Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of unmodified grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they ferment completely without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients. (Although other fruits like apples and berries can also be fermented, the resultant "wines" are normally named after the fruit, and others, such as barley wine and rice wine are made from starchy foods and resemble beer more than wine.)

The word "wine" derives from the Proto-Germanic *winam, an early borrowing from the Latin vinum, wine or (grape) vine, itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European stem *win-o- (cf. Ancient Greek οῖνος oînos). Similar words for wine or grapes are found in the Semitic languages (cf. Arabic ﻭﻳﻦ wayn) and in Georgian (gvino), and the term is considered an ancient wanderwort, a word that has spread among numerous languages and cultures, usually in connection with trade, so that it becomes impossible to establish its original etymology, or even its original language.

The earliest evidence suggesting wine production comes from archaeological sites in Georgia and Iran, dating from 6000 to 5000 BC. The archaeological evidence becomes clearer, and points to domestication of grapevine, in Early Bronze Age sites of the Near East, Sumer and Egypt from around the third millennium BC. In Egypt, wine became a part of recorded history, playing an important role in ancient ceremonial life. Traces of wine were also found in China, dating from the second and first millennium BC.

Wine was common in classical Greece and Rome. Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and revelry, and wine was frequently referred to in the works of Homer and Aesop. Many of the major wine producing regions of Western Europe today were established by the Romans. Wine making technology improved considerably during the time of the Roman Empire. Many grape varieties and cultivation techniques were known. Barrels were developed for storing and shipping wine.

In mediæval Europe, the Christian Church was a staunch supporter of wine which was necessary for the celebration of the Catholic Mass. In places such as Germany, beer was banned and considered pagan and barbaric while wine consumption was viewed as civilized and a sign of conversion.

The 14 largest exporting nations (based on 2005 figures) are: Italy, France, Spain, Australia, Chile, the United States of America, Germany, South Africa, Portugal, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia and Argentina. California produces about 90% of the wine in the United States.

In 2000, Great Britain imported more wine from Australia than from France for the first time in history.

A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown in a single specified year, and are accordingly dated as such. Many wines, particularly good quality red table wines, can improve in flavor with age if properly stored. Consequently, it is not uncommon for wine enthusiasts and traders to save bottles of an especially good vintage wine for future consumption. Most countries allow a vintage wine to include a portion of wine that is not from the labeled vintage.

For some types of wine, the best-quality grapes and the most care in wine-making are employed on vintage wines and they are therefore more expensive than non-vintage wines. Whilst vintage wines are generally made in a single batch so that each and every bottle will have a similar taste, climatic factors can have a dramatic impact on the character of a wine to the extent that different vintages from the same vineyard can vary dramatically in flavor and quality. Thus, vintage wines are produced to be individually characteristic of the vintage and to serve as the flagship wines of the producer. Superior vintages, from reputable producers and regions, will often fetch much higher prices than their average vintages. Some vintage wines are made only in better-than-average years.

Non-vintage wines, however, are blended from a number of vintages for consistency, a process which allows wine makers to keep a reliable market image and also maintain sales even in bad vintage years.