In our last episode, you learned the three styles of white wine, but what about reds? There's so many varietals from Tinto Roriz,  Xinomavro, Nerello Mascalese, and many others. I mean, even within a single varietal like Cabernet Sauvignon the wines can be completely different.

You might first find one that's light and fruity with bright acidity, tastes more like a plum tart. And the next Cabernet you try is super high in alcohol. It's big, bold flavors, high in tannin and it totally coats your mouth and turn your teeth purple with one sip. So how do you know which one to order, which one to buy? Stay tuned because we're going to be breaking down the three styles of red wine. So you can get what you want each and every sip of your wine exploration.

I recently judged the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Wine inaugural wine competition. one of the categories that my judging assigned was value Cabernet Sauvignon. Now these are wines under $15. So, I'll tell you very candidly, I typically steer away from Cabernet Sauvignon. And it's not that I like it. It's drank too many of those early in my wine journey. Secondly, a pescatarian. 

A lot of times these are just too big, too bold, too overpowering for the meal that I'm eating. And a lot of times they also have a really alcohol. I'm a little sensitive to high alcohol wines. A half a glass, even a quarter of a glass is perfect for me to enjoy. But shockingly within this category, I found four to five of these that I would have on my dinner table were fruity, they were light, they were zippy, they had bright and they were completely opposite of what I had branded Cabernet Sauvignon to much less what I a value Cabernet Sauvignon to be. These fit my personal favorite style of red wine. you're probably like, get to the point, Kristi what are the red wine styles? So let's get right into it.

Red wine be complex. There are hundreds of varietals, not to mention like one particular red and you buy another bottle of that same variety, but it's not at all your style. It's completely different. Or you find one that you like and you buy it the next year, that vintage is totally different.

Now, when you're out with your friends or your partner or spouse and they're fans of a certain style, you think, hmm, they know more about wine than I do. So obviously I should probably like the style they like, right? Absolutely wrong. They just simply like a different style of wines.

Just as with white grape varieties, red grapes can produce multiple aromas and flavors. Some do resemble fruits, others, flowers and herbs and spices or even earthy characteristics. And the flavors that I'm talking about aren't added to the wine. part of the DNA of each of those grapes.

Let's get into the red wine styles. First and foremost, fresh and fruity. Secondly, dry and dirty. And third, packed with a punch.

Now the real issue that you're experiencing you can't figure out which style you like or when you try a wine because somebody else it's amazing isn't because of your lack of knowledge. you do know what you like, but confidently describing what you want in a red wine can be a challenge. You can't simply rely on the grape varietal. You can't rely on the region. You can't even rely on the brand name at times. 

But here's the simple way to break down red wine styles into three buckets to guide your wine journey in the direction that you want it to go. So starting with those fresh and fruity red wines, we can describe these as fruity and bright, smooth, easy to drink, fresh, even things like crunchy.

When you take a sip of a fresh and fruity red, your mouth is going to pop alive. And it's also going to start to salivate because these wines will often have a very high acidity. And it's like a burst of bright acid, like a bright fresh cherry or bright fresh raspberry, or even that tart crunchiness of cranberries. So if you think about a sour cherry candy, that's a similar flavor to what you're going to get with this style of wine. 

Now, others that have lower acidity are just as bright and juicy, but they're just not as tart. So think of these more like that cherry slice candy. But other features for fresh and fruity red wines is that they're typically low in alcohol. And they may even taste, because they're so fruity, they might taste sweet, but they are totally dry.

And these wines are meant to be consumed now. These are your “drink me now “wines. They're really not meant to age So if you get a bottle of these, pop that cork and have it for dinner tonight. But because these wines are super light, super fresh, super bright, they're not going to have overwhelmingly strong flavors or aromas.

Just because these red wines are made in contact with the skins during fermentation, they're not going to have high tannins for one of two reasons. One, some of the grapes that we're going to be talking about have very thin skins. And because those skins are thin, they don't have a lot of tannin to extract during fermentation.

Another way winemakers can keep that fresher fruitier style is to actually have the fermentation temperature much lower because this is going to help maintain that bright acidity and those bright fruit flavors. In addition to that, it's going to keep the tannin extraction pretty darn low. if you can imagine red fruits. Things like red plums and strawberries and raspberries, cranberries that we've talked about, they're full of flavor, but often on that tart, just right side, you're thinking in the right direction of what these wines taste like. 

So let's get to the fun stuff. What varieties are included in this style? Now, I'll caveat this with, I will be repeating some of these same varieties in the other two styles, but I'm going to talk a little bit about with fresh and crisp why they fall into this category or how they can fall into this category. So varieties like Merlot has a little bit lower in tannin and you can highlight that fruitiness with some of those wine making techniques and also avoiding contact with oak barrel aging. 

And Pinot Noir, now, I'm not talking about the earthy styles that we talk about, using the term old world. Now, stay tuned in a further episode where we're going to break down old world and new world. But when we're talking about these pinot noir, they're going to be cooler climates and they're going to maintain that low alcohol and really bright, fresh acidity. So these are going to be areas like cooler areas in California, New Zealand and Oregon.

Now, Beaujolais, especially Beaujolais Nouveau, the super young, grapey, juicy wine that is the first to be bottled out of Beaujolais, it's made from the Gamay grape, and this is a low-tannin, bright, acidity grape. Now, Zinfandel can have a fresh and fruity style. When it's picked early and has a lower alcohol, it can remain nice and fresh, and even that I talked about when it's in a cooler climate that can keep a lower alcohol and maintain those bright red fruits with high acidity. 

Others are Malbecs from the high altitude regions of Argentina. And there's so many other varieties that can fall within this style, but it all comes down to wine making. And as I mentioned, little to no oak as far as aging or aged in what we call neutral oak that just doesn't give any flavors or aromas to the wine. They're going to be from cooler climates They're going to have lower alcohol and lower tannins. And let me tell you, they are super, super food friendly. 

These are wines you can have during your summer barbecue because that fresh and fruity wine is going to compliment things like your grilled chickens, grilled fish, lighter meats, and spicy dishes. It can also be a fantastic pairing because of the juiciness and,           like we talked about, that little bit that tastes kind of sweet because they're so fruity and can pair really, really nicely with bright spices like Mexican food or Latin American spices. But I will caution you once again: I,f the alcohol is too high, it's going to enhance that spiciness, making it unbearable. So you definitely want to stay in that lower alcohol, fresh and fruity style.

Another perfect pairing is rich pasta because the bright acidity of such things as a Pinot Noir or that Gamay that we talked about, even a cooler climate Chianti pair beautifully with your creamy rich pasta dishes as well as your risottos. And tomato-based pastas are a natural fit because the high acidity of the tomato-based sauces and the high acidity of these wines is a match made in heaven.

So it brings us back to the question of the day. How do you know how to find a fresh and fruity red wine? just ask for most importantly, when you're looking at bottles, look at lower alcohols such as 12 and a half, 13, even 13 and a for cooler climate regions and definitely pay attention to see that they have not been aged in oak.

Pop the cork now because you will not want to age these wines. They're meant to be drink me now reds. So let's move on to what a dry and dirty red wine is. you could describe this as having a lot of earthy flavors, dried leaves, dried tea, tobacco, mushrooms, even dried flowers or dried herbs, leather, gamey meats, cocoa, chocolate, pepper, composty flavors.

On the fruit flavor side, these are going to be dried and stewed and jammy, but often the fruit's not the first thing you're going to taste or sense when you take a sip of these wines. Now, some in the dry and dirty will have high acidity, but instead of that bright burst of a fresh cherry or raspberry or cranberry, that acidity may appear more mineral-like, like a stone or like chalkiness. They do tend to have, a lower alcohol. And these are bone dry wines.

Many of these are coming from cooler climates because these varieties compared to their warm climate cousins are going to have that earthiness, that gaminess, that vegetal flavor and aroma because they often struggle to fully ripen in these cooler regions, especially in cooler growing seasons. So those flavors and aromas that are more earthy versus fruity are a natural consequence of that cool climate or that cool season. And these dry and dirty wines aren't super strong or overwhelming. They're very food friendly because they don't have significant amounts of tannins or alcohols or body. And many of these, unlike their fresh and fruity counterpart, are meant to be aged. 

And the longer these wines have aged in the bottle or in the barrel, the less of those fruit flavors you're going to get and the more of those earthy flavors like tobacco and compost and forest floor are going to develop. Now some of these earthy gamey flavors can make them a little bit difficult or they're a little bit overwhelming to drink alone, especially for people who aren't necessarily a fan of those types of flavors in their wines. 

But if you drink these alongside of a meal, it is game changing. Dry and dirty red wines are complex, and it's really difficult to kind of fully describe everything. So don't get into the details. You don't have to worry about whether I'm tasting tobacco or dried leaf. These wines have kind of like potpourri in a bottle, and they are the red wine cousin to the funky and floral white wine style we talked about on the last episode.

What wines would possibly fall into this category? Well Cabernet Franc, which can sometimes have tobacco and dried tea leaf, green herb, pepper, and black currant leaves, and even river rocks and stones falls into it. Different Malbecs can have really horsey and barnyardy flavors and aromas. Sometimes they're so earthy that you might even think that they are faulty. 

Carmenere, which is a gorgeous Chilean wine can have spices and celery and coffees and even green pepper and kind of those umami flavors that might remind you of soy sauce. Nebbiolo has tar and roses and spices and figs and licorice and all of these kind of interesting baking spices. We've already talked about Pinot Noir several different times, but Pinot Noir not like its fresh and fruity cousin in this category, has that forest floor, the earthiness and dried raspberries, dried plum type of flavors and aromas. 

Chianti, Tempranillo from Spain, these can have tobaccos and meaty flavors. And many, many, many of these wines will have spent a significant amount of time in oak. And some parts of that oak, may be New Oak, which is going to give cedar and tobacco spices and flavors. But as I mentioned, putting these wines with food is game changing. But make sure that the foods are not too big and bold and overwhelming to overwhelm the flavors in these wines. A lot of what we've talked about with the flavors of these wines, that earthiness, that gaminess, that kind of vegetal flavor.

As you can imagine, these are going to pair really nicely with those umami rich foods like mushrooms, Asian foods made with miso or truffles, dry rubbed meats, aged meats. Wild game, gamey birds like deer and elk and boar and rabbit. Wild game like goose and duck or quail. Even your chicken and turkey are going to go beautifully with dry and dirty red wines. Rich seafoods like fatty salmon and tunas and seafood stews, seafood pastas, and one of my favorites, root vegetables. 

Because root vegetables that are roasted brings out that beautiful earthiness and sweet nature to them, especially if you get a little bit of brown around the edges. And you really don't even need to season these, just a little salt and pepper with all of these foods paired with these wines is going to be great.

But I'd be remiss if we did not finish with packed with a punch red wines. Now these are the big ones, these are big bold flavors, big bold tannins, big high alcohol. These are your big impact wines. They're going to have intense flavor, super concentrated fruits and a lot of the dark fruits. So think about black plums and black cherries and blackberries and blueberries. This is kind of that flavor difference between, let's say just a regular balsamic vinegar.

And when you take that same vinegar and reduce it to a balsamic reduction, that type of intense concentrated dark fruit that's going to coat your mouth, stick to every part from your tongue to your teeth to the inside of your cheeks and your gums. And they might even give your mouth sort of that warming or hot sensation because they do have a higher alcohol. Think 15 % and above at times.

They will be lower in acidity. but there are a few that do maintain a higher acidity by nature of the varietal. But if the wine is too low in acidity, it can taste dull and boring and uninteresting. But once it gets that medium to higher level of acidity, you're going to get a much more balanced wine because you need to have that balance with those high flavors, the high alcohol and the high tannins. So winemakers may even need to add a little bit of acidity to these wines to just give it a little pick me up.

These wines are going to come from warm to hot climates. And these regions are going to allow those same grapes we might've talked about in fresh and fruity or dry and dirty. These grapes are going to ripen fully. And when they ripen at that full level, they're often going to have super high levels of sugar ripeness, which during fermentation is what turns into that high alcohol.

And that super sugary ripeness can also result in those highly concentrated flavors. They're super strong, they're super powerful. And even these overwhelming aromas can overpower so many types of food. But because they are so bold, it can also be hard to drink them alone. They can just be overpowering. So many people who might think they don't like this style, if they pair it with food, it's going to be the perfect pairing. 

Where fresh and crisp white wines were just like your ripe fruits, packed with the punch reds are going to taste like dark black fruits that might be stewed or turned into a jam. They're complex and many times they've been aged in oak and that's going to give an intensity, especially with new oak, of smoke, and cedar and toast and baking spice, that tobacco, sometimes so much so that it's almost like licking the inside of that charred barrel. Or let's make it easier and just licking those burnt edges of your pizza crust. But because they have high alcohol and high tannin, these wines can often age for decades. But they will need to have that higher level of acidity in order to age well. 

Otherwise, you're just going to end up with a wine that tastes like stewed prune juice. And I don't know about you, but that's not one of my favorites. But one sip of these wines and you are going to know you're drinking a packed with a punch red wine. And the varietals I'm going to mention, we've mentioned before, these are those familiar varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah or Shiraz.

Malbec, each of them is going to bring a little something different to the wines. But for Malbec, you're going to want to go to those warmer regions, say of Argentina, the plains of Argentina. For that Syrah or Shiraz, go to the south of France or Australia, where you're going to get these big peppery and highly tannic wines. Petite Syrah, which isn't related to Syrah or Shiraz, but go to California. There are some beautiful Petite Syrahs in California.

And the Tannat, the Cabernet Sauvignon, and Mourvedre, and Tempranillo from central California to Texas. These are big and bold and tannic and delicious. So instead of breaking down exactly where to go for each of these varietals, if you look at a region such as Southern Spain or Portugal, they're warm. South Africa is warm. Parts of California such as the Lodi and Alexander Valley and Paso Robles

They're super warm areas and they're going to produce these bigger, bolder reds. Southern Australia, southern Italy, again, those lower altitudes of Argentina, that's Central Valley in Chile. So many amazing areas produce this packed with a punch style of red wine.

Food friendly, these wines are definitely in that category, but they hold up super well to heavily seasoned, fatty, rich foods. They're your steakhouse wines, but rich stews and rich curries, these full body reds are going to be able to amp up nicely with these spicier flavors. But again,

Beware, too high of alcohol and too much spice is going to be like throwing water out of fire. So make sure that those spices are more in the warm spices versus that jalapeno hot spice. And again, they're beautiful at cheese and charcuterie with those dried meats, roasted and grilled meats from grilled steaks and beef tips to ribs and lamb shanks, beef wellington. 

These rich wines have that wow factor you need to cut through all the rich fatty red meats. So now we've talked about fresh and fruity and we've talked about dry and dirty and we've talked about packed with a punch. But what are you going to do with this information? Well, as you know, we are never going to tell you what to drink on everyday sommelier. We're simply here to guide you to that perfect wine so you can liberate your inner red wine enthusiast and decide for yourself which style you want to drink. 

But to explore within that style rather than wondering what's in that mystery bottle of wine or that mystery bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that you randomly plunked off the shelf and plopped into your shopping cart. Wine should be fun. And we spend so much time worrying if we've picked the wrong bottle when instead we should be excited about the wine journey. 

I think of it this way. You go out shopping and it's like finding the perfect pair of shoes or that perfect dress and then realizing that you ultimately ended up picking wasn't anywhere close to the little black dress or the simple black Mary Janes or wing tips that you went out shopping for, but you're actually even more excited about what you did find. It was the adventure of the hunt and the exploration. 

Now, if you'd like to learn more useful tips in order to continue enhancing your wine journey, ou're going to want to get on our insider list by subscribing at www.wine-wise, w-i-z-e.com. We'll put it in the show notes and you'll get weekly updates and advance notices on all my classes, in-person events, and great wine resources that are just going to come right into your very own inbox. 

And because we know you want to drink that, new favorite red wine with your friends. Please share this episode with your fellow wine lovers. Don't keep all the fun to yourself. But speaking of fun, you're going to want to tune in to our next episode because with all the hype and buzz around events like Dry January, Dry July, Sober October.  

It's difficult. It's almost impossible to figure out what direction to go if you don't want to completely cut out wine altogether. But instead, you might want to think differently about your wine explorations or just segue away from these social media trends in a whole new way. 

Sounds good? Then make sure you're following the show and we'll catch you on the next episode because we're thrilled you've joined us and we're even more excited for your newfound approach to learning red wine your way.