Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
it will be fully appreciated. Perception of the details really
matters in the impression, so even if you performed your
primary fermentation in a plastic bucket, don't you dare serve
it in a plastic cup!
Winemaking is among the oldest methods of food
preservation. In wine the levels of sugar in the original juice
are reduced to make the juice unattractive to organisms that
require sugar for growth, and the sugar is replaced with
alcohol that makes the juice an inhospitable environment for
most spoilage organisms. Meanwhile, many of the beneficial
nutrients in the original juice are preserved, including
vitamins and antioxidants. The yeast used to convert the sugar
to alcohol also imparts a number of B vitamins to the mix.
Later, wine became an end in itself for which fruits were
grown, and an entire culture and mythology have grown up
around grapes, winemaking, and wine. What started as a
method of preserving the essential nutrients of grapes and
compensating for dangerous water supplies in an era when
aseptic packaging and refrigeration did not exist has now
grown into a multi-billion dollar global industry, and there are
bottles of wine that can only be had for a cost exceeding that
of a new car.
The term wine, in the purest sense of the term, applies only to
the results of fermenting the juice of European vitis vinifera
grapes. These are a species that is distinct from the grapes
indigenous to North America, and only vitis vinifera
grapes—and no other grape or fruit—have the right levels of
sugar, tannin, acidity, and nutrients to produce wine without
adding anything. Grapes grown in particular regions lend
their unique flavors to wines named after them, such as
