The Wine Portal
Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from 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. Although fruits other than grapes can also be fermented, the resultant wines are normally named after the fruit from which they are produced (for example, apple wine) and are known as fruit wine (or country wine). Others, such as barley wine and rice wine (e.g. sake), are made from starch-based materials and resemble beer more than wine; 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 the production process. The commercial use of the word "wine" (and its equivalent in other languages) is protected by law in many jurisdictions. 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.
Wine stems from an extended and rich history dating back about 8,000 years and is thought to have originated in present-day Georgia or Iran. Wine is thought to have appeared in Europe about 6,500 years ago in present-day Bulgaria and Greece and was very common in ancient Greece and Rome; the Greek god Dionysos, and his Roman counterpart Liber represented wine. Wine continues to play a role in religious ceremonies, such as Kiddush in Judaism and the Eucharist in Christianity. (Full article...)
Selected articles -
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that while Joseph Longworth thought that he would be remembered only as "the son of his father and the father of his son", there is today a wing of the Cincinnati Art Museum named for him?
- ... that Green Day wrote a tribute song for singer Amy Winehouse following her death, despite never having met her?
- ... that the Louis M. Martini Winery began selling wine on December 5, 1933 – the day on which Prohibition in the United States was repealed?
- ... that Benjamin Wallace wrote a book about wine bottles allegedly owned by Thomas Jefferson?
- ... that the headless body of Thomas Aquinas was boiled, possibly in wine, after his canonization?
- ... that the bishop of Oregon's residence in Portland once had a private chapel, a ballroom, and a wine cellar?
- ... that the Anglo-Saxons may have used a mixture of garlic, another Allium, wine, and bovine bile as an eye medicine?
- ... that a wine closet at 15 Central Park West originally cost up to $80,000, while a storage bin cost $35,000?
Selected quote
“ | Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. | ” |
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Othello II. iii. (315) |
Related portals
Selected winery
Under the Torres brand name they trade wine based on a range of different labels, as well as brandies. Some of these are Viña Sol, Sangre de Toro, De Casta, Coronas, Atrium and Viña Esmeralda, with their best known brandies being Torres 5 and Torres 10. Many Torres wines are produced from international rather than traditional Spanish grape varieties and are varietally labelled. The company is currently managed by the fourth generation of the Torres family. (Full article...)
General images -
Selected picture
Topics
List articles
Categories
Related WikiProjects
Parent project: WikiProject Food and Drink | |
Child projects: | Task forces: (All inactive) |
|
|
Related projects: | |
Things you can do
|
Here are some tasks you can do for WikiProject Wine:
|
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikispecies
Directory of species -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus