Wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice. It is produced and consumed in many regions around the world, in a wide variety of styles which are influenced by different varieties of grapes, growing environments, viticulture methods, and production techniques.
Wine has been produced for thousands of years, the earliest evidence dating from in present-day Georgia. Its popularity spread around the Mediterranean during Classical antiquity, and was sustained in Western Europe by winemaking monks and a secular trade for general drinking. New World wine was established by settler colonies from the 16th century onwards, and the wine trade increased dramatically up to the latter half of the 19th century, when European vineyards were largely destroyed by the invasive pest phylloxera. After the Second World War, the wine market improved dramatically as winemakers focused on quality and marketing to cater for a more discerning audience, and wine remains a popular drink in much of the world.
Wine has played an important role in religion since antiquity, and has featured prominently in the arts for centuries. It is drunk on its own and paired with food, often in social settings such as wine bars and restaurants. It is often tasted and assessed, with drinkers using a wide range of descriptors to communicate a wine's characteristics. Wine is also collected and stored, as an investment or to improve with age. Its alcohol content makes wine generally unhealthy to consume, although it may have cardioprotective benefits.
History
The earliest known traces of wine were found near Tbilisi, Georgia. The subsequent spread of wine culture around the Mediterranean was probably due to the influence of the Phoenicians and Greeks. The Phoenicians exported the wines of Byblos, which were known for their quality into Roman times. Industrialized production of wine in ancient Greece spread across the Italian peninsula and to southern Gaul. The ancient Romans further increased the scale of wine production and trade networks, especially in Gaul around the time of the Gallic Wars.In medieval Europe, monks grew grapes and made wine for the Eucharist. Monasteries expanded their land holdings over time and established vineyards in many of today's most successful wine regions. Bordeaux was a notable exception, being a purely commercial enterprise serving the Duchy of Aquitaine and by association Britain between the 12th and 15th centuries.
European wine grape traditions were incorporated into New World wine, with colonists planting vineyards in order to celebrate the Eucharist. Vineyards were established in Mexico by 1530, Peru by the 1550s and Chile shortly afterwards. The European settlement of South Africa and subsequent trade involving the Dutch East India Company led to the planting of vines in 1655. Jesuit Missionaries managed to grow vines in California in the 1670s, and plantings were later established in Los Angeles in the 1820s and Napa and Sonoma in the 1850s. Arthur Phillip introduced vines to Australia in 1788, and viticulture was widely practised by the 1850s. The Australian missionary Samuel Marsden introduced vines to New Zealand in 1819.
The Great French Wine Blight began in the latter half of the 19th century, caused by an infestation of the aphid phylloxera brought over from America, whose louse stage feeds on vine roots and eventually kills the plant. Almost every vine in Europe needed to be replaced, by necessity grafted onto American rootstock which is naturally resistant to the pest. This practise continues to this day, with the exception of a small number of phylloxera-free wine regions such as South Australia.
The subsequent decades saw further issues impact the wine trade, with the rise of prohibitionism, political upheaval and two world wars, and economic depression and protectionism. The co-operative movement gained traction with winemakers during the interwar period, and the Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité was established in 1947 to oversee the administration of France's appellation laws, the first to create comprehensive restrictions on grape varieties, maximum yields, alcoholic strength and vinification techniques. After the Second World War, the wine market improved; all major producing countries adopted appellation laws, which increased consumer confidence, and winemakers focused on quality and marketing as consumers became more discerning and wealthy. New World wines, previously dominated by a few large producers, began to fill a niche in the market, with small producers meeting the demand for high quality small-batch artisanal wines. A consumer culture has emerged, supporting wine-related publications, wine tourism, paraphernalia such as preservation devices and storage solutions, and educational courses.
Production
Styles
The term "wine" typically refers to a drink made from fermented grape juice; drinks from other fruits are generically called fruit wine. It does not include drinks made from starches, honey, apples, pears, or a liquid which is subsequently distilled to make liquor. Most fruits other than grapes lack sufficient fermentable sugars, are overly acidic, and do not have enough nutrients for yeast, necessitating winemaker intervention. They do not typically improve with age, and last less than a year after bottling. Fruit wines are particularly popular in North America and Scandinavia.The sweetness of wine is determined by the amount of residual sugar left after fermentation. Dessert wines have a high level of residual sugar remaining after fermentation. There are several ways of making sweet wines, such as the use of grapes affected by noble rot, exposed to freezing temperatures, or dried.
Sparkling wines are effervescent, and can be any color, although they are usually white. They generally undergo secondary fermentation to create carbon dioxide, which remains dissolved in the wine under pressure in a sealed container. Two common methods of accomplishing this are the traditional method, used for Cava, Champagne, and more expensive sparkling wines, and the Charmat method, used for Prosecco, Asti, and less expensive wines. A hybrid "transfer method" is also used, yielding intermediate results, and simple addition of carbon dioxide is used in the cheapest of wines.
The type of grape used and the amount of skin contact while the juice is being extracted determines the color of the wine.
| Long contact with grape skins | Short contact with grape skins | |
| Red grapes | Red wine, made from dark-colored red grape varieties, and the actual color of the wine can range from dark pink to almost black. The juice from red grapes is actually pale gray; the color of red wine and some of its flavor comes from phenolics in the skin, seeds and stem fragments of the grape, extracted by allowing the grapes to soak in the juice. | Rosé wine, which gains color from red grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. The color can range from a very pale pink to pale red. There are two primary ways to produce rosé wine. The preferred technique is allowing a short period of maceration after crushing red grapes, which extracts a certain amount of color. The juice is then fermented like a white wine. An alternative is blending a small amount of finished red wine into finished white wine. |
| White grapes | Orange wine, sometimes called amber wine, is made with white grapes but with the skins allowed to macerate during and beyond fermentation, similar to red wine production. This results in their darker color compared to white wines, and produces a deliberately astringent end result. | White wine, typically made from white grape varieties, and range from practically colorless to golden. When skin contact is used, to improve the flavor or to increase the body or aging potential, it is usually limited to between four and 24 hours; any longer leads to bitterness. |
Viticulture
Wine is usually made from one or more varieties of the European species Vitis vinifera, such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Most Vitis vinifera vines have been grafted onto North American species' rootstock, a common practice due to their resistance to phylloxera, a root louse that eventually kills the vine.In the context of wine production, terroir is a concept that encompasses the growing environment of the vine, including elevation and slope of the vineyard, type and chemistry of soil, and climatic and seasonal conditions. The range of possible combinations of these factors can result in great differences in the characteristics and quality of the resultant wine.
Wine grapes grow mainly between 30 and 50 degrees latitude north and south of the equator, although the effects of climate change and advances in viticulture are increasing the area under vine elsewhere. The world's southernmost vineyard is in Sarmiento, Argentina, near the 46th parallel south. The northernmost wine region is the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada, which reaches up to the 50th parallel north.
Vinification
There are a number of different ways of making wine in a modern winery, each decision affecting the final outcome. The first step is harvesting the grapes, the timing of which depends on sugar and acid levels, any diseases affecting the crop, and the weather, among other factors. Grapes are harvested by hand or machine, sorted to select those of sufficient quality, typically destemmed, and then crushed to release the juice. The liquid may macerate for a few hours before being pressed and clarified.The liquid is then transferred to a container for fermentation, which is typically made of stainless steel, wood or concrete, and either open or closed. Yeast is naturally present on grape skins, but most producers choose to use a specific strain for their predictable behaviour, allowing them to control the flavors produced. The yeast consumes the sugars and converts them into alcohol, heat, and carbon dioxide. For red wines, winemakers may choose to encourage the extraction of tannins and flavor from the grape skins by agitating the mixture. If permitted by law, the winemaker may include additives such as sugar, to increase the alcohol content, or adjust the acid levels. Some wines undergo a secondary, malolactic fermentation, in which the harsher malic acid is converted into lactic acid by bacteria. Finally the wine may be filtered to remove microbes and yeast, and sulfites may be added as a preservative.