Non-grape-based wine
The term wine can sometimes include alcoholic beverages that are not grape-based. This can include wines produced from fruits like apples and elderberries, starches like rice, as well as flowers and weeds like dandelion and marijuana.[1] The most common, narrow definition of wine relates to the product of fermented grape juice, though it is sometimes broadened to include any beverage with a fermentation based on the conversion of a sugar solution into alcohol (fermented beverages based on hydrolyzed barley such as beer are often excluded). Some drinks such as cider, mead and perry are also excluded from this broad definition of wine for historical reasons.[2] In many areas of the world, the commercial use of the word "wine" is protected by law.[3] In the European Union "wine" is legally defined only as the fermented juice of grapes.[1]
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Fruit wine [edit]
Fruit wines have traditionally been popular with home winemakers and in areas with cool climates such as North America and Scandinavia. Most fruits and berries have the potential to produce wine. However, the amount of fermentable sugars is often low and need to be supplemented by a process called chaptalization in order to have sufficient alcohol levels. Sucrose is often added so that fruits having excessive levels of acids (usually citric or malic acid) can split the sucrose into fermentable fructose and glucose sugars. Many fruit wines suffer from a lack of natural yeast nutrients needed to promote or maintain fermentation. Winemakers can counter this with the addition of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Banana wine is a traditional drink in east Africa and production is being started elsewhere.
Plum wine is a liqueur-like beverage made from plums steeped in distilled spirit with sugar. It is thus not true wine.
Starch "wines" [edit]
Most starch-based products marketed as "wine" are produced with methods that more closely resemble beer brewing.
Sake, and other rice wines are commonly described as "wine", although the process for making them is notably different from that of other wines.
Barley wine is a beer style characterized by a high abv, and mimics wine in this regard. In ancient Greece, "barley wine"[4] is mentioned by Greek historians Xenophon, in his work Anabasis,[5] and Polybius, in his work The Histories, where he mentions that Phaeacians kept barleywine in silver and golden kraters.[6]
Other wines [edit]
An American winemaker has also produced wine from army worms, which received favorable reviews from some wine experts.[7] There have also been some recent attempts by Chinese winemakers to make wine from fish. In Scotland, one winery has experimented with making wines from vegetables such as carrots and turnip. In the United States, recipes have been published online demonstrating how wine can be made from marijuana by adding winemaking yeast to a boiled mixture of marijuana, honey, lemons and oranges.[1]
Dandelion is a Country wine having Celtic origins, and popular in regions across Europe and the Eastern United States.
There is palm wine produced in west Africa from palm trees. These are the same trees from from which red palm oil is obtained.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c G. Harding "A Wine Miscellany" pg 5-9, Clarkson Potter Publishing, New York 2005 ISBN 0-307-34635-8
- ^ J. Robinson (ed) "The Oxford Companion to Wine" Third Edition pg 768 Oxford University Press 2006 ISBN 0-19-860990-6
- ^ George, Rosemary (1991). The Simon & Schuster Pocket Wine Label Decoder. Fireside. ISBN 978-0-671-72897-7.
- ^ κρίθινος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ Xenophon, Anabasis, 4.5.26, on Perseus
- ^ Polybius, The Histories, 34.9.15, on Perseus
- ^ "Army Worm Wine: Reviews".
