What is Wine?
By Ian • Feb 26th, 2008 • Category: Wine History
Strictly speaking wine is an alcoholic drink made from the fermentation of crushed grapes. Wines can be made from other fruits but are always named as in elderberry wine.
The ripe grapes are picked and crushed. Then naturally occuring yeasts already present on the grapes will cause fermentation. The yeast consumes the sugars in the grape juice and converts them into alcohol.
The chemical makeup of the grapes is such that it can ferment without any additives other than the yeast.
Winemakers have controlled and refined this process over the centuries to produce the many and varied wines we enjoy today.
