Wine is complex. There are over 300 substances  in a simple glass of wine.

These include 300 substances include water, ethyl alcohol, tartaric acid, malic acid, sugars, carbohydrates, vitamins, a few minerals, aromatic aldehydes, phenolics, keystones, enzymes, pigments and many more magical and mysterious substances.

The standard wine bottles contain 750 milliliters, or 25.4 (US) ounces.

That’s about 4/5 of a quart. Champagne and sparkling wines come in several sizes besides the standard wine bottle; a MAGNUM (1.5 liters or 2x the standard bottle); a SPLIT (or a quarter bottle); or a DEMI (or a half bottle).

In the USA the wine label can be a great tool to develop a deeper understand of the wine you are choosing or drinking. The wine label will include the

following:

Brand Name

Type (White Table Wine, Merlot, etc.)

Percentage of alcohol

Name and address of the bottler

Amount, in milliliters or liters

Warnings on the use of alcohol

“Contains Sulfites”

The labels also may tell what year the grapes we harvested (The Vintage), whether the wine was was specially aged (Reserve), or whether the grapes were grown by the same winery that made the wine (Estate-Bottles).

These are the basics that tell you a little bit about the US standards and a lot of the common practices used by wineries around the world.

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Just a few interesting notes on wine storage… While temperatures and wine cellars will be a post for another day, there are a few quick tips for maintaining freshness in wine.

 Wine should be stored on their sides if there is an actual cork top in the wine bottle. This prevents the cork from drying out and allowing that nasty horrible stuff called air or oxygen into the wine. If the wine has a synthetic cork or a screw top it can be stored standing up.

(Horrors, people, check the floor, someone might have fainted after reading that I even mentioned a screw top wine in this “quality” blog)

Storing open wine: Once you open wine and it is exposed to oxygen it will begin to lose its taste. If you don’t finish the bottle at once it can be stored for a few days in the refrigerator. This works for both red and white wines. Remember to let red wines come to room temperature before consuming them. If it has been more than a few days consider making a wine vinegar with the remaining unused wine.

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