Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of grape juice. The natural
chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition
of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients. Wine is produced by fermenting
crushed grapes using various types of yeast which consume the
sugars found in the grapes and convert them into alcohol.
Various varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are used depending on the
types of wine produced.
Although other fruits such as apples and berries can also be fermented,
the resultant "wines" are normally named after the fruit from which
they are produced (for example, apple wine or elderberry
wine) and are generically known as fruit wine
or country wine
(not to be confused with the French
term vin du pays).
Others, such as barley wine and rice wine
(e.g. sake),
are made from starch-based materials and resemble beer and spirit more than wine, while ginger wine
is fortified
with brandy. In these cases, the use of the term "wine" is a
reference to the higher alcohol content, rather than production process. The
commercial use of the English word "wine" (and its equivalent in other
languages) is protected by law in many jurisdictions.
Wine has a rich history
dating back to around 6000 BC and is thought to have originated in areas
now within the borders of Georgia
and Iran.
Wine probably appeared in Europe at about 4500 BC in what is now Bulgaria
and Greece,
and was very common in ancient Greece, Thrace and Rome. Wine has also played an important
role in religion throughout history. The Greek god Dionysos
and the Roman equivalent Bacchus
represented wine, and the drink is also used in Christian
and Jewish
ceremonies such as the Eucharist and Kiddush.
The word
"wine" derives from the Proto-Germanic *winam, an early borrowing
from the Latin
vinum, "wine" or "(grape) vine", itself derived
from the Proto-Indo-European stem *win-o- (cf. Ancient Greek
οῖνος - oînos, Aeolic Greek ϝοίνος - woinos). Similar words for wine or grapes are found in the Semitic
languages (cf. Arabic ﻭﻳﻦ wayn) and in Georgian (ğvino); some consider the term to be
a wanderwort,
or "wandering word".
Wine is usually made
from one or more varieties of the European species
Vitis
vinifera, such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay,
Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. When
one of these varieties is used as the predominant grape (usually defined by law
as a minimum of 75% or 85%), the result is a varietal,
as opposed to a blended, wine. Blended wines are not necessarily considered
inferior to varietal wines; some of the world's most expensive wines, from
regions like Bordeaux
and the Rhone Valley,
are blended from different grape varieties of the same vintage.
Wine can also be made
from other species of grape or from hybrids,
created by the genetic crossing of two species. Vitis
labrusca (of which the Concord grape
is a cultivar),
Vitis aestivalis,
Vitis
rupestris, Vitis rotundifolia and Vitis riparia
are native North American grapes usually grown for
consumption as fruit or for the production of grape juice, jam, or jelly, but
sometimes made into wine.
Hybridization is not to
be confused with the practice of grafting. Most of the world's vineyards are planted with
European V. vinifera vines that have been grafted onto North American species
rootstock. This is common practice because North American grape species are
resistant to phylloxera, a root louse that eventually kills the vine. In
the late 19th century, Europe's vineyards were
devastated by the bug, leading to massive vine deaths and eventual replanting.
Grafting is done in every wine-producing country of the world except for the Canary
Islands, Chile
and Argentina,
which are the only ones that have not yet been exposed to the insect.
In the context of wine
production, terroir
is a concept that encompasses the varieties of grapes used, elevation and shape
of the vineyard, type and chemistry of soil, climate and seasonal conditions,
and the local yeast cultures. The range of possibilities here can result in
great differences between wines, influencing the fermentation, finishing, and aging
processes as well. Many wineries use growing and production methods that
preserve or accentuate the aroma and taste influences of their unique
terroir. However, flavor differences are not desirable for producers of
mass-market table wine
or other cheaper wines, where consistency is more important. Such producers
will try to minimize differences in sources of grapes by using production
techniques such as micro-oxygenation, tannin filtration,
cross-flow filtration, thin film evaporation, and spinning cones.
