White wine processing usually removes stalks and skins after pressing, leaving the fermentation process to be completed in the barrel where dry white table wines are produced. In the case of champagne or sparkling wines, the wine is drawn off from the fermenting vats into bottles where the fermentation process continues, causing the aeration and bubbly nature of the wine. For sweet white wines, the fermentation is halted by additives causing some sugar to remain in the wine.

Red grapes are pressed and put into a vat with their skins, the wine drawing its colour from the skin. For red sweet wines like port, the fermentation process is halted midway with the addition of alcohol, which kills the yeast, stopping fermentation and at the same time giving a sweet taste due to the unused sugar. The addition of alcohol in the process raises the final alcohol content of the wine, giving it the name `fortified'.

Wine is a versatile drink and can be enjoyed at any time of the day. In India, where liquor consumption habits follow the definite pattern of "whites" or "lights" like gin, vodka or beer as preferred daytime drinks, leaving rum or whiskey for the evenings, wine should stand out as an anytime beverage rather than the preferred ladies' choice.

The range of wines is so vast-it makes the perfect complement at any given time when one feels like a drink. Champagne is perhaps the most versatile of all, benefitting the start or end of a meal or for toasting a special occasion. Sherry, rare to come across nowadays in India, is an ideal aperitif and so is vermouth. The lustrous port befits the post-meal period should cognac not be your cup of cheer.

Bring out the adventurer in you next time, passing over the obligatory Scotch for a good red wine at the boss' place during pre-dinner cocktails. Mind you, the legend and lure of Scotch is almost incomparable, but then so is that of the world of wine and having come across one legend ever so often, isn't it time you initiated the quest for another?

The ability to read and interpret a wine label is in itself a superior bragging right and you could draw hushed nods of approval from the boss (and perhaps his daughter, too). Imagine the pretty thing telling her doting daddy of the future potential of his dashing wine swirling executive and how he stood apart from those boring whiskey dudes. If dinner happens to be a sit down affair, opt for the going white wine with the starter, which would in all possibility, be seafood or chicken. Appreciation of the subtleties of the host's food is certainly enhanced with an accompanying wine rather than carrying the whiskey or vodka to the dining table.

Meal's end would invariably bring out the VSOP which, by the way, is fashionable in outsized snifters, but certainly not the best for nosing. Your equally ambitious colleagues would opt for a cigar from the boss' humidor or perhaps settle for a single malt whiskey. Did you spot a Sauternes or a Jurancon on the boss's rack? Ideal "vin liquorex", not fortified, but sweet and great post-dinner drinks should you still opt to be different, refusing to be biased by your motley colleagues, rapidly depleting the prized cognac or Drambuie. Start it off as a fad, perhaps, and you will surely end with a habit, that of being a serious wine drinker. Cheers!