grapes pull through and can produce what is best described as 'nectar': Le Montrachet in Burgundy is perhaps the finest white wine in the world, if you are rich enough to afford a bottle.

This brings us to vinification. Red wine almost makes itself, and modern quality enhancement techniques are all about 'minimum' intervention: letting nature do its stuff in a strictly controlled environment. White wine doesn't, and it is high-tech wineries that have made the production of good white wine possible. Slow, temperature controlled vinification prevents oxidisation and extracts the maximum flavour.

If all this sounds a bit mechanical, rest assured: with both reds and whites good wine making is all about attention to detail.