Confused about all the types of wines that are there in this world? Does your head swirl just to think about it? This poster simplifies it all and also tells you about wines you never knew existed!

The easiest way to understand different types of wines is to understand its basic styles. There are 5 basic styles as below:

White Wine: Made from white / green grape varietals. These wines are mostly dry but long aging white wines are sweet with high acidity.

Rose Wine: Made from red / black grape varietals but the skins are separated from the fermenting juice within 2-4 days so that only a light pink colour develops. These wines are usually dry; some are sweet and also sparkling or both.

Red Wine: Made from red / black grapes varietals. White wines too are made from these grapes, though seldom. These wines are usually dry but some sweet and semi-sparkling styles are also produced.

Fortified Wine: Usually made from red wine, spirit is added to a wine to make fortified wine. Sweet fortified wines are most popular; dry, semi-dry and white fortified wines are also produced.

Sparkling Wine: A still wine is that undergoes secondary fermentation either in a bottle or tank to produce wine with bubbles (trapped carbon dioxide). Even though there’s red and rose sparkling wine, most of it is made from white grape varietals and is dry. Sparkling wine can also be sweet.

Another way to understand types of wine is by sweetness. Sweetness in a wine will depend on the winemaking style which will determine the level of residual sugar in a wine.

Dry Wines: They have no residual sugar. All sugar is converted to alcohol in the fermentation process. Most wines are produced dry. Example: Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon.

Off-Dry / Semi-Sweet: Not all sugar has been converted to alcohol. These wines will have a slightly sweetish taste because of the residual sugar left behind. This is normally done to enhance the taste or aroma of the wine. Example: Chenin Blanc

Sweet: A wine which has a lot of residual sugar left behind even after fermentation is complete. Sweet wines are mostly white unless they are fortified wines, which are mostly red.

The above chart can also help you understand the many different types of wines in greater detail.

Original Source on Wine Folly The Many Different Types of Wine