(Winemag) - During a blind tasting, one way to deduce where a wine may hail from is to assess the fruit’s character. If the fruit notes in a red wine taste very ripe or even jammy, it’s likely from a warm climate. If it tastes tart or delicate like a freshly picked raspberry, the wine probably came from a cooler climate.

It’s knowing the climate where a wine was produced that can help you find other bottlings you’ll like.

In recent years, vintners from Ontario, Canada to Austria have promoted “cool-climate wines” as a foil to the riper styles that have been popular for the last two decades. Many factors influence wine, from unusually hot weather during a particular harvest to a winemaker that intentionally shoots for opulence. Ultimately, however, climate plays the most pivotal role in a wine’s expression.