For less mature wine markets where the growth started in the mid-1990s, such as China, it was red wine that led the way.

BBC: Viewpoint: Asia's evolving taste for wine

It keeps the grapes' natural acidity from respiring out before the grape fully ripens, which means that rich, mature fruit doesn't yield flabby, jamlike wine.

FORBES: Making a Case for South America

For instance: "You could say one wine is like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz while another is like the mature Judy Garland, or that a big voluptuous chardonnay is like Marilyn Monroe -- round, bosomy -- you can remember that chardonnay, " says MacNeil.

CNN: Wine varietals: A glossary