Styles
Wine has no style guide. This is the closest thing.
There is no BJCP for wine. No single body publishes vital statistics the way the beer guidelines do, so these ranges are compiled from two different kinds of source, and the page says which. Where an appellation or a labelling rule sets a number, that number is a legal one. Everywhere else it is the ordinary published analysis of commercial examples, which is a planning aid and nothing more.
Residual sugar is the column most often missing from a label and the one that decides whether a wine reads as dry. Every recipe here is checked against the style it claims before the page is built.
Still red
5 styles
Fermented on the skins, which is where the colour and all of the tannin come from. Almost every decision in a red is a decision about how long and how warm that contact is.
| Style | ABV | TA g/L | pH | RS g/L | Serve | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light dry redrecipe | 11-13% | 5-7 | 3.3-3.6 | 0-3 | 13-16 C | Observed typical |
| Medium-bodied dry redrecipe | 12.5-14% | 5-6.5 | 3.4-3.7 | 0-3 | 15-18 C | Observed typical |
| Full-bodied dry redrecipe | 13.5-15.5% | 5-6.5 | 3.5-3.9 | 0-4 | 16-18 C | Observed typical |
| Carbonic maceration red | 11-13% | 5-7 | 3.3-3.6 | 0-3 | 12-15 C | Observed typical |
| Appassimento red | 14-16.5% | 5.5-7 | 3.4-3.8 | 4-12 | 16-18 C | Partly set by law |
Still white
4 styles
Pressed before fermentation rather than after, so the whole craft is protecting the juice from oxygen and heat between the vine and the tank.
| Style | ABV | TA g/L | pH | RS g/L | Serve | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crisp dry whiterecipe | 11-13% | 6-8 | 3-3.3 | 0-3 | 8-10 C | Observed typical |
| Barrel-fermented whiterecipe | 12.5-14.5% | 5-6.5 | 3.2-3.6 | 0-4 | 10-13 C | Observed typical |
| Aromatic whiterecipe | 11-13.5% | 5.5-7.5 | 3-3.4 | 4-20 | 8-11 C | Observed typical |
| Sur lie white | 11-12.5% | 6-8 | 3-3.3 | 0-3 | 8-11 C | Partly set by law |
Rose
2 styles
Not a blend of red and white, except in Champagne. A few hours of skin contact and then it is made like a white.
| Style | ABV | TA g/L | pH | RS g/L | Serve | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pale dry roserecipe | 12-13.5% | 5.5-7 | 3.1-3.4 | 0-4 | 8-10 C | Observed typical |
| Saignee rose | 12-14% | 5-6.5 | 3.2-3.6 | 0-6 | 9-12 C | Observed typical |
Orange and skin contact
1 style
A white grape fermented like a red. The result has tannin, structure and colour that no other white has, and it divides drinkers completely.
| Style | ABV | TA g/L | pH | RS g/L | Serve | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange winerecipe | 11.5-14% | 5-7 | 3.2-3.6 | 0-4 | 12-16 C | Observed typical |
Sparkling
3 styles
Carbon dioxide from a second fermentation, held in the bottle or a tank. Everything difficult about these wines is a pressure vessel problem.
| Style | ABV | TA g/L | pH | RS g/L | Serve | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional method brutrecipe | 11.5-13% | 6.5-9 | 2.9-3.2 | 0-12 | 6-9 C | Partly set by law |
| Petillant naturelrecipe | 9-12% | 6-8.5 | 3-3.3 | 0-10 | 7-10 C | Observed typical |
| Tank method sparkling | 10.5-12.5% | 5.5-7.5 | 3-3.4 | 6-35 | 6-8 C | Partly set by law |
Sweet and late harvest
3 styles
Sugar left over on purpose, which means a fermentation stopped deliberately or a must too concentrated to finish. Both need a plan before the yeast goes in.
| Style | ABV | TA g/L | pH | RS g/L | Serve | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Late harvest | 9-13% | 6-9 | 3.1-3.5 | 30-120 | 7-10 C | Partly set by law |
| Botrytis sweet wine | 11-14% | 6-9 | 3.2-3.7 | 100-250 | 8-11 C | Partly set by law |
| Icewinerecipe | 9-12% | 8-13 | 3-3.5 | 160-260 | 8-11 C | Partly set by law |
Fortified
3 styles
Spirit added, either to stop a fermentation and keep the sweetness or to protect the wine while it ages oxidatively for years.
| Style | ABV | TA g/L | pH | RS g/L | Serve | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port stylerecipe | 18-20% | 4.5-6 | 3.4-3.9 | 80-120 | 14-18 C | Partly set by law |
| Sherry style | 15-20% | 4-6 | 3.1-3.5 | 0-15 | 8-14 C | Partly set by law |
| Vin doux naturel | 15-18% | 4.5-6.5 | 3.2-3.6 | 90-140 | 8-12 C | Partly set by law |
Cider, perry and mead
5 styles
Not wine, made the same way, and traditionally covered by the same books. Apples, pears and honey each present one problem grapes do not.
| Style | ABV | TA g/L | pH | RS g/L | Serve | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry ciderrecipe | 5-8.5% | 4-7 | 3.3-3.8 | 0-5 | 8-12 C | Observed typical |
| Off-dry cider | 4-7% | 4-7 | 3.3-3.8 | 10-40 | 8-12 C | Observed typical |
| Perryrecipe | 4-8% | 3-6 | 3.6-4.2 | 0-40 | 8-12 C | Observed typical |
| Traditional meadrecipe | 10-14% | 4-7 | 3.2-3.8 | 0-40 | 10-14 C | Observed typical |
| Melomelrecipe | 10-14% | 5-8 | 3.1-3.6 | 0-60 | 8-12 C | Observed typical |
Country wine
3 styles
Anything else that ferments: hedgerow fruit, garden gluts and flowers. The recurring problems are too little sugar, too much acid, and no nitrogen.
| Style | ABV | TA g/L | pH | RS g/L | Serve | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country redrecipe | 11-13% | 5.5-7.5 | 3.2-3.6 | 0-15 | 13-16 C | Observed typical |
| Country whiterecipe | 10-13% | 5.5-8 | 3-3.5 | 0-40 | 8-11 C | Observed typical |
| Flower winerecipe | 10-12% | 5-7 | 3.1-3.5 | 10-50 | 7-10 C | Observed typical |
Aromatised
1 style
Wine with botanicals steeped in it and usually fortified. The base wine is deliberately neutral because it is a carrier rather than the point.
| Style | ABV | TA g/L | pH | RS g/L | Serve | Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermouthrecipe | 16-18% | 4-6 | 3.2-3.6 | 30-150 | 8-12 C | Partly set by law |