Wine

Wine can be defined as fermented fruit

juice. Most wine is fermented grape
juice, but almost any fleshy fruit can
be fermented.
Fermenting of sugar in fruits to alcohol
occurs naturally, and many animals
have enjoyed getting intoxicated on
fermented fruit. Thus it is not unlikely
that crude wine was humanitys first
experience with alcohol.
Evidence of fermented grape juice has
been seen in 8000 year old pottery
shards from China. The ancient
Egyptians (5000 years ago) had a welldeveloped wine production system.
Wine is mentioned many times in the
Bible. Jesuss first miracle was
converting large amounts of water into

Early
History
Many species of grape are found in both
the Old World and the New World.
The species most used for wine making,
Vitus vinifera, was domesticated in
western Asia, in the Caucasus
Mountains region. It soon spread into
the developing civilizations in
Mesopotamia.
The ancient Greeks thought the god
Dionysus gave wine to humans, to ease
our suffering.
Dionysus was the god of wine, ecstasy, and
insanity
Known as Bacchus to the Romans, who
celebrated with orgiastic festivals called
Bacchanalia

Native American
Grapes

A second species important to wine making

is Vitus labrusca, which is native to North
America.
Concord and catawba are varieties of
labrusca
When Leif Ericson and the Vikings
reached North America in 1000 AD,
they named the place Vinland after
the labrusca grapes found here.
(northern end of Newfoundland)

In 1860, the European vinyards got

infected with an insect, the root aphid,
Phylloxera. It is native to North America,
and got imported accidentally.
It was found that American (labrusca)
grape vines are resistant to Phylloxera,
The Europeans planted it, then grafted
vinifera grapes to the labrusca roots.
This remains the common practice for

Wine in America

European grapes didnt grow well in the

northeastern part of the US, where early
English settlement occurred.
The Spanish brought grapes to California in
1769, when Father Junipero Serra founded the
chain of missions that became the major
cities in California.

Prohibition (1920-1933) nearly destroyed the

American wine industry. A Constitutional
amendment was passed banning the
manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol
for human consumption. Although this did
decrease alcohol consumption, it led to
widespread criminal activity, since many
people resented the law. Prohibition was
repealed by another amendment in 1933.

California produces the best American wines,

and many wine critics rate some of them on

Wine Growing

Wine grapes like a sunny, dry

environment. They dont grow well in
cooler climates.
Different cultivars like slightly different
conditions, and even minor variations in
climate, such as north-facing vs. southfacing slopes, can affect the quality of
the wine.
The weather in a given year also has an
effect.
Soil conditions also affect wine flavor and
quality.

Wine grapes grow as a vine. They are

trained onto trellises and pruned to
maximize exposure to the sun.
It takes about 5 years from planting to
full production, and a vine can bear good
fruit for 50 years or more.

Extracting the Grape

Juice

Grapes can be harvested mechanically or by

hand. Harvest time is set by the winemaker,
whose decision is based on sugar content
and acidity.
The juice is extracted from the grapes by
pressing them. This was traditionally done
by human feet, but a screw press in used
today.
The seeds contain bitter compounds, so
pressing is done at relatively low pressures to
avoid breaking them.

For white wine, the grape skins are

immediately removed. It is possible to
make white wine from red grapes!
For red wine, the grape skins are allowed to
stay with the grape juice during

Fermentation

The grape juice is transferred to vats for

fermentation. This process is anaerobic, and
the temperature must be controlled because
it generates considerable heat.
It is possible to ferment the grapes using the
natural yeast that grows on them. This is the
traditional method, but it often led to
fermentation failures because other
microorganisms would convert the sugars to
sour acids (vinegar) instead of alcohol.
Louis Pasteur, in the 1860s, first studied wine
production from a scientific point of view. He
recommended sterilizing the grape juice, then
introducing a pure culture of a specific yeast.
Sterilization is done by introducing sulfur
dioxide gas.
Different wineries each have their own special
yeast.
The yeast is a different strain of Saccharomyces

Further Steps

Fermentation will continue until all of the sugar

has been converted to alcohol, or until the
alcohol concentration reaches about 18%. This
takes 2-3 weeks.
However, for sweet wines, the process is stopped before
all the sugar is used up, by adding alcohol to the mixture
or by killing the yeast with sulfur dioxide gas.

A secondary fermentation (aging) then takes

place, lasting several months. During this time
fine particles settle out of the wine. This
process is done under anaerobic conditions. A
lot of flavor development occurs during the
aging process.
Before the wine is blended and bottled, a
clarifying agent such as gelatin in added to
precipitate out any remaining particles. This also
reduces tannin content: tannin adds bitterness
to the wine. The particles are then removed by
filtering.

Sparkling Wines

Champagne is carbonated wine that is

made in the Champagne district of France.
Other sparkling wines are made by the
same process, but arent technically called
champagne.
The carbonation comes from adding some
sugar and fresh yeast to bottled wine. The
yeast ferments this extract sugar, and the
carbon dioxide gas is trapped in the bottle.
It is necessary to remove the dead yeast
after the fermentation is complete. This is
tricky: you can also lose all of the carbon
dioxide.
During this fermentation, the bottle are
stored upside down, so the yeast
accumulates in the neck. After
fermentation is complete, the necks are
frozen . The bottle are opened and an icy
plug of yeast and wine comes out. A little
replacement wine is added, and the bottles

Distilled Spirits

The alcohol content of beer and wine is limited by

the fact that an alcohol concentration of 18% or
more kills the yeast that produces it.
To produce stronger alcohol, distillation is needed.
The principle is that ethanol boils at a
temperature lower than water. So, the alcohol
boils off, leaving the water behind. You just need
to capture the alcohol vapor and condense it.
The first 1% or so of what distills off has headacheinducing compounds in it, and it is generally
discarded.

Distillation was invented by the Arabs around 700

AD.
The word alcohol comes from Arabic:
alkuhul, which refers to kohl, a preparation
used to darken the eyes. Alternatively,
alghoul, which means monster or spirit. This
word origin is somewhat debatable.
Alcohol concentration is measured in proof, where
each proof is 1/2 %. So, 80 proof means 40%
alcohol. Most distilled spirits are 80-100 proof.