wine

I believe everyone is familiar with grapes, right? But how much do you know about wine? Here is some knowledge about it.

Wine Origin and History

1. The origin of wine

In the history of alcoholic beverages, wine has the longest history. It has a history of about 18,000 years, but in fact, it is much longer than that. It can be said that wine has existed since wild grapes. According to legend, 18,000 years ago, when our ancestors were still primitive people, they picked wild fruits in the wild and packed the uneaten wild fruits with stone tools. When they were ready to enjoy them after a while, they found that there was a kind of fruit that could turn into liquid and tasted more delicious. More importantly, it could actually cure some diseases. This is the most primitive wine, and also the earliest wine.

2. The development of wine

With the development of human beings, especially in the wars for interests and resources, wine has developed rapidly. One is to stimulate the fighting spirit of soldiers in war, one is a raw material for anesthesia and disinfection of injuries, one is a way of communication in war, and another is a way to plunder the conquered.

With the migration and spread of human beings, people planted grapes in different regions and natural environments, and selected the best grape varieties. Now there are four largest wine grape planting circles in the world:

(1) European Peninsula Planting Circle: This is also the oldest and most perfect planting circle in the world. It includes France, Portugal, Spain, Italy and other countries;

(2) Australian planting circle: mainly the mountainous forest areas along the coast of Australia;

(3) South American planting circle: mainly coastal mountainous and forested areas such as Chile;

(4) North American planting circle: mainly some areas in the United States.

Of course, China also has a very long history of wine. However, since China invented and developed grain wine relatively early, and since grain wine, especially distilled wine, has much higher stimulation, paralysis, disinfection and sterilization capabilities than wine, the planting and cultivation of wine grapes has been neglected in China, so that the current wine grape planting area and planting age are far less than those in Europe.

3. European wine producing areas

(1) European wines are mainly produced in the coastal areas centered on Bordeaux in southern France, including France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. See the figure below for details.

(2) The main alcoholic beverages in Europe include wine, whiskey, beer, vodka, etc. They are mainly distributed in the following figure:

2. Wine production

Wine is a natural drink made from grape juice that is naturally fermented. The specific production process starts with grape planting:

(1) Since wine is made without any other auxiliary ingredients, the quality of the grapes determines the quality of the wine. Therefore, there is a saying in Europe that good wine is grown;

(2) This is because the alcohol in wine comes from the fermentation of sugar and acid in grapes. If the sugar and acid ratio is insufficient, the alcohol content of the fermented wine will not be high enough. The taste of wine has a lot to do with the sugar-acid ratio and the fermentation yeast.

(3) Fermentation yeast refers to yeast that grows in the vineyard. Because of thousands of years of growth and evolution, a small climate has been formed in the vineyard. These yeasts attach to the grape skin and enter the grape juice after the juice is squeezed to ferment. It is similar to the kimchi jars in Sichuan, China and South Korea. It is not something that can be replicated in a few years. This is also the reason why China currently does not have high-quality wine.

(4) During the fermentation of grape juice, the temperature, humidity and other technical indicators must be controlled. Pay attention to the maturity of the wine and do not ferment it into vinegar, haha!

(5) When the fermentation reaches the predetermined requirements, the wine should be stored in oak barrels. The purpose is to convert some alcohols in the wine into aromatic substances and absorb the aroma of the oak barrels. Oak is both a spice and a health product, so wine that gathers these essences is naturally a high-quality wine.

(6) Wine that has been stored for a certain period of time needs to be filtered and bottled in glass bottles, so the quality of the glass bottles is very important. It shoulders the responsibility of ensuring or improving product quality. Generally, dark bottles are used.

(7) Another issue that must be mentioned is the bottle cork. This seemingly unimportant thing actually determines the shelf life of the product. Good wines all use solid wood corks. Most domestic wines use compressed ones. Good wines are packaged horizontally, that is, the wine bottles are lying even during transportation. This is to prevent air from entering the bottle after the cork dries and oxidizing the product, thereby damaging the product quality.

3. Classification and grade of wine

1. Classification of wine

Wine classification is very complex, and different countries and regions have different classifications. But it is nothing more than based on the following indicators:

By color: white wine, rosé wine, red wine

According to sugar content: dry wine, semi-dry wine, semi-sweet wine, sweet wine

According to the carbon dioxide content: still wine, sparkling wine, high-sparkling wine, low-sparkling wine

2. Wine grades

The classification varies greatly from country to country. Let's take a general look at it.

French law divides French wine into four levels: legal origin wine, fine regional table wine, regional table wine, and daily table wine. Among them, legal origin wine accounts for 35% of the total production, fine regional table wine accounts for 2%, regional table wine accounts for 15%, and daily table wine accounts for 38%.

1. AOC wine is the highest level of French wine. AOC means "designation of origin controlled" in French. The grape variety, planting quantity, brewing process, alcohol content, etc. of the origin area must be certified by experts. It can only be brewed with grapes grown in the origin area, and it must not be blended with grape juice from other places. AOC production accounts for about 35% of the total French wine production. The bottle label is marked with Appellation + origin name + Controlee.

2. VDQS is the level that ordinary regional table wines must go through to transition to AOC. If the wine quality is good during the VDQS period, it will be upgraded to AOC. The output accounts for only 2% of the total French wine output. The bottle label is marked as Appellation + the name of the producing area + Qualite Superieure.

3. Regional table wine VIN DE PAYS (English meaning Wine of Country) The best wines among daily table wines are upgraded to regional table wines. The label of regional table wines can indicate the production area. It can be blended with grape juice from the marked production area, but only with grapes from the production area. The output accounts for about 15% of the total French wine output. The bottle label is marked as Vin de Pays + the name of the production area. Most of France's regional table wines are produced in the southern Mediterranean coast.

4. VIN DE TABLE (English meaning Wine of the table) is the lowest grade wine, for daily drinking. It can be blended with grape juice from different regions. If the grape juice is limited to the production areas of France, it can be called French daily table wine. Grape juice from countries outside the European Community is not allowed. The output accounts for about 38% of the total French wine output. The bottle label is marked as Vin de Table.

The Italian wine classification system was established in 1963 and is based on the French system. It is divided into four levels:

DOCG (Denomina purpurea di Origine Controllatae Garantita), which indicates high-quality wines from the legal region of origin, is the highest level;

DOC (Denomina violacea di Origine Contro llata), which means wine of legal designation of origin, is roughly equivalent to the AOC level in France;

IGT (Indica Purple one Geografiche Tipici) is a fine table wine, equivalent to the French VDP grade;

VdT (Vino da Tavola) is the most common grade of wine, equivalent to the French VDT grade.

Portuguese (Spanish) wine classification:

DOC (Denomination de Origen Calificada) is a well-known wine bottled under the designation of origin, equivalent to the French AOC;

Do (Denomination de Origen), is a symbol of higher quality wine;

Vdit (Vino de La Tierra) is roughly equivalent to the French VDP, but slightly inferior to the DO grade.