the codes of distillation rules.

In the production of these wines, less control over the grapes is also used. This means that any berries can be used for production, and bottle labels usually do not indicate where the grapes were grown, in which country or territory. Also, as a rule, the year of harvest and production of the drink is not indicated. But this does not mean that alcohol in this category is of poor quality. Manufacturers themselves monitor the quality of their products, the taste and aroma spectrum of alcohol. Therefore, some wines, according to their classification, are classified as table wines, have a rather high cost, which is often emphasized by buyers.

Classification of table wines

By the way, in the most popular areas of winemaking in France and Italy, Germany and Spain, or, for example, in Georgia, white and red tableware make up a significant part of the production. Traditionally, they are divided into dry and semi-dry, as well as semi-sweet. And also for varietal and blended, for ordinary with vintage. All of the above are classified as white, pink, red. There are also yellow table wines, specially oxidized drinks from white grapes (traditionally in the southern regions). For example, French - in the department of Jura, Armenian Etchmiadzin, Hungarian "To-Kai native", table sherry.

Imeretian and Kakhetian wines in Georgia are singled out as a separate group of canteens. They are prepared according to ancient traditional technologies from a mixture of white and red grape varieties. Also, carbonated (effervescent) wines are also classified as canteens.

Red and white table wine

These drinks are highly valued by the consumer: they have antibacterial properties. And all sorts of putrefactive microorganisms and pathogens, getting into the wine, soon die (it was not for nothing that the Roman legionnaires in ancient times added wine to drinking water). By their acidity and pH, dry drinks are close to gastric juice, and this factor allows them to participate in the digestion process. In general, due to its composition, table wine helps to maintain the acid and alkaline balance in the human body.

As a rule, the preparation of good table drinks is quite labor-intensive; they can easily be destroyed by oxidation, by the influence of micro-organisms, and therefore require the constant attention of the winemaker: careful care of raw materials, low aging temperatures, storage features. Genuine art is the ability to prepare (and then preserve) high-quality tableware. According to many experts, true distillation is dry table wine. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that, having consumed a drink during a meal, a person feels only the slightest intoxication, which is confirmed by consumers in their reviews.

Classification of wine materials

But any wine consists of wine materials. According to technology and purpose, they are traditionally divided into non-fertile and dry. Whites, in turn, are divided into champagne and cognac, table and sherry, blended wine materials. And dry blends are used as part of sparkling and strong (special). Red dry wine materials can be used for both table and sparkling drinks. The so-called nebrods are used both for sparkling and semi-sweet canteens.

Main feature

By the way, all table drinks and wine materials are characterized by the complete naturalness of their components. During production, it is not allowed to add alcohol or sugar or other components to the must (as well as to the finished wine). An exception is made only for sherry, to the wine material of which rectificate is added to increase the strength (16.5%) as a necessity for the sherry process. And it is allowed to add sugar syrup to sparkling (carbonated) wines.

Features of use

How to drink red table dry wine? For the full disclosure of the bouquet, it is advisable to warm up the table drink before serving so that the temperature becomes higher than in the room. For dessert, on the contrary, cooling is recommended (12-16 degrees Celsius).

The choice of glass for drinking wine is also important. The correct shape will allow you to direct the sip and most subtly feel the whole bouquet of flavor with taste. Gourmets believe that the "wrong" glass distorts the taste of the drink. So, for dry red, a glass in the form of a tulip (ball, spherical) is suitable, and for white, a slightly elongated one. For red, they use the largest ones, a little smaller for dry white, and even less for dessert. In general, as follows from the reviews, three types of glasses will be enough for a novice taster.

The division of alcohol into different categories is a necessity due to which the consumer can already determine the quality of the drink from the label. For example, when choosing, it is very important to know how table wine differs from geographical wine, whether there are differences between them in taste or quality, etc.

Of course, there are other varieties of this alcoholic drink, and its classification in different countries may differ slightly.

What is table wine

First of all, you need to understand what kind of drink in the world of winemakers is meant by table wine. This is a light drink that has a small strength due to the small amount of sugar in its composition. It is usually served with meals, because this wine goes well with main dishes.

Traditionally, in most wine-producing countries, table wines are divided into:

• dry;
• semi-dry;
• semi-sweet.

Another difference between table wine and regular wine is less control over the grapes for their production. Those. any berries can be used to make wine, and the bottle label usually does not indicate where they were grown, in which country or territory. The year of wine production is also not indicated.

But this does not mean at all that alcoholic beverages in this category are of poor quality. The manufacturer himself monitors his products, namely the taste of alcohol. Therefore, some table wines are quite expensive.

Dessert wine

What is the difference between table wine and dessert wine? Basically, alcoholic drinks in this category are served with desserts (as you might guess from the name). For example, they go well with ice cream, cakes or fruit. The only condition for such a serving is that the dessert should not be sweeter than the wine itself, otherwise the latter will be just compote.

Dessert wines have a higher percentage of alcohol, which is formed due to the way the drink is prepared. After all, in order to achieve a certain sweetness of wine, it is necessary to stop the fermentation of the must. This is done in many ways, one of them is the addition of strong alcohol to it.

Also, for greater natural sweetness, special sugary grape varieties are used.

Dessert wine is:

• sweet;
• semi-sweet;
• liquor.

How to drink dessert and table wines

There is a difference between dessert and table wine in serving. To reveal the bouquet of taste and aroma, table wines should be warmed up before serving so that their temperature is slightly higher than room temperature. For dessert wines, cooling to 13-16 degrees is recommended.

Very important . Their special shape allows you to correctly direct the drink to that area of ​​​​the tongue, which will most subtly feel all its bouquet of aroma and taste. Gourmets believe that the wrong glass can distort the taste of the drink.

In the existing variety, you can get lost, because some wine producers have gone so far as to recommend glasses for a particular type of drink. Of course, the average consumer only needs to have a few types of glasses.

For example, glasses in the form of a tulip or a ball are suitable for red wine, but for white wine they are more elongated. The largest glasses are used for red wine, a little less for white, and even less for dessert.

The difference between table wine and a geographical name is that from the label on the bottle you can always find out in which area the grapes grew, in some cases they even indicate the year of harvest. Such wines are sometimes also called local.

It should be noted that most often alcoholic beverages in this category are produced from one grape variety, without mixing it with others. All this affects the taste of wine.
But recently, some geographical wines are produced using a different technology, which is called sepazhnaya. The finished product does not lose its bright taste, but still gourmets prefer drinks made from one grape variety.

Local wines are stored for a very long time, revealing their taste over time, giving new notes. That is why geographical wines are very often vintage and collectible. After all, most of them are produced according to unique author's methods, which attract the attention of collectors.

Collection and vintage wines

The most important thing is the selection of grapes in the manufacture, unique technologies and a long period of wine aging. Vintage wine is aged for at least one and a half years if it is a dry table wine, and at least two years if it is a strong dessert wine.

For each brand of this alcoholic drink, which can later become a brand, a certain production technology has been established, a certain grape variety is used for it. All this must be recorded on the label.

Vintage wine can become collectible if it has been aged for at least three years after bottling. Among connoisseurs of wines from this category, the most popular drinks that have been aged for at least ten years in bottles. You can determine the aging time by the sediment at the bottom of the bottle, which forms over the years.

Those wines that have a high percentage of alcohol and sugar are best preserved. But, for example, “half wines” are preserved very poorly, since the fermentation process is artificially stopped in them, but not by adding alcohol to the composition (as is the case with sweet wines).

Now it is very easy to understand how table wine differs from geographical wine in taste, aging and other characteristics. When choosing a good wine, remember that the full taste of the drink can only be felt with the right choice of glasses and dishes for it. Gourmets consider it blasphemy to drink any high-quality wine in one gulp without feeling its whole bouquet.

Table wine is more often dry varieties of alcohol used as an addition to a meal. The drink contains a small amount of sugar. It is easy to make a drink at home with your own hands. Remember that table wines are alcoholic beverages, so their excessive consumption is not recommended, because. can be harmful to health.

What is table wine

Among the canteens there are white, red and pink varieties produced in various countries. Hue varies from light straw to blackcurrant.

To withstand the drink is not accepted. The year of manufacture is not indicated on the bottle.

This alcohol is served after bringing it to a special temperature slightly above room temperature. This action allows the taste and aromatic qualities of the drink to open up. The quality of such alcohol is different:

• collectible;
• vintage;
• ordinary.

It is not customary to add impurities, sugar to these types of alcohol.

Answering the question about what is a table, it should be said that this is a drink for daily use. The strength of such alcohol is small, only about 9-14 degrees. The drink contains a small amount of sugar; the concentration of the sweet white product is only 0.3%. Most often these wines are dry, rarely semi-sweet or sweet. For their production, any grape variety is used. The drink is not fortified.

You can make such alcohol at home.

What are the varieties

Various varieties of grapes are used for production. The product can be:

• red;
• pink;
• white.

Quality varieties are those produced in Georgia. Kakheti and Imereti wines compete with vintage French ones. Produced from Rkatsiteli, Saperavi and Mtsvane grapes.

The name is most often given by the name of the grape variety from which the alcohol was made, or by the area in which they were created. Compound names are rare.

Azerbaijani, French varieties, as well as alcohol produced in the North Caucasus, are of high quality. On bottles with French alcohol, you can find a special inscription confirming that only grapes grown in France were used for production.

1. The first includes wines with a protected designation of origin. Requirements are imposed not only on the area of ​​cultivation of raw materials and production, but also on the grape varieties and technologies used by the manufacturer.
2. The second category includes drinks with a protected geographical indication. Their producers can experiment with production technology, grow grapes that are not of the varieties that are established for their territories. In this case, raw materials must be grown in the indicated area, and the production process must also take place there.
3. Table, sparkling wines fall into the third category. This also applies.

Local wines are stored for a long time, during which their taste changes and develops. Often they become vintage, collectible.

What are the similarities and differences between the dining, dessert and geographical option

The similarity of these options lies in the fact that any of them includes white, red and pink varieties of varying degrees of sweetness.

To understand the difference between table wine and geographical wine, you should study the bottle. Geographical wine must necessarily be marked with a special inscription, informing about the area in which the raw materials used for the manufacture were grown. In addition, it is most often produced from one grape variety, which is not mixed with others. Some variants, however, are produced according to the sleeving technology, which involves proportional mixing of various types of raw materials.

Table wine differs from dessert wine in that the former should only be served with sweet dishes, as its name suggests. There are also differences in the temperature of the drink: dining rooms are recommended to be heated a few degrees above room temperature, and dessert ones should be cooled to + 13 ... + 15 ° С.

It is customary to drink dessert types from small glasses - it is believed that this way their taste is revealed better, since the liquid, when swallowed, enters the area of ​​​​the tongue, which most subtly feels the taste. Table wines are usually drunk from larger glasses.