The Ultimate Wine Shopping Guide

Red wines

They are made from dark-skinned grapes that are crushed and then fermented. Red wines are the best for pairing with food. They have a higher alcoholic content and they feel heavy on the palate when sipped. Due to the high concentration of tannins, their quality improves with age. Red wines are best enjoyed at room temperatures. Red wines are categorized into red dry wines and red sweet wines. They are then categorized further as red wine blends and red wines varietals. Blends are made by blending several grape varieties to make an interesting and complex wine pulling characteristics from multiple varieties. Varietals wines are made by one or two superior grapes and have those grapes indicated on the bottle. The following are some of the red wines varietals.

Red Wine Varietals

• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Merlot
• Malbec
• Shiraz/Syrah
• Pinotage
• Pinot Noir
• Zinfandel
• Baronne

White wines

They are made from white, yellow, brown or gold skinned grapes. This explains the varying colors of white wines; clear, yellowish and gold. White wines feel lighter on the palate and are mostly enjoyed chilled. Unlike red wines that pairs with almost all types of food, white wines are better for refreshment. White wines lose quality with age and when drunk at room temperatures you may not realize their really awesome taste. In comparison with red wines, white wines have few health benefits. The main health benefit of white wines is helping in digestion after a meal. Just like red wines, white wines are subdivided into sweet white wines and dry white wines. They are then classified as blends and varietals. The following are the varietals of white wines.

White Wine Varietals

• Sauvignon Blanc
• Chardonnay
• Chenin Blanc
• Pinot Gris
• Pinot Grigio
• Riesling
• Moscato

Rose wines

They are made from dark-skinned grapes. The grapes are first crushed with their skin then the skin is removed before fermentation. This makes rose wines share attributes with red wines. Rose wines are the best option when you want to pair with light food or you want to enjoy a glass of wine but you ain’t ready for the heavy red wines. There are sparkling wines and champagnes that are also rose wines. It is common for rose wines to be sweet wines though there are a few dry and semi-sweet options. Order rose wines online in Nairobi at discounted wine prices in Kenya.

Sparkling wines

These wines could be red, white or rose wines. They are made from double fermentation processes. The second fermentation process is added some sugar and yeast to make the fermentation produce carbon dioxide that makes the wine fizz and bubble when shaken. These type of wines are purposely meant for celebrations and the carbon dioxide helps them to pop pushing out the cork during celebrations. There are three methods used in the preparation of sparkling wines; bulk charmat, bottle transfer and methode champenoise (traditional method). The best method that produces sparkling wines of the highest quality is the traditional method. Are you planning to celebrate a particular occasion but you are on a tight budget? Buy sparkling wines online in Kenya at Drinks Vine at the best prices.

Champagne

Many people don’t know that champagnes are also wines. They are actually sparkling wines only that they have three special rules in their production;

• they must be produced in the Champagne region in France
• they must be produced through methode champenoise
• they must be produced from these three grapes; Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier

Sparkling wines that are produced in France but do not follow any of those rules indicated above, they are called Cremant. Champagnes are used for celebrations too but their cost is quite high hence they are set aside for the special celebrations. They have higher quality in comparison with other sparkling wines and you can tell this by taste and the finer mousse when shaken. Do you have a special day coming around soon? Order champagne online in Kenya and enjoy the great feeling of the bubbles bursting on your tongue. There is also the great fun of popping champagne to mark the climax of any celebration.

Port Wines

These are fortified wines produced in Portugal. Port wines are also known as Porto wines. For a wine to be labelled as a port wine, it must be produced in Portugal from grapes that are grown in a demarcated region in Portugal called Douro Region. These wines have high alcohol percentage than other types of wines because of the addition of brandy, herbs and spices. Some of them like the tawny port are aged even for up to 10 years making them stronger and improving their taste at the same time. Most of the port wines are sweet red wines though they also come in variants of dry, semi-dry and white wines. Port wines are among the rare wines in Kenya but you can find them on the shelves of Drinks Vine wine shop. Should you be looking for a perfect wine gift that you can gift a special person in your life, a port wine will do the magic. Port wines are among the highest quality wines in Kenya.

Vermouth Wines

These are also fortified wine though many people know them as aperitifs because they can be taken before a meal to stimulate appetite. Just like port wines, they have an addition of brandy, herbs, and spices. Vermouth originated in Italy though they currently produced in other countries. The most common vermouth wine brands in Kenya are Martini Rosso, Martini Bianco, Martini Extra Dry, Cinzano Bianco and Cinzano Rosso. Besides being known as an aperitif, vermouth wines are known for their popularity in making cocktails. For the next party you host, buy vermouth wine online at Drinks Vine and enjoy free wine delivery Nairobi.

Connoisseur of wine will be keen to check on this five factors in order to classify wine as high quality or low quality.

Typicity and the Country of Production

This goes down to how the wine tastes in relation to the varietal origin. The taste of the wine is deduced from the mode of production and the region the grape is produced. Two types of wines made from the same grape but from two different countries or regions are bound to taste differently because of climatic conditions and soil conditions. The climatic conditions that we are focusing on here are temperatures levels, humidity levels, amount of rainfall and amount of sunlight. On the other hand, the soil conditions that affect the taste of wine are the acidity levels of the soil and the availability of soil nutrients. The region in which the wine is produced has so much effect on the quality and taste of wines. This explains why you will hear some people claim they only drink wines from a particular country. Drinks Vine, an online wine store located in Nairobi CBD, stocks wide varieties of wine even the unique and rare ones, sourced from all over the world.

Types of Grapes Used to Make Wine

There are more than 60 species of grapevines that are known but only one, Vitis Vinifera, that is used to make wine. Growing grapes is more complex than growing the other plants. For example, if we planted a Cabernet Sauvignon seed, the resulting plant and grapes will not be a Cabernet. Different grapes taste differently, have different flavors and different aromas. However, when it comes to taste, flavors and aromas, different people have different preferences. Some grapes are superior and with full flavors while others are less superior and require blending with more superior grapes to increase the flavors. This leads into two major categories of wine; varietal wines and blended wines. It would be inaccurate to say that varietal wines are better than blended wines. Actually, most of the time blended wines have more flavors than the varietal wines. However, varietal wines have a particular taste that makes them stand out. Are you a fan of varietal wines or blended wines? Buy wine online at discounted prices and gain access to a wide variety of wines from all corners of the world.

Sweetness of the Wine

Among the major classification of wines is their sweetness. Wines can either be sweet, dry or semi-sweet. The sweetness of wines goes hand in hand with alcohol percentage, wines with high alcohol percentage are normally dry with the exception of fortified wines; port wines and vermouth wines. Fortified wines have an alcohol percentage of around 21%. Their high alcohol concentration is due to the addition of brandy in their preparation and their sweetness is due to spices, herbs and sweeteners added. Buy sweet red or white wines online in Kenya and enjoy a huge varieties to choose from. Drinks Vine stocks all wine brands in Kenya to ensure all wine lovers are satisfied.

Alcoholic Percentage in Wine

Wines have alcoholic percentage ranging from as low as 5.5% to 23%. Red wines are known to have higher alcohol percentage than white wines. At the same time, dry wines have a higher alcohol percentage than sweet wines. Varietal wines have higher alcohol percentage than blended wines. Having higher or low alcohol percentage doesn’t mean the wine is good or bad, it all goes to the preference of different people. However, the higher the alcohol percentage, the faster you are going to get drunk with a few glasses. The higher the alcohol percentage, the drier the wine in most cases. However, some wines like fortified wines have higher alcohol percentage going up to 23% ABV yet they are sweet because of the added herbs and sweeteners. Good examples of fortified wines are port wines and vermouth wines. What types of wine are you looking for? Be it dry red wines, dry white wines or rose wines, our online wine store has you sorted any time of the day.

The Wine Body

Just like the way we talk about the physical attributes of a person, wines also have bodies. Wine body is mostly an attribute of red wines. There are three types of wine bodies as follows;

• light body – these are wines that have alcohol percentage between 5.5 % to 11.4 ABV
• medium body – these are wines that have alcohol percentage between 11.5 % to 13.4 %
• full body – these are wines that have alcohol percentage between 13.5 % to 23%

Wine bodies go hand in hand with alcohol percentage. The higher the alcohol percentage, the higher the wine body. Just like we talked about the alcoholic content of wine having no direct relationship with the quality of a wine, the same case applies to the wine bodies. Different people appreciate different wine bodies. You might be wondering how you can differentiate various wine bodies without necessarily having to look at alcoholic content. Wine body is all about how you feel the wine on your palate when you sip it. The heavier it feels, the fuller the body and at the same time, the higher the alcoholic content. Do you love your wines light, medium or full? Drinks Vine stocks all types of wine to fulfill your needs. A beginner can benefit from a light body wine which feels leaner and delicate. A more experienced wine lover can explore the depth of the wine by trying a wine with a fuller body. Full-bodied wines are great accompaniments to food.

If you are a wine enthusiast, I am sure you love trying different wines from time to time. Unfortunately, you may not find good wine from local wines and spirits shops. At Drinks Vine, we give you the opportunity to explore different wine types, aided by our accurate and verified wine shopping guides, products descriptions with flavor profiles. We bring the wine shop on your palm, where you can access all wines in Kenya on our alcohol delivery app.

Local alcohol shops also close as early as 6 PM making it impossible to buy wine for anyone with a tight schedule during the day. At the same time, the local liquor stores sell their alcohol at exorbitant prices claiming high rent rates, expensive licenses and many other bills. Don’t forget there are times that your friends give you a surprise visit at late night or the party runs dry when the fun is far from ending. The above are some of the reasons you might make the decision to buy wine online.

Drinks Vine offers limitless opportunity to order drinks online at any time of the day or night. You are not restricted to one type of liquor. Wine prices are the best you can get, owing to great discounts and regular offers, mostly presented on our social media platforms under the hashtag #DrinksVineSpecial. You also enjoy a huge collection of wines and spirits, beer, non-alcoholic drinks, and other extras.

We offer late night alcohol delivery services. Run your party to as late as you want, we will always be on the other side of the line whenever you dial a drink, and we will fill your glass with the best quality drinks. We have actually extended our operation hours with an aim of offering 24 hours drinks delivery Nairobi.

Drinks Vine offers you convenient payment methods which include swiping debit card or credit card, Mobile money (MPESA Till number), PayPal or bank transfer. We also accept payment in dollars. To place an order, you may choose to text/call on WhatsApp, SMS or call via +254743646618, email, social media platforms or checkout at shopping cart.