Sparkling wines and Champagne are sometimes produced by the same method, but only those made in the north of France are allowed to be called Champagne. Sparkling wines are created by adding yeast and sugar to table wine. The so called Methode Champenoise, also known as the Classic Method, is painstaking, and cheaper bubbly is usually mass-produced using a slightly different method.

There are a few types of "dessert wines." Port starts as a wine fermented from 40 or so types of grapes. The must - byproducts of fermentation -- is poured off after a short period of fermentation, and then the young wine is re-barreled for a year or two before being bottled. Port usually requires 15-20 years of bottle aging, and then it is a sweet, fortified wine often taken with cheese and nuts. Madeira is fortified with alcohol and then heated, either artificially or by storing in a hot attic. Originally, Madeira was created by being shipped -- back when shipping meant in the hull of a ship -- through the tropics, where it was heated.

Sherry is a blended wine that is also fortified. Extra room is left in the barrel and special yeast is added. Fruit wines are fermented from other fruit besides grapes. Common fruits used include raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, blueberries, or cherries. Fruit wines have a monster-sized taste, partly due to the large amount of fruit used to create them. They are usually fermented in cold conditions, which helps preserve the natural fruit flavors. Fruit wines are especially good with dessert and are sometimes used in sauteacute;ing or other cooking.