Here are descriptions of the most common wines:

Burgundy - Full bodied, dry red dinner wine, dry to slightly sweet, fruity in taste and smell with a deep red color.Claret - Dry, pleasantly tart, light or medium-bodied dinner wine of ruby red color.Chianti - Well-known red wine of Italy. One style is light-bodied and bottled within months of the vintage. The other style has more body and flavor, and is aged in barrels for longer periods.Rosé - Very versatile wine that can be enjoyed alone, at luncheon or at dinner with most kinds of foods. Rosés range from dry to slightly sweet, and are usually fruity-flavored and light bodied.

Chablis - Dry white wine with a delicate fruity bouquet. It is generally the driest of the white wines.Rhine - Any light-bodied white dinner wine, pale golden and slightly green-gold. They range from tart to semi-sweet. Rhine wines are also classed as Rieslings or Moselle.Sauterne - These wines are golden-hued, fragrant, and full-bodied, ranging from dry to sweet. French Sauternes are known for the sweetness and have more body than other white wines.

The most well-known of the sparkling wines, champagne is generally pale gold or straw colored. The driest champagne is called natural or brut; extra sec or extra dry champagne is somewhat sweeter but still fairly dry; sec or dry is medium sweet; demi sec is sweet; and doux is very sweet.Asti spumante - The most popular Italian sparkling wine. It has a pleasant, decidedly sweet taste, with a muscat flavor which gives it a lovely, fresh fruitiness.Sparkling burgundy - Red wine made sparkling by a second fermentation. It is usually semi-sweet to sweet.

Sherry - A very popular appetizer or dessert wine with a distinct nutty flavor, which is obtained by a unique process of baking the wine.Port - A rich, fruity, heavy bodied, sweet wine, the finest port wines are produced in Portugal and are the only Ports entitled to be label "Porto."