What can wine be made of?
If we exclude grapes, "fruit wine" can be made from any fermented vegetable matter , to which have been added (to trigger or support alcoholic fermentation ) more or less: sugar, water, yeasts and nitrogenous or flavoring substances.
Definitions of wine:
Wineis an alcoholic beverage (of 7-16%) obtained by the fermentation o juice grape , the fruits of the vine.[1]
Wine/ Wines (wine, wine, wine) is called alcoholic beverage (of 7-16%) obtained by fermentation of grape must.[ 2]
Wine is a food product [3], obtained by fermentation of grape juice.
Wine is an alcoholic beverage usually obtained by fermentation of grapes. It can be made from other fruits or flowers, cases in which the fermentation of fruits / flowers is done with water and sugar. [4]
Other wines, such as barley wine (barley wine) and rice wine are made from starch-based materials (cereals) and are more like beer than wine, while ginger wine is fortified with alcohol of vegetable origin. Barley wine, rice wine is called Sake, apple wine (petiant) is called Cider, pear wine (petitioner) is called Perry or the famous Lambanog – "cocos wine" – wine from milk macerate and coconut pulp.
The European Union regulations support the name of any fermented product from fruits or flowers "wine", provided that this name is compulsorily accompanied by the name of the fruit / flower from which it was made. It is a contradiction here, because by comparison, it would be necessary to regulate the name of wine as "wine from grapes", which does not happen, being implied that WINE is produced from GRAPES.
Why do we argue that VIN should be called exclusively the product obtained from the alcoholic fermentation of grapes? Because grapes are the only fruits that have enough sugar and enough water, enough acid, enough flavors, polyphenols, tannins, vitamins and especially enough wild yeasts to start alcoholic fermentation without any help and to end it with a finished product to the liking of man, without any intervention, ready to drink cheerfully.
We could give the example of gooseberries (which resemble grape berries), but they do not have enough sugar. Or dates, which can be extremely sweet, but do not have enough water. Or the melon, which also has water and enough sweetness, but is devoid of wild yeasts .
From which fruits or flowers is wine most often made?
Fruit wine is made from: blueberries, blueberries and lemon, agave, gooseberries, aloe, pineapple, aronia, aronia and cannabis, bananas, strawberries, strawberries with mint, cherries, currant (red or black), horns, cranberry (cranberries), pumpkin, passion fruit, tropical fruits, ginger, quince, kiwi, litchee, tangerines, mango, maracuja, apples, carrots, blackberries, hawthorn, hawthorn and pigeon, pears, pigeon, oranges, plums, pomegranates, sugar beet, figs, sugar cane, sweet sour cherries, raspberries.
Flower wine is made from: lilac, acacia (fortified), elderberry (quiet and petiole), dandelion, roses.
There is also the wine made of honey (hidromel) with different fruits, so as not to use the refined sugar in initiating the alcoholic fermentation.[ 5, 6]
All wines from fruits, flowers or honey contain alcohol and most of them are used for medicinal purposes. Their use as recreational drinks is beginning to be more and more widespread, but it will not end up replacing either cider, sake, or wine. All the more so because, in order to please as many consumers as possible, it invests in technologies for the dealcoolization of wine. Which is not an option for fruit wine producers.
Which fruit wine is first in consumer preferences?
Contrary to the belief that black currant wine is the most sought after, the most popular fruit wine is strawberry wine ("Strawberry wine"). Also, we should not confuse between "Orange wine" and "Wine from oranges". "Orange wine" is the wine produced naturally from white grapes, by maceration–fermentation, the best known being the one obtained in "qvevri" (ceramic pots) since antiquity, in Georgia. "Wine from oranges" is the wine produced from the fermentation of oranges, with the help of sugar and yeasts.
There is also the option of wine with fruits or flowers / aromatic plants. This includes all the wines to which are added flavors or fruit extracts and wormwood wine, which is a wine flavored with plants that give it a bitter, specific taste.
No matter what raw material it is made of, wine is a product to the liking of many people. But no one but grape wine can tell such interesting, captivating and everlasting stories that accompany man in all the events of life and beyond.
Sources
- https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strugure
- https://dexonline.ro/definitie/vin
- LAW no. 164 of June 24, 2015, vines and wine in the system of common organization of the wine market, issued by the Romanian Parliament, published in the Official Gazette no. 472 of 30 June 2015, entered into force on 3 July 2015
- https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/wine
- https://dexonline.ro/definitie/hidromel
- https://apilink.ro/retete/retete-pe-baza-de-produse-apicole/51-hidromel-reteta-i
