Light wines are typified as being still, typically having an alcohol content between 8 -15% and are named after a name or a region.

They are produced only from grapes by the natural fermentation of grape juice during which the sugars of the ripe fruit are converted to alcohol by the action of yeast (which is also used in cake and bread making). Carbon dioxide gas is also generated during the chemistry of alcohol production.

The alcohol content of the wine is therefore determined by the sweetness of the grapes at the time of harvest, and much of the style of the finished wine is determined by the quality and ripeness of the grapes at this time. Wine making is therefore critically related to basic principals of farming and the production of healthy fruit

Why 8 - 15%?  Below 8% then the product will have less of a true wine character, being more grapey in style, whilst above 15% then the inherent alcohol content of the wine will actually kill the yeast preventing any further conversion of sugar to alcohol.

The grape variety will have significant impact upon the primary fruit flavour of the wine, particularly when grown and harvested in a warm environment such as Chile or Australia. In these so called New World countries, broadly speaking the sun always shines and climate is constant from year to year - and this is reflected in the bright, ripe often tropical fruit flavours in the wines from these countries. The variety is therefore often a good indicator of the wine in the bottle we would expect to consume and these NW wines are proving extremely popular because of this - ease of understanding of the grape variety on the label and consistency of style.

The region tends to be more important and hence more classically associated with the wine regions of the Old World such as France and Italy. Here growing condition's are relatively cool - Champagne is downright cold when compared with the Napa valley region of California - and as such it is a combination of variety, farming methods and the unique vineyard ‘terroir' (soil type, water availability, sun exposure etc.) all of which can vary from year to year, that will impact upon the final style of wine produced.  Regions that you will already know and hopefully enjoy, in no particular order, include Bordeaux, Chianti, Chablis and Rioja.  This regionality and style is often defined within a set of local wine ‘appellation' laws which are referred to on the wine label through the terms AC (France - Appellation Controllee), DO (Spain - Denominacion de Origen) & DOC (Italy - Donaminazione di Origine Controllata).