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General Information About Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the
fermentation of grape juice. The word wine originates from the Latin
word vinum that means wine and ‘vine’. Wines are not only made
from grapes but from other fruits, flowers or even honey. By law, the
terminology of wine means grape wine. The fermentation process that
sometimes takes several decades witch define each wine variation. Wine
is also used in religious ceremonies in many cultures.
The earliest evidence of fermented wine like drink
dates back to 7000 BC which is almost 9000 years ago was found in the
Chinese village of Jiahu. The wine was made from rice, beeswax and wild
grape.
Over the last two decades or so, wine consumption
has taken an enormous boom in the English speaking world. In the days
when wine was reserved only for the ‘cultural’ elite that bought wines
at auction or from exclusive gentleman wine merchants in bow-ties then
stored in cellars and decanted to order by a butler, wine was considered
a highly technical subject, in which anybody without the necessary
ability could only fall flat on his or her face in embarrassment. It was
made to seem like you need an intimate knowledge if what came from
where, and what it was supposed to taste like. Those were the times
when wine appreciation meant familiarity with French classics.
These days, wine is bought daily in supermarkets to
be consumed the same day itself. Not everyone has a cellar to store it
and most do not even bother with a decanter.
Consumers are no longer intimidated by the thought
of needing to know their wines. Wines from literally anywhere are
labeled with the name of the wine from which the wine is made. Consumers
have effectively recognized them as brand names and have acquired the
basic knowledge of wines.
Wine consumption was also given a significant boost
in the early 1990s by Dr. Serge Renaud, a French cardiologist that made
medical history by his findings that proves wine is able to disperse the
fat-derived cholesterol that builds up in the arteries, which lowers
your risk of a coronary heart disease.
Wine possesses a virtually limitless ability to
surprise. No two wines are ever alike, some may even say that no two
bottles are alike. Wines may be classified by the year of the grape
harvest or typically known as vintage. Vintage wines are made from
grapes of a particular year’s harvest. These wines improve in flavor as
they age and most wine lovers will save their favorite bottles of wine
for consumption several years later. The quality of grapes and care
taken in wine making defines the price of wine, the higher quality
grapes and detailed process being put into will mean the wine is more
expensive than factory manufactured wine which we refer to as table
wines. Superior vintages from famous producers and regions will be more
expensive than their average vintages. Some wines such as White
Zinfandels, which don’t age well are made solely to be drunk immediately
and are not labeled with vintage year.
Wine may also be classified by vinification
methods such as sparkling, still, rose, blush and fortified. The color
of wine is determined by the presence or absence of the grape skin
during fermentation. Red wine is made from red or black grapes and its
color is determined by the skin being left in contact with the juice
during fermentation. White wine however can be made from any color of
grape as the skin is removed from the juice during its fermentation
process. Rose wine is a compromise between red and whites as the skin of
red grapes is left in contact for a short time during fermentation.
Fortified wines which are often sweeter have their fermentation process
stopped by the addition of brandy.
Wines are described as dry, off-dry, sweet or
fruity. The sweetness of wine is measured in brix and determined by the
amount of sugar residue in the wine after fermentation. Dry wine does
not have any sugar residue.
Rare premium wines are the most expensive of all
foodstuff and vintages from the best vineyards sells for thousands of
dollar per bottle. Red wines are typically the most expensive due to
their ability to expand their complexities.
Additional Wine Articles From Wine-Blog.Net
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