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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.

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