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Wine (from the Latin vinum) is a drink made from grapes (species Vitis vinifera), through the alcoholic fermentation of its must or juice. Fermentation is produced by the metabolic action of yeasts, which transform the natural sugars of the fruit into ethanol and gas in the form of carbon dioxide. The sugar and acids found in the fruit, Vitis vinifera, are sufficient for the development of fermentation. However, wine is a sum of environmental factors: climate, latitude, altitude, daylight hours and temperature, among several others. Approximately 66% of the world grape harvest is dedicated to wine production; the rest is for consumption as fruit. Despite this, the cultivation of the vine covers only 0.5% of the arable land in the world. The cultivation of the vine has been associated with places with a Mediterranean climate, Not surprisingly, half of the world's wine production is concentrated in just three Mediterranean countries: Italy, France and Spain. There are several recognized denominations of origin, including Rioja, La Mancha, Albariño Porto, etc.

The name "wine" is given only to the liquid resulting from the total or partial alcoholic fermentation of grape juice, without the addition of any substance. In many legislations, only the fermented drink obtained from Vitis vinifera is considered as wine, despite the fact that similar drinks are obtained from other species such as Vitis labrusca, Vitis rupestris, etc. The knowledge of the particular science of winemaking is called oenology (without considering the processes of growing the vine). The science that deals only with the biology of the vine, as well as its cultivation, is called ampelology.

Etymology

Viticulture and wine production appear to have originated in the Caucasus (now Georgia) and Asia Minor (now Turkey). Therefore, as it happens in such cases, the word must come from some language of that area, but that is not known exactly. Outside the Indo-European family, specifically among the Semitic languages, are Arabic and Ethiopic wain, Assyrian īnu, and Hebrew yàyin a proto- -Semitic ^*wainu. The term is also in the Kartvelian languages of the Caucasus (Georgian), the Indo-European languages of Asia Minor (Hittite and Luwian) and the Caucasus (Armenian). The word, along with viticulture, traveled to the western Mediterranean, and is found in Greek οἶνος, Albanian vēnë, and Latin vinum (where the Castilian vino comes from). From Latin it passed to Celtic (Old Irish, fin; Gaulish, gwin), to Germanic (Gothic, wein; German, Wein; English, wine) and Slavic (Old Slavonic and Russian, vino), and from Slavic to Lithuanian výnas.^{[citation required]}

Another theory considers that the root is close to the Sanskrit word vana (love), which also gave rise to the words Venus and Venera. Such a semantic relationship would be given by the ancient belief in the aphrodisiac powers of wine.

History

Main article: History of wine

Winemaking in Ancient Egypt. Tomb of Najt, in the Valley of the nobles.

Can Papiol Romantic Museum] in Villanueva and Geltrú.

Wine was produced for the first time during the Neolithic period, according to archaeological evidence found in the Zagros Mountains, in the region now occupied by Iraq and Iran, thanks to the presence of Vitis vinifera sylvestris and the appearance of ceramics during this period. The oldest evidence of wine production and consumption is a vessel from 5400 BC. C., found in the Neolithic town of Hajji Firuz Tepe, in the Zagros mountains. The vessel contains a reddish residue, presumably wine. Although the oldest known cellar has recently been found, dating to 8000 BC. C., the oldest production of wine is located in Georgia. Subsequently, the consumption of wine spread to the west, reaching Anatolia and Greece; and to the south, reaching Egypt, already famous in Bahariya during the Middle Kingdom (20th century BC). The oldest Greek documentation on the care of the vine, the harvest and the pressing of the grapes, is The works and the days, by Hesiod, from the century VIII a. C. In ancient Greece, wine was drunk mixed with water and kept in goat skins.

The first thing to note is that wine, throughout history, has been highly regarded by Western high society, where there is evidence of its production in the 17th century III a. C. Since then it has been an essential witness in any important event or banquet and around it the great treaties and historical events of the West have been signed.

Already in Egypt, Greece and Rome, Dionysus or Bacchus (god of the vineyards) was worshiped and the Bible refers to wine in various passages, among others where it recounts the last supper of Jesus. We know that in China, 4000 years ago, they already knew about the fermentation process of the grape, and that in Egypt, in the XIV century B.C. C., they already knew viticulture.

Viculture owes its greatest development to the spread of Christianity, as it is the necessary wine for the celebration of mass. The monasteries, with their own production and extraction methods, were the precursors of viticulture and viniculture, leaving traces as clear as priory wines, coming from the word prior.

The vineyards

Main article: Vitis vinifera

Vitis vinifera.

The vine that has been cultivated in Europe since ancient times and that from Europe has been transplanted to other continents to produce wine and table grapes is Vitis vinifera L. It has an infinite number of varieties, which cease to be of botanical interest to become agricultural, the vines that produce table grapes being quite different from those for wine. It is said that there are about five thousand varieties of V. vinifera in the world, five thousand vines. Vitis vinifera in the wild is hard to find. It was even believed missing.

Perhaps the varieties of V. vinifera in relation to wine grapes. Sometimes the same name is used to designate two different vines. This is how they speak of varieties other than the German and Italian Riesling. The same happens with the Moscatel, Cariñena, Malvasía and other varieties. Sometimes a variety is known under different names even within the same language or within the same country.

These varieties are called “viduño” in Spanish. The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy understands viduño or vidueño as "caste or variety of vine". In some languages there is no such exact word. In Italian the viduño is called “vitigno”. In recent French-French dictionaries, but not in the older ones, the word "cépage" is given the meaning of viduño. The word "viduño" is used only in Spain, being the word "cepa" the most common in Spanish-speaking countries, which comes from the French "cépage". There are those who, to designate a class of vines, say “class of grapes”. It's not exact. Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Viura, etc. they are different varieties of the same kind of vine: the Vitis vinifera. The grapes lend themselves to other classifications: ripe, sweet, raisins, semi-raisins, etc., although of course they can also be classified based on the vine they come from. Carlos Falcó translates the French word "cépage" by grape variety and defines vidueño as "vineyard".

Ampelology and ampelography

The Greek word “ampelos” means vine in Spanish. According to Gonzalo del Cerro Calderón, "Ampelography is the descriptive study of the vine, and ampelology deals with its cultivation" the ways of cultivating them. Does not welcome the word "ampelography". According to Alexis Lichine, ampelography has two meanings: “1. Descriptive study, identification and classification of vines. 2. Book or document that describes the structural characteristics of the vines. In addition to the written information, it is illustrated with detailed pictures or photographs of the leaves of each plant that is dealt with in the book" According to the encyclopedia "Knowing and choosing wine" ampelology is the "science that studies the vine plant with its different varieties" and ampelography is the "science that describes the different varieties of vines, according to the size of the vine, the sex of the flower, the shape of the shoots, the texture and toothing of the leaves, the color of the berries, etc.”

The word ampelography was first used in 1661 by F. J. Sachs. Ampelography is a misnomer. In this regard, it must be taken into account that before "oenology" the expression "enography" was used, which has since been abandoned. There is no talk of "philolography" as distinct from "philology"; not musicography, but musicology, etc. It seems that "ampelology" should be said, and there is no point in distinguishing between "ampelology" and "ampelography". Dictionaries no longer include both expressions, but only "ampelology".

The book Grape varieties and Rootstock Varieties written by Pierre Galet, director of the Montpellier Viticulture Department, is considered the initiator, in 1940, of modern "ampelology", understood as the science and The art of describing and identifying the different grapevines, confronts the prevailing confusion derived both from using different names to refer to the same varieties and from designating different varieties with the same name. Galet's system is mainly based on measuring the angles formed by the veins of the vine leaves, in such a way that each variety can be identified numerically, by measuring those angles. The system distinguishes the varieties, but it fails in the sub-varieties and seems to be called upon to be complemented or even replaced by DNA identification or by other biochemical criteria not based exclusively on observing the leaves, which is the main object of attraction for traditional ampelologists., including Gallet.

It is very difficult to reach peacefully accepted conclusions, with a Galet measuring the angles of the vine leaves in the name of science —a very limited methodology— and viticulturists who each aspire to have their own vineyard as a claim to identity. In the town of Montalcino they pride themselves on having their own grapevine, the so-called "Brunello de Montalcino". It seems that it is the Sangiovese vine to which another name is given. Perhaps the grapevine with the luckiest name is that of "Cariñena". Cariñena is simultaneously a geographical name and an internationally recognized viduño, as it has translations into other languages: French "carignan", "carignano" in Italian, and "carignan" in English. With Cariñena the tension about whether what is important and what identifies a wine is the place where it comes from or the vine with which it is made disappears. Cariñena is both simultaneously.

Regarding the vine as an object of study, two sciences must be distinguished: botany and ampelology. Botany deals with the classification of plants according to very rigorous criteria that were basically established by Linnaeus. This leads to a distinction between Vitis vinifera and vines other than V. vinifera, such as V. rupestris Lot., V. riparia Michx., V. berlandieri Planch., etc.

Botanical studies advanced a lot, but not to the point where one can speak of a branch of botany that deals with the vine, another that deals with the tomato, another with the pear, etc. Botany usually stops at the threshold of the so-called "cultivars", consisting of varieties that are already man's agricultural creation. In the case of Vitis vinifera L. up to five thousand varieties can be distinguished. Ampelology deals with the study and identification of these cultivars. Draw the vines, photograph them, highlighting their defining taxonomic characters, the serrations on the leaves, etc. It is an activity that can be carried out and used by both the botanist and the ampelologist. The ampelologist is interested almost exclusively in the cultivation of Vitis vinifera. The other species are of interest above all as rootstocks. The study of the various varieties of Vitis vinifera cannot be separated from their cultivation, since these varieties come from their agricultural manipulation.

When the Vikings arrived in continental America they called the lands they discovered Vinland ("land of wine"), given the abundance of vines they found there. But none was Vitis vinifera L. Unsuccessful attempts were made to obtain wine from them. The Spaniards already brought Vitis vinifera to America from the beginning of the 16th century, but not so much with the aim of achieving wines that could compete with Europeans, but with the simple aim of obtaining wine to celebrate mass.. These classes or class of viduño is called "criolla" in South America and "mission" —mission strain— in California. Interest in good wines, in competition with Europeans, awoke in America at the beginning of the XIX century.

When from 1850 to 1870 phylloxera and other diseases devastated the vineyards of Europe, the remedy was to graft existing varieties onto roots of American vines, called rootstocks because they were used as such; and thus plants more resistant to the plague were achieved. The Canary Islands and Chile pride themselves on having old-fashioned vineyards, which have never been attacked by phylloxera and can therefore be cultivated barefoot, that is, without the usual rootstock. This privilege is also claimed by some vineyards in Portugal and certain vines from Jerez: Palomino de Jerez, Palomino fino and Pedro Ximénez. That resistance derives from the strains that penetrate very deeply into the earth.

In order to achieve vines that simultaneously enjoy the advantages of European and American vines, some hybrids were produced. These experiments were carried out mainly in France. Such names are known by the name of the inventor, followed by a number. For example, Seibel 5455. Such hybrids have not been very successful. Both the public powers, which carefully regulate rootstocks, and growers show distrust in this regard.

Depending on the qualities of the climate and terrain, some vines are more apt than others to produce wine or brandy. In general, the most suitable are usually the traditional ones in each country. At least that is what the European Union recommends. Royal Decree 1195/85 of June 5, with a lot of complementary legislation, regulated vine varieties for Spain, recommending or authorizing their use, due to the various Spanish regions. This matter was also regulated by regulation 418/86 of the European Community, which is no longer in force, as it was transitory. The denominations of origin of the wines are based not only on the geographical origin, but also on the variety of the vines, in such a way that each region is assigned some vines as more appropriate or even mandatory. Ignoring these advices or precepts in the European community is penalized by not being able to commercially use the denomination of origin, nor inform about the class of grapes with which the wine is made, in addition to ceasing to receive agricultural aid. The Royal Decree 1472/2000 of August 4 in its annex V provides by autonomous communities the complete list of recommended and authorized varieties. It also lists varieties recommended as rootstocks. In this case, there is no room for others that are simply authorized. That is, the recommended rootstocks are mandatory.

Grapes are the essential element with which wine is finally made. The grapes that produce the wine belong to the biological family known as vitaceae, which are a classification of plants with a tendency to climb fixed surfaces. This family has eleven different genera, but only Vitis is interesting as a wine fruit. Within the genus Vitis there are 60 species, but only the vinifera is the one that provides wine (of Indo-European origin). Among the other sixty species of Vitis, there are also, for example: the North American V.labrusca, the V. riparia, the V. aestivalis, the v. rotundifolia, etc. Of all of them, only Vitis vinifera is the one that provides wine with a flavor accepted by most of the cultures on earth.

Sometimes the vines undergo grafting in order to obtain new plants that are more resistant to pest attacks. One of the most terrible occurred in the mid-19th century, in 1863, when American varieties were transported to Europe, causing that the aphid fly called Phylloxera vastratix spread throughout the vineyards (the European species were not resistant to the attack of this fly). The Vitis vinifera is harassed by other pests that are combated in different ways.

Wine regions

Wine production is restricted to certain geographical latitudes, as a general rule it is associated with annual climatic isotherms that have average temperatures between 10° and 20°. As a general rule, vine cultivation has been associated with places that have certain similarities with the Mediterranean climate. It can also occur in subtropical climates with the correct techniques. Sometimes local microclimates allow the cultivation of vines in areas as diverse as the Canary Islands or Canada.

In the European Union, the common organization of the wine market has as its basic rule Regulation 1493/1999 of May 17, which has been partially modified on many occasions, especially by Regulation 479/2008 of April 29. In its Annex III it established three large zones —A, B and C—, each of them with multiple subdivisions. Those zones and sub-zones are much more subtle and nuanced than dividing European countries into northern and southern ones, rather a certain zone or sub-zone comprises part France, part Germany, part Hungary, etc. These subdivisions are very detailed. Vgr. "In Cyprus, the viticultural zone C III a) includes the areas planted with vines located at heights that exceed 600 m of altitude." It does the same of Annex IX of Regulation 479/2008 of April 29 that touches up those large or small areas.

Currently (2016) with approx. With 1,000,000 hectares of vineyards, Spain is the world leader in cultivated area. Castilla-La Mancha hosts 50% of the Spanish total. China, with a population that is increasingly fond of wine consumption, has become the country with the second most land dedicated to the cultivation of vineyards in the world (800,000 ha), a position it has reached after surpassing France (790,000 ha). and Italy (700,000 ha) in an attempt to meet the rapid increase in their domestic demand. According to the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), in 2016, Italy, with 49 Mill. hL, occupies the first position as a world producer of wine, followed by France (47 Mill. hL) and in third place is Spain (37 Mill. hL).

Today wine is a highly controlled process, which has achieved the denomination of precision wine.

This organization of the wine market takes into account many considerations that are not strictly commercial, which gives rise to very flexible legislation. “There are areas —read recital (26) of the 2008 regulation— whose production does not meet demand; to favor the best adjustment of the sector as a whole, the definitive abandonment of viticulture in these areas should be encouraged; accordingly, a premium should be granted for that purpose; the management of this premium must correspond to the Member States, etc”. But, then in the following recital it is established: "Production in Member States that produce less than 25,000 hectoliters of wine per year does not seriously affect the balance of the market; consequently, such Member States should be exempted from planting restrictions but should not have access to the premium for permanent abandonment of viticulture". In short, wine is grown in small quantities in certain regions and is even encouraged, if this legitimate aspiration that the region or country has its own wine is satisfied. Tolerance is also shown with those areas where, due to lack of sufficient sunlight, the grapes can barely ripen, so they have to resort to sugaring the musts, especially in certain vintages.

The European Union has made a decided choice to market wine based on toponymic names, headed by Regulatory Councils that bring together winegrowers from the region. A wine is presented as Bordeaux, Rioja, Cariñena, Beaujolais, Tokay, etc. What's more, the generic word “wine” is not even mentioned. One drinks a Rioja, a Bordeaux, a Cariñena, a Chablis, etc. The marketing of wine is very different from beer. In beer, no toponymic name is promoted commercially —because it is prohibited for commercial brands—, but rather a brand. Beer does not have regulatory councils. The owner of the brand entrusts the breweries of various countries to make it for him, giving him the pertinent instructions to produce the desired product. Beer X is made in the same way in Spain as in the United States of North America, as in Germany, in the same way that a commercial brand of automobiles can set up factories in different countries and regions.

The rigidity of the "system of toponymic denominations" for the commercialization of wine has been softened a bit with Regulation 479/2008 of the Council of April 29. The so-called "quality wines produced in a certain region" are suppressed (v.c.p.r.d.)". The quality of the wine is no longer tied to the fact that the grapes come from a certain region. Toponymic denominations are currently of two kinds. In a wine with designation of origin "the grapes used in its production come exclusively from that geographical area." In a wine with geographical indication it is enough that "85% of the grapes used in its production come exclusively from that geographical area". No one is forced to resort exclusively to the grapes of their terroir anymore, so that their wine is considered to be of quality. La Mancha usually supplies the deficiencies of all of Europe. The rains of 2002 made it impossible to harvest grapes in all of Europe, except in southern Spain. La Mancha provided all the European wineries lacking acceptable vintages with the necessary raw material.

The quality of the wine is ensured by the quality of the grape. The Rioja designation of origin was granted the status of "qualified" by order of April 3, 1991. Decree 157/1988 of February 22 established the conditions that make it possible for a designation of origin to access the category of “qualified”. One of the conditions is that the price of the grapes of that designation reach a price higher than 200% of the national market price. The designation of origin "El Priorato" also holds this "qualified" status. The quality of the grape is no longer considered linked to the fact that all the grapes come from a certain region. The fact that the X denomination of origin or the X estate produces wine with grapes coming only from that region or estate does not in itself ensure quality, especially in a year in which the harvest has been bad.

Exceptionally, European legislation treats names that are not geographical as indications or geographical names. A characteristic example is the denomination "cava", which is by no means a geographical denomination, but is assigned a certain region in the Penedés and also in part of Valencia, Extremadura and La Rioja. This denomination of origin is not reduced to a simple association of peasants who receive community aid either for making wine or for stopping making it by uprooting vineyards, but rather it has powerful commercial houses. Freixenet and Codorníu have established themselves in California with great success. Another example is that of vinho verde, which is not a geographical region, but a kind of wine. It has been assigned, however, a specific region between the Miño and the Duero.

Outside Europe, powerful wine producers have emerged in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. They have been based on serious studies, which have revolutionized viticulture, both in terms of harvesting and the layout of the vineyards. They are not presented as geographical wines but as varietals. They lack payments with bombastic names. These wines have begun to prevail in England, which, although it produces good quality white wine, is by no means self-sufficient.

In Latin America, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay stand out among the countries that export wine at very competitive prices and of high quality.

Morphology

Longitudinal cut of a grape.

The grape contains in its interior all the elements required for the elaboration of the wine, it is for this reason that understanding the morphology of the fruit can help to understand the final result of the wine. This morphology is similar to a concentric division of zones without a solution of continuity that begins with the seeds that occupy an interior position near its center:

First area - In the interior the seeds are surrounded by a very high concentration of sugars (the largest concentration area is surrounding the seeds), in this area there are sugars and málic acid (sometimes this acid becomes a sugar using gluconeogenesis). This area usually has light green tones.
Second area - In the next area, concentric to the previous one, the concentration of sugars gradually decreases and increases the presence of tartric acid. The second chemical component in the grapes, after sugars, is the presence of these two acids: a. málico and a. tartárico. Both acids play an important role in the making of wines and winemakers are those who decide to modify the presence of any of them in the final product.
Third area - There are mineral salts, mainly potassium. Polyphenols such as tannins (located mainly on the outer skin), anthocyanins (responsible of coloured colors in wines), aromas, etc. The characteristic flavors of the grapes are stored in this third area, inside the skin.

The way in which the grape is crushed can affect the organoleptic properties of the must, for example, if it is pressed a little, the sugars are extracted from the center of the grape, obtaining few polyphenols (fruity white wines), but if it is pressed more, the tannins begin to be extracted and the red color appears.

Growing

The vines basically develop the carbon cycle with their leaves and photosynthesis generates the sugars necessary for their storage in the fruits (the grapes). The grapes are therefore "almacenes" of sugars that are later used in the fermentation of the wine. The cultivation of grapes focuses on the permanent surveillance of this "storage" progressive sugar in the fruits. Any problem that harms or breaks the balance, pruning causes the sugar to concentrate in a small number of fruits, in a moderately humid soil the roots go deep in order to absorb the necessary minerals (mainly potassium). The balance between the content of sugars and acids plays an important role in the quality of the final result of the wine.

As a general rule, the more sun the vine is exposed to, the higher the concentration of sugars in the grapes, and on the contrary, little exposure gives a minimum amount of sugars (and therefore a small amount of alcohol). This concentration of sugar in the grapes is usually regulated in different countries and is usually measured with a portable refractometer (small amounts of must are enough to determine the sugar concentration in degrees Brix). It is for this reason, in order to maximize the amount of light received, that the vines are adapted in pergola shapes so that they capture as much sun as possible.

During the ripening of the grape on the vine there is a change in the grape called in Spanish with the word envero, which in French translates as "véraison"; word of recent appearance in French dictionaries. There is a moment in which the grape changes its metabolism and begins to store sugars at a much higher speed, at the same time the concentration of acids within the grape decreases. In the Northern Hemisphere, veraison occurs in the month of July. Overnight, the grape of a vine stops being green and becomes yellow, if the variety is a white grape, or it turns red, if the variety is a red grape. The phenomenon does not occur in all the vines of the vineyard simultaneously. Veraison is understood as the beginning of a countdown to determine the moment of the harvest. There are other factors that determine this moment, such as the color transition of the seeds inside the grape, which usually go from green to brown, or the maturation of polyphenols. In the past, experienced viticulturists chewed a grape every day from the moment of veraison and with the flavors and aromas they detected they determined the beginning of the harvest. Today it is done with measuring devices such as: refractometers, etc.

Australian and Californian researchers have applied themselves to the study of viticulture, achieving good results, although perhaps excessively practical. At the University of Davis, in California, with the simple study of viticulture and without paying special attention to ampelography, ampelology or ampelometry, they have achieved results that are highly valued in the scientific world. Old vines have many supporters, despite their lower yield; but it has been discovered that this good result is not due to the age of the vine, but rather to the fact that the few grapes it produces receive more insolation as it is old. The same result can be achieved with new vines ensuring greater exposure to sunlight and that the grapes do not shade each other. Traditionally, land with high insolation and dry land was sought. But —as Carlos Falcó assures— these same results can be achieved through drip irrigation and the so-called "canopy management", which can be translated as "vineyard management", with a production that multiplies by six the production. Such a modality of viticulture is prohibited by European Community legislation that favors any criteria that ensures that there is no surplus of wine. For this reason, the practice of trellis vines, which is the method traditionally applied to multiply production, is very limited.

Depending on the qualities of the climate and terrain, some vines are more apt than others to produce wine or wine spirits. In general, the most suitable are usually the traditional ones in each country. At least that is what the European Union recommends. The vineyard is usually uprooted at thirty or forty years. A vineyard can also be like Jorge's razor: sometimes the handle is changed and other times the blade, but it is always the same Jorge's razor. That is, the old strains are being replaced, but not all at the same time. The art. 1656 of the Spanish Civil Code includes the Catalan institution called “rabassa morta” contract, which means “dead root”. It consists of the transfer of land to plant vines for as long as the first vines live. And it is considered that they died, when two thirds died. By means of new layers in the old vines, these are renewed and consequently the vineyard can be perpetual. Therefore, unless there is a clause to the contrary, it is understood that after fifty years the vineyard died and the contract was terminated.

Wine-growing traditions sometimes go back to viticulture studies as old as those of Columela. The art of winemaking has common features with the art of making leaded stained glass or porcelain pieces. From a certain point of view, today it is not possible for us to make them “so bad”, so full of flaws, “eyes”, roughness and bubbles as the ancient artisans did. But therein lies its charm. The cork is not the best closure; but it's hard to let go. It has been proven that the best container for wine is the "tetrabrick", but what sommelier dares to present his wine in a tetrabrick and then open it in its screw cap mode? In a restaurant, the fiction is represented that we are in a bygone era sharing our wine and our table with ancient characters, including a sommelier who wears a necklace from which a wine taster hangs and a key that certifies that he is the sommelier, the who has the maximum power over the winery, after his lord and master.

Production and processing

Main article: Wine production

Vertical Spindle Press of the CenturyXVI.

Wine production has been adding more and more technological elements as man has been experimenting and acquiring more and more knowledge about the processes. It can be said that many wines went bad until they understood that winemaking is a purely anaerobic process, that is, without the presence of oxygen. The first step in winemaking is the vintage, or harvesting of the grapes, which turns out to be a delicate process since the shortest possible time has to pass from harvest to production.

Pressed / squashed

In the past, the grapes were pressed directly after the harvest in order to obtain the must (juice of Vitis vinifera). It was common to see barefoot people stepping on the grapes in containers with holes in the bottom, thus obtaining the first must. Cato already in his manual De Agri Cultura mentions the pressing operation in detail. This method was suitable for small-scale production, later came spindle-shaped presses that allowed pressure to be controlled. At present, hermetically closed pneumatic presses are used in which the delicacy of the pressing allows less extraction of unwanted substances and maximum respect for the intrinsic qualities of the grape. It usually goes through a previous cleaning process, removing the vegetation and the raspones (stems of the bunches). This operation is carried out in perforated metal drums that rotate at high speed, the grapes come out whole through the perforations of the drum. It is vitally important that most of them come out intact so that their inner juice does not come into contact with the atmosphere.

The crushing process is usually the most used in white wines, in order to avoid extracting anthocyanins from the skins. While pressing is more common in red wines. In crushing, the grape is not reduced to puree, which allows the extraction of the juices from the mesocarp and endocarp of the grape. In some wines, concentrated grape musts are used, such as Marsala, Mistela, Malaga wine, etc.

Fermentation

Fermentation of wine.

Fermentation is the main part of the winemaking process, actually wine cannot be made in any way without fermentation. The main effect of fermentation is the conversion of the sugars in the must into ethyl alcohol. The organisms capable of carrying out fermentation are yeasts of the Saccharomyces genus and the most abundant species are S. cerevisiae and S. bayanus (associated with the production of sherry wine), these species also have other subspecies such as montrachet, epernay, steinberger, etc. each of them subject to an artificial selection made over time in order to improve subtle aspects of tolerance to certain levels of pH, alcohol content, sulfur dioxide (SO₂), etc. Fermentation is done in containers (today in stainless steel vats) and goes through four phases:

Delay phase - In which yeasts acclimate to the conditions of the must, to the high concentrations of sugars, low pH (accidity), temperature and SO2. It usually takes two to three days.
Exponential growth - the yeasts already conditioned on the environment, begin to multiply in exponential growth, reaching the maximum of their population density, which is usually around 100 million yeasts per cubic centimeter. Due to the consumption of the sugar yeasts present in the must, the concentrations of the must decline quickly. The duration of this phase is approximately four days.
Stationary phase - It is the stage in which the yeast population has reached its maximum admissible value, which makes it possible to reach a stationary value and that the fermentation is kept at a constant speed. The heat formed by fermentation makes the temperature of the bucket during this phase equally constant.
Declining phase - At this stage, the care of sugars or the high concentration of ethyl alcohol begins to kill yeasts and the population decreases, thus the fermentation rate.

There are some modern practices such as the inoculation of yeasts during the stationary phases with the aim of reaching the maximum of 10⁸/ml, this belief dictates that the wine will possess greater complexity of flavors, these practices are common in some vineyards in France and California. Although some winemakers choose to avoid pitching, they use the wild yeasts present in the fermentation environment, which has given rise to debate. The progression of fermentation can be measured by measuring of the density of the fermenting liquid; measured with a pycnometer of the samples extracted from the vat. For example, the must is denser than the wine and this sets two limits to know the evolution of the fermentation.

Fermentation is affected by a variety of factors, including temperature; the range of temperatures between which fermentation is possible is between 5.oC to the 38.orC. White wines ferment at a lower range (8.oC up to 14.oC) and red wines use higher ranges (25.oC up to 30.oC). Fermentation usually stops at 33.o c. The fresh and fruity aromas are better preserved in low-temperature fermentations. Other limitations are the concentration of sugars, the degree of acidity due to the presence of acids, and also the presence of micronutrients such as vitamins, even the aeration of the vat (oxygen), the addition of fermentation inhibitors such as: own ethanol (in concentrations above 17%), fatty acids, the use of killer yeasts that secrete toxic polypeptides for yeasts (some are capable of carrying double-stranded RNA viruses). In some cases, the presence of fungicides and pesticides can limit fermentation.

Process of mechanical production of wine, in Alcalá la Real, Jaén, Spain.

Fermentation needs various nutrients that are naturally included in the initial must, and depending on the phase, one or the other is necessary. For example, in the exponential growth phase, the presence of the phosphate ion (H₂PO₄^-) is essential in all heat transfer processes. cellular energy as well as yeast growth. Its presence in the must is sufficient for fermentation, but on some occasions, in order to activate fermentation, diammonium phosphate is added (with the formula: (NH₄)₂HPO ₄) in order to regulate the balance of phosphates and nitrogen. Other ammonium salts are often used for the same purpose.

Other fermentations have been practiced since the middle of the XX century, one of the best known is the so-called carbonic maceration. Carbonic maceration is carried out without the pressing phase, at low temperature and inside a carbon-rich tank, an environment unsuitable for bacterial development, it induces reactions within the grape itself, thus the wines obtained have intense aromas and flavours, more fruity and with less tannin content. They lack, as a counterpart, sufficient stability to be aged. One of the best known wines for this process is the French Beaujolais nouveau, although this method of fermentation has been spreading. In Spain, Tenerife is a producer of some good carbonic maceration reds.

After carbonic maceration, the remaining must is fermented in the traditional way and is dedicated to another type of vinification.

Malolactic fermentation

Main article: malolactic fermentation

In parallel with fermentation, a similar reaction called malolactic fermentation occurs in which lactic acid bacteria naturally present in the grape act to convert malic acid into lactic acid, reducing the acidity of the wine. Malolactic fermentation is completely unpredictable, but winegrowers try to make it happen at the same time as alcoholic fermentation using yeasts. This process began to be understood with Pasteur, but it was not perfected until 1935 with Flanzy.

Today, artificial inoculation of lactic bacteria is practiced in the fermentation phase, with the aim of being able to achieve lactic fermentation. Malolactic bacteria belong to three genera: Lactobacillus, Pediococcus and Leuconostoc. There are limiting factors for malolactic fermentation, one of which is temperature (below 15.oC is non-existent), malolactic bacteria are sensitive to low pH levels, inhibitors (one of the best known is fumaric acid) and fatty acids (one of the most effective is C₁₂).

It is widely believed that controlled malolactic fermentation increases the quality of wines. Among the benefits of this fermentation is: the reduction of acidity (titratable acidity or titratable acidity). There is a change in the flavors of the final wine due to the presence of volatile esters (2,3-butanediol), as well as a buttering appreciation of some wines treated with this processing.

Second fermentation

Main article: Méthode traditionnelle

Sparkling wines undergo a second fermentation in the bottle. The commercial development of this type of wine did not come until the beginning of the XVII century, when advances in bottles and corks cork reached a sufficient level to allow the high pressures generated in a closed fermentation. Among the most famous sparkling wines are champagne, Asti and cava, among other denominations of origin. Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1493/199 of the Council of May 17, 1999, which establishes the common organization of the wine market, this second fermentation in the bottle should not be classified as "champagne" "champenoise" or "champenois". It provides the following alternatives: “bottle fermentation according to the traditional method”; “traditional method”; “classic method” and “classic traditional method”. In English, sparkling wine is usually called the one whose bubbles come from the so-called natural procedure. If it comes from injecting gas, it is called carbonated wine. The latter under Community law is called "sparkling gasified" wine. The second fermentation causes the gas concentration to rise, leaving a sparkling wine that is pleasant and sparkling on the palate. Other wines undergo malolactic fermentation in the bottle. This is the case of the vinho verde from Portugal. Since the 19th century it is possible for wine to be injected with carbon dioxide under pressure, which causes the bubbles to form traditional (that is, without coming from alcoholic fermentation). These carbonated wines are generally considered to be of inferior quality.

Maturation

Wine bars in La Rioja, Spain.

The maturation was done in the wines already in the time of ancient Egypt that kept the wine in clay amphoras, it was the Romans who learned the technique of keeping the wine in oak barrels (quercus). The quercus genus has hundreds of different species, for example, one of the species, the Quercus suber (cork oak), is used to make the corks used in bottling. Oak is used in the elaboration of the barrels due to its robustness and the fact that it is easy to work its wood. Its wood is rich in cellular structures called tyloses that waterproof the wood. The composition of oak wood is 40% cellulose, 20% hemicellulose, 25% lignin, 10% ellagitannins (hexahydroxydiphenic esters that provide tannins to wine), and 5% components of a diverse chemical nature. The influence of wood on wine is complex and there are many studies on the chemistry of oak barrel maturation. Oak wood chips (quercus fragmentus) are sometimes added with in order to speed up the process of adopting flavors from the wood, although this practice is regulated by law in each country. The wine tends to evaporate inside the barrels at a speed that can vary between 2% and 5% of its volume per year (which makes a loss between one and five liters per year in a 225-liter barrel).

Oxygen plays an important role in the maturation of wine in barrels. One of the recent methods (since 1991) allows small amounts of oxygen to be introduced into the fermentation, which has come to be called micro-oxygenation. Oxygen plays an important role in stabilizing the colors of red wine, allowing tannins and anthocyanins to have a process known as oxidative coupling. Some fortified wines are usually passed through a series of barrels (criaderas), an example of this type of wine is fino, amontillado and oloroso, typical of the Jerez and Montilla-Moriles area. Other wines such as vermouth are matured with aromatic herbs (including artemisia absinthium).

Maturation in barrels is a kind of slow oxidation of wine. Two of the most common reactions in maturation are phenolic oxidation and the polymerization of anthocyanins with other flavonoids to form pigments and flavors. One of the best known is the appearance of vanillin due to reactions with the lignin present in the wood. Currently, the wine is stored in oak barrels from America (Quercus alba, Quercus bicolor, Quercus macrocarpa) and from France (mainly Quercus robur and Quercus sessillis), the choice of one of these materials impacts the final price of the wine. French (European) oak contributes more to the contribution of solid extracts and phenolic compounds, in addition its useful life is longer than American oak (softer).

Bottling

Main article: Wine bottle

Bottling is a relatively recent operation in the history of wine. It began to be carried out when it was possible to make more robust and affordable glasses. Early wine bottles had a domed shape (similar to today's German bocksbeutel). Bottling is a set of operations (generally carried out mechanically) for the final conditioning of the wine in order to carry out its expedition and final sale to the consumer. Current bottles have a standard volume of 750 ml, with Bordeaux standing out for its qualities. An important element in bottling is encapsulation, which can use stoppers made of natural materials (cork), semi-synthetic, synthetic, and metal capsules. As a general rule, before bottling, the following operations are carried out:

Clarification - They correspond to the set of operations that make wine a liquid lipid, for which they use various substances.
Stabilization - In order to make it permanent in time the cleanness achieved in the clarification.
Filtration - The filtration eliminates any residue from the winemaking process.

Stoppering ends the bottling process in wines. It can be said that after bottling the contact with the air is practically nil, it is for this reason that the wine stops aging (oxidizing). Glass is impermeable to air, but other containers such as cardboard do not have this characteristic. In some cases dissolved oxygen in wine can cause phenolic oxidation reactions to occur which are called: "bottle sickness" and is considered one of the wine's defects. One of the most common compounds in aged wines is dimethyl sulfide (CH₃-S-CH₃) which has a taste similar to "cabbage. " and it forms during maturation inside the bottle, its formation is not well explained. The cork used to seal the bottles is widely used in the world.

Wine and must composition

To understand what wine is from the point of view of its components, it is necessary to distinguish the composition of the compounds when it is a grape, when it is must and later wine. The must before fermentation is composed mainly of water and sugars, as well as acids (malic and tartaric), in addition other chemical components in smaller quantities are responsible for the final composition of the wine. Alcoholic fermentation will transform a large part of the sugars in the must in ethyl alcohol, but it will leave other interesting compounds: glycerin. Some of these compounds, which are present to a lesser extent, give a certain character to wine tasting, such as the presence of tannins. Tannins are found in the skins of the grapes and can be considered as a natural preservative that allows wines to age for more than five years. However, and above all, in the Sevillian Aljarafe, the fermented and vatted grape broth is also called must, with an approximate alcoholic strength of 12%.

Other elements are added to the wine artificially and make up what are called wine additives. These additives are intended to stabilize some compounds (proteins, tartrate crystals, etc.), reduce the level of acids, antioxidant agents (ascorbic acid), antimicrobial agents (sulfur dioxide, sorbic acid, sorbates, benzoic acid, fumaric acid).

In general, the resulting product is quite caloric.

Carbohydrates

The main carbohydrates present in the must are glucose and fructose, other carbohydrates are found in the grape but in negligible proportions. The concentration of sugar in grapes or must is usually measured in the US in ^orBrix, while in Europe it is measured in degrees Baumé. The concentration of sugars is critical for the development of yeasts during fermentation, the main wine yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) feeds mainly on glucose and fructose. The sugars not consumed after fermentation are usually called residual sugars (they are usually pentoses such as arabinose, rhamnose and xylose). The concentration of these residual sugars can increase during ripening in wood due to the cleavage of glycoside molecules present in the wood.

Residual sugar is important in the sweetness of a wine, while the presence of non-residual sugars only affects fermentation. The presence of residual sugars in wines leads to a classification between dry wines and sweet wines. As a general rule, the presence of a sugar concentration of less than 1.5 g/litre means that the palate does not detect the sweet taste; above 0.2% of the volume, the senses begin to detect the sweet taste of the wine. Most people detect a sweetness if it reaches a concentration of 1%. The presence of tannins, acids, as well as ethanol.During maturation, some sugars undergo a structural change and end up giving dark pigments to the wine, this is the case of melanoidin detected in generous wines such as sherry, Madeiras, etc. It is a variant of the Maillard reaction.

Alcohols

Main article: Alcoholic fermentation

One of the harmful effects of wine consumption, due to its ethanol content, is alcoholism.

Alcoholic fermentation is an anaerobic metabolic process (in the absence of oxygen) that allows yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to consume the sugars in the must to release carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol (ethanol with the formula CH₃-CH₂-OH) that remains in solution in the final wine. Alcohol concentration is usually measured as a percentage of total volume. The ethyl alcohol content varies depending on the type of grape and the conditions, for example in table wines it is between 7-14%, in sparkling wines: 11-13%, in sherry and other headed wines 16-18% and in port as well as dessert wines it is usually below 17%. The most common way to determine the presence of alcohol in a wine is to measure the boiling point.

The wines also have small amounts of other alcohols such as methyl alcohol (CH₃OH), they are not a direct result of fermentation, but rather of the hydrolyzation of pectins (existing in the grape skin) by enzymatic action. Because pectin is found more in the skin than in the must, white wines contain much less methyl alcohol than red wines. Sometimes the must is pre-heated to remove this methyl content and remain in concentrations below below 30 ppm. Reports of methanol content in wines from around the world indicate concentrations of 60 mg/litre (ranging from 40-120 mg/litre) for white wines and 150 mg/litre (in a range of 120-250 mg/litre) for red wines. Despite methanol being toxic, the amounts found in wine are not entirely malignant, since lethal doses of 340 ml/kg of weight make that an average person weighing 70 kg has to drink approximately two hundred liters.

Famous tears sliding in the cups indicate a high content of glycerin in the wines.

There are also other alcohols in very small concentrations, such as polyalcohols, one of the most important tri-alcohols is glycerol (glycerin) and its concentration is directly related to the fermentation temperature, with the overall alcohol content (higher alcohol, higher amount of glycerol) and with the color of the wine (greater in red than white wines). The concentration of this alcohol is higher in table wines. The average glycerin content in wines is usually between 15-25 g/litre. Glycerin is synthesized largely thanks to the fungus Botrytis cinerea, although there is some presence of in healthy grapes. There is usually a higher glycerol content in high-temperature fermentations (this is why red wines tend to have a higher glycerol content). Glycerol is a dense, sweet-tasting liquid (approx. 70% of glucose) and its presence provides sweetness and a filling mouthfeel. It is easily detected by leaving a kind of tears on the inside walls of the glasses.

Another poly-alcohol present in wine is erythritol and its concentration depends on the strain of yeast that ferments the wine, for example Saccharomyces cerevisiae has less effect on erythritol concentration than for example, the wild yeast called kloeckera apiculata (this is a yeast that does not tolerate alcohol concentrations and dies in the first steps of fermentation). Arabitol, mannitol, sorbitol (hexa- isomeric alcohol of mannitol), inositol (hexa-alcohol common in fruits). Almost all of these polyalcohols contribute sweetness to the wine and have the characteristic of being highlighted in their concentrations when the noble rot of the grape is present.

Acids

Main article: Acids in wine

Potassary Tartarato (Potassic Tartarato)Tartar cream), is one of the most classic precipitates in the backgrounds of some bottles of wine, its presence is totally untouched.

Acids have the capacity to preserve wine, which is necessary in those wines that are designed to age. The presence of a certain amount of acids naturally reinforces other flavors in the wine when tasting. Almost half of the acidity contribution is provided by the presence of malic acid, its mission is to stop the ripening of the fruit, especially during the hot period. Its concentration in the grape is one of the indicators of the harvest time. Tartaric acid is another of the acids present in the grape, as a general rule it reacts with the potassium in the grape, giving rise to potassium tartrates. The A. tartaric is present in many fruits but its concentration is higher in Vitis vinifera (and in tamarind fruit).

During fermentation, the yeasts generate small amounts of acetic acid (a wine usually has less than 300 mg/litre) and its concentration reinforces the aromas and flavors, providing "complexity". The presence of acetic acid causes acetate esters to be synthesized that provide fruity aromas. Acids in wine have an antimicrobial effect as many varieties do not grow in low pH environments. Succinic acid is present in wine due to fermentation, it has a mixed salty/sour taste. Lactic acid is present in small amounts unless malolactic fermentation has been forced at the expense of consuming folic acid (which causes the overall pH to rise).

Esters

Alcohols play a very important role in the ripening operation, after fermentation, since they react with the natural acids of the grape to form esters (esterification). Of all the existing functional groups in wine, esters are the most abundant: about 160 different ones have been identified. Esters are usually categorized in oenology into two categories: those that come from enzymatic reactions (butanoate, exanoate) and those that chemically formed by esterification. Esters are the main components responsible for giving the wine a bouquet.

Many esters have a characteristic fruit aroma, making them reminiscent of fruit fragrances when tasting. There are, however, other classifications of esters aimed at wine tasting, and they are divided into volatile and non-volatile esters. One of the most important volatile esters that is present in wine is ethyl acetate. As a general rule, young wines tend to have a higher concentration of volatile esters. Each ester has a threshold below which it is not perceptible to most humans.

Nitrogenous compounds

Nitrogenous compounds are essential in the must for proper fermentation to be possible. Among the predominant amino acids in grapes are proline and arginine. The ratio of proline/arginine varies significantly in the various varieties of Vitis vinifera. Proline is an important part of nitrogen metabolism in yeast. The second dominant group of amino acids is glutamine and alanine. As is to be expected, the amino acid content is lower after fermentation: due in part to the fact that most of them in one way or another enter the metabolism of the yeasts.

Among the nitrogenous compounds that wine possesses is protein, in must concentrations ranging from 100 mg/l to 840 mg/l. During fermentation the protein content can drop by almost 40%. Proteins act as zwitterions, under certain circumstances they can coagulate giving rise to instability in the wine. Removing these unstable proteins from wine is one of the objectives of clarification, one of the most used agents is bentonite and the other is silica gel.

Phenolic compounds

Fenol, it's basically a benzene ring with an alcohol group.

Chemical compounds in the form of polyphenols are abundant in wine and it is perhaps one of the compounds that provides more attributes to wine. It is important to note that after carbohydrates and acids they are the third most important compound. In many cases they are a secondary metabolite of the grape that is concentrated in the skin and in the seeds (pips). Polyphenols directly affect the flavors, smells and other sensitive capacities of the wine, and it is for this reason that viticulturists pay close attention to their evolution during the vinification phases. The concentration of polyphenols in the must depends to a large extent on the variety of Vitis vinifera and the climate in which it was grown. The concentration and ratio of the different polyphenols also depends to a large extent on the way in which the grape has been processed. For example, in white wines that have had little contact with the grape skins there are different concentrations than those observed in red wines.

One of the compounds are tannins, they are highly reactive phenolic compounds. in solution they can react with proteins and precipitate. Another phenolic compound are anthocyanins that provide color to wines, these natural dyes can be bleached (lose their color) by the action of various agents or chemical operations such as oxidation or reduction, in many cases the acidity maintains the color (turn). Phenols play a very important role in wine oxidation processes (phenolic oxidation) and it is one of the most common reactions in the maturation of red wines.

Inorganic constituents

In wine analytics, the ash content is sometimes analyzed, which turns out to be the inorganic remains in the wine. Most of the compounds are carbonates and oxides. The most abundant metal in Vitis vinifera fruits is potassium. In many cases, the potassium content is affected by climatic conditions, for example, hot climates have a higher potassium content than cold ones. During fermentation, sulfur dioxide (SO₂) accumulates in the form of a gas in a proportion ranging from 12 to 64 mg/liter and is used as a fumigant in the vats. Occasionally they have been detected traces of lead due to the bottle caps, which have migrated their contents through the cork stopper.

Organoleptic properties

Wine has certain attributes that have a pleasant impact on most of the senses (all except hearing and touch). For example: the aromas affect the senses of smell, the different flavors present in the wine to the taste, the colors in sight. All of them usually have a chemical origin that has been gradually identified throughout the late XX century and the beginning of the XXI. Wine tasting reveals a variety of properties such as color, flavor (within flavor there is a wide range of properties such as length, aftertaste, etc.), smell (which is made up of aroma, bouquet, body, etc.).

Colour

The presence of anthocyanins in the skin of grapes produces the final red color of red wine.

Main article: Anthocyanins

Anthocyanins are primarily responsible for the red color in wine. Anthocyanins are found in various fruits fulfilling a similar mission. This chemical compound is found in the outer layer of the grape skin and is extracted before the tannins during the maceration process. Most musts (even those from black grapes) are colorless, so maceration is an important process in the coloration of wines. There are varieties of Vitis vinifera that are classified as teinturier because they already give the must a reddish color (some of the best known are Alicante Bouschet, Saperavi and Dunkelfeld), but these varieties are an exception. On some occasions, winemakers introduce small amounts of these teinturier varieties in order to enhance the red color of their wines. The red or pink color depends entirely on how anthocyanins are extracted from the grape skin during the fermentation process.

Anthocyanins are a group of glycosides of cyanidin (blue), delphinidin (blue, can be seen in eggplant, pomegranate, passion fruit), malvidin (purple), pelargonidin (red), peonidin (pink) and petunidin. During maceration, the proportion of blue anthocyanins changes until it turns from purple-reddish to orange. In young wines, the color is mainly due to anthocyanins, but since they are not stable chemical compounds, they bond with tannins, forming more stable polymers with pigmentation capacity.

Taste and aroma

The main flavor components in grapes are sugars, acids and polyphenols. These three compounds provide wine with three of the five basic flavors: sweet, sour, and bitter. In any case, there is a large amount of substances in the grapes that end up providing a flavor, these substances are present in minute quantities (sometimes measured in parts per million, and even in parts per billion, or per trillion). All these substances give the grape a characteristic flavor called primary flavor. The primary flavor characterizes the variety of Vitis vinifera. Most of the flavor components are located in the inner part of the grape skin, which is why pressing is a fundamental process when it comes to providing primary flavors to the wine. In some generous wines such as sherry, or fino, there is a small "touch" salty in taste due to the saline environment that surrounds ripening.

In oenology, there is a distinction between aroma and bouquet. The aroma is a specific smell coming from the grape variety used, while the bouquet is a characteristic smell the way to process the wine. In this way, for example, two wines from the same grape have the same aroma, but different bouquets (if they have matured differently). In many wines, the aromas of grapes with a strong floral tone is due to the presence of a group of substances called monoterpenoids. Monoterpenoids are a subgroup of a large number of compounds called terpenoids, all of them derived from the isoprene unit ([C ₅H₈]). For example, the muscatel grape has a large amount of monoterpenes, other varieties with terpene content derived from the muscatel grape are the Gewürztraminer, the Alexandria Muscatel, etc. Among the compounds that provide aroma are glycosides. In wines based on muscatel grapes, the must is usually made to increase its contact with the skins (which are the areas with the highest terpenoid content). Vegetable aromas (herbaceous aromas) in wine come from pyrazines (other foods that contain pyrazines are: coffee, beer, asparagus, etc.).

Some varieties from America such as: vitis labrusca and vitis rotundifolia (as well as their hybrids) have a characteristic aroma that for many years has been called &# 34;foxy" (little fox). It has been detected that this odor corresponds to the compound: methyl anthranilate (C₈H₉NO₂).

Tasting and tasting

Taza degustación de un sommelier.

Tasting a wine is totally different from consuming it; when you drink a wine you capture its flavor while when you taste it you know a wine. In a tasting, the need to decipher each of its components and identify the greatest possible number of stimuli by observing sweet, sour or bitter flavors and by differentiating their aromatic components is much more important.

Also, it should be noted that depending on the type of purpose to be achieved, there are different types of tastings, from the most hedonistic ones that are done for the mere pleasure of knowing a wine to the professional ones where the intention is to determine what wine, among a series of them, is the one with the best characteristics.

Although in the past, tastings began by examining the color of the wine, today it is not given as much importance. The most important characteristic in sensory analysis is the aroma, then the taste, and finally the color. Therefore, it can be said that the correct technique for tasting requires four steps: smell, taste on the tongue, taste in the pharynx cavity, and observe the color.

Knowing how to taste a wine means knowing how to effectively use the senses to interpret visual, olfactory, tactile and taste sensations. Three types of aromas can be perceived by smell:

primary aromas that differentiate between themselves by the type of vine
side aromas produced by fermentation and are more persistent
and the tertiary aromas or "bouquet" that depend on breeding

Although each person can obviously taste wines in their own way, there are certain criteria when it comes to pairing wines with certain dishes.

For example, it is advisable to accompany white meats, especially fish and shellfish with white wines and red meats with full-bodied red or red wines, this is due to the fact that the flavors of white wines are usually less intense than those of the reds and that the meats of fish and crustaceans are lean, so there are not so many fats as to make it difficult to taste wines with "little body" as white wines usually are.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of the Junta de Castilla y León organizes the Zarcillo Awards every two years, considered the most important oenological contest in the Spanish-speaking world and the second in the world in terms of the number of wines presented. It has the recognition and sponsorship of the International Wine Office and the International Union of Oenologists. In 2009 the VI International and XIV national edition was convened.

Types of wines

Carbon Dioxide Content

The grape must, when fermenting, produces a lot of carbon dioxide. Young wines retain much more carbon dioxide than old ones. The wine produced by the Barbadillo winery under the name of Castillo de San Diego, when it is of the year, contains so much carbon dioxide that it produces the same sound effect when uncorking it as when opening a sparkling wine. Later you can see how its bubbles rise in the glass. The "beaujolais nouveau", bottled as soon as it has become a wine, also presents these characteristics. Carbon dioxide makes wines more digestible.

Still wines are called calm wines, those that do not have an overpressure of carbon dioxide. Those that have it receive the generic name of “sparkling wines”. When the gas comes from gasifying the wine by injecting gas, they are usually called carbonated wines. Pursuant to Community legislation, wines with an overpressure of more than three bars are called sparkling wines. Sparkling wines are those whose overpressure is not greater than 2.5 bars nor less than one. "Sparkling wine" is now understood to mean lightly carbonated wine. Its Italian equivalent is "frizzante" wine. In French perlant or pétillant. Pétillant is used to designate any carbonated drink, alcoholic or not.

The most appreciated are made by the so-called traditional method, consisting of causing a second fermentation inside the bottle, by adding sugar, must, lees, etc., with a careful system of aging in the cellar at controlled temperatures. Once this second fermentation is finished, the residues are removed from the bottle, which has been ensured that it is upside down, so that it is easy to remove, which is much easier if that part of the bottle is frozen. This operation is called slitting. The throat is usually used to add some substances that give character to the wine, which tends to be tasteless when taken cold. It is very convenient that these substances are not very toxic. The set of these additives is called “expedition liquor”. That type of wine in Spain used to be called "cava". But "cava" has become a denomination of origin that not everyone can use. It comprises 135 municipal districts, mainly in Penedés; region that contributes 90 percent of the production. The varieties used are Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Parellada, which are used in a mixture. The most famous houses are Freixenet, Codorniu and Delapierre, which have spread outside of Spain.

It is also possible to carry out the second fermentation in large vats, for later bottling. This avoids the need to remove the lees or dregs from the second fermentation. But such a procedure is not considered very orthodox. In this case, the stopper usually has a circle printed on it instead of a star, which is the hallmark of having used the traditional method. The process of gassing wine creates a very little permanent gas. In such a case the stopper usually has a triangle. If the gas comes from the second fermentation, it takes longer to disappear and the bottle can be uncorked for longer. It is also possible to fill a bottle with another, instead of introducing an expedition liqueur. The stopper then bears a line. It can also be bottled when the wine has not fully fermented and is still giving off gas.

Champagne's sparkling wines are emblematic. The region has successfully claimed exclusive use of the name. This has led to other French regions having adopted the word "crémant" to refer to bubble wines. In Champagne there are famous houses; but those who buy crops and do not have their own vineyards have also flourished. They are the ones that export the most and their hallmark is the acronym NM. There are also growers who come together, producing a cooperative champagne. So they highlight the region where the wine comes from. They are the best sellers in France.

Letter b) of section 6 of article 6 of community regulation 2333/92 of July 13 reserved the word “crémant” for wines made in France and Luxembourg. But the commercial house Codorniu SA, holder of the trademark registered since 1924 "Gran Cremant" sued the Council of the European Union for this reason. The sentence of 18-V-1994 of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, promoted by Codorniu, annulled this precept. Crémant is a name that should be associated with a specific region —such is the "holding" of the sentence—, but not necessarily with regions of France and Luxembourg.

The Vinhos Verdes region, in the north of Portugal, produces semi-sparkling wines with a low alcohol content —about nine or ten degrees— very fresh, acidic, fruity and accepted for export, especially whites. They are called green primarily because the crop is collected not fully ripe. That facilitates the second fermentation. They are to take young. Farms are called “quintas”. And indeed, as the Romans did, the vines are usually trellised to achieve a more abundant production. Such a practice is not well regarded by the European Union, which wants low production. The Vinhos Verdes region, in the north of Portugal, produces natural semi-sparkling wines. There are also sparkling sparkling wines.

Alcohol Content

Wines with a low alcohol content are called “lojos” and those with a high alcohol content are called “generous”. No matter how much sugar content a must contains, at fifteen degrees the fermentation stops. After fermentation, holandas are added to some wines; that is, unaged brandy and therefore without brown color or oak flavor. The best known are Jerez, Porto, Madeira and Marsala. Despite this addition of alcohol, they are still considered wines. Community legislation calls them “liqueur wines”.

Cata de Jereces

The same thing happens with bubble wines. In wines made using the traditional method, the process generally culminates with the addition of the so-called “expedition liquor”, which also consists of adding brandy, but in this case flavored, which gives taste, aftertaste and aftertaste. It is added at the last moment, when the aging stopper is replaced by a cork closure, for shipment to the market. Only those called “brut nature” or “natural brut” —which is stated on the label— do not contain expedition liqueur. At first glance, it would seem that wines without the addition of expedition liqueur would be cheaper, as they require less handling, but this is not the case. These expedition liquors make up for the lack or deficiency of wine. It is difficult to achieve that a wine does not need expedition liquor and whose natural characteristics as a drink are adequate. Spirits, no matter how good they are, contain alcohols that are more toxic than the natural alcohol in wine. Consequently, non-fortified wines and natural bubble wines are more digestive.

Wines keep better if they have a high alcohol content. Below nine degrees the wines spoil at the end of the year. This has resulted in the proliferation of wines with very high graduations in the markets lately: thirteen, fourteen degrees and even more degrees. Such wines have the disadvantage that they result in excessive alcohol content as table wines. If you don't add water, you run the risk of ending up drunk at the end of a meal, having barely tasted the wine.

Gatronomic functions

Chato de Vino Dulce Feria de Albacete

Wines intended for human consumption as a beverage are called “vinos de boca”. Mouth wines can be classified into different categories based on their gastronomic function: table, dessert and appetizer. The dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy defines table wine as "the most common and light that is drunk during a meal, unlike dessert". It is a gastronomic concept. As far as Spanish gastronomic customs are concerned, it is considered that a well-set table cannot miss a red wine, actually lighter than dessert wines, no more than twelve degrees. On the other hand, sweet or very generous wines in alcohol are not suitable for the table. A Jerez or a Port are usually offered both before and after lunch due to their characteristics, but not so much to accompany it. Gastronomic concepts are relative. "What do you want for dessert wine?" The answer may be a sweet wine; or “I continue with the red wine”, etc. That same person may want another dessert wine another day or switch wines during the same meal.

The concept of table wine is part of a broader category: table drinks. Escoffier considers cider, perry, and wine to be "boissons de table"—table drinks. And he understands that wine is the one that best suits all temperaments. He does not mention beer, although many also choose it to accompany food. According to Japanese gastronomy, there are some sakes, such as the so-called "ginjo shu", which are considered suitable to accompany fish and crustaceans. The so-called "jyun meishu" is considered suitable for pairing with sweet and sour dishes. White wine is generally considered to be suitable for fish or egg dishes and red for meat. The stronger the stew, game for example, the stronger and older the red wine should be.

Sometimes "table wine" becomes synonymous with "pasture wine", understanding as such the one that someone habitually uses in meals. In Spain, Portugal, France and Italy, wine is never lacking at meals, even if it is a poor table. In other countries it is taken only if a party is celebrated. Exceptionally good wines are often reserved by the owner for grand occasions and not for everyday use. But qualifying a wine as "pasto" does not mean qualifying it as low quality. Someone can take a very good wine as pasture wine. Qualifying a wine as low quality is calling it “peleón wine”. The same thing happens with the “house wine”. In a house, a commercial food house or a private house, a certain wine is usually offered as usual or grass, which can be good or bad. The house wine is almost never produced by whoever offers it. Large restaurants pride themselves on offering a very expensive and good house wine.

As a consequence of regulation 1493/1999 of May 17, wines considered to be of poor quality, according to certain criteria that have now disappeared, were prohibited from stating on their labeling neither vintage, grapevine nor place of origin. They could only put “table wine” on their label so that the buyer when buying could at least know that it was a bottle of wine or not another liquid. For this reason "table wine" has become in the minds of many synonymous with bad wine. It is not like this. Bordeaux or Rioja wines, although of undisputed quality, are table wines, but just in case they do not state on the label that they are "vin de table" or "table wine".

Dessert wines are very sweet, with fructose sweetness and are usually fortified with hollandas. The appetizers are dry and also fortified.

Aromatic wines

Since Roman times it has been customary to season wines with spices, herbs and other adjuncts. The best known and most popular of aromatic wines is vermouth, flavored mainly with bitter substances, generally from mugworts. But the ingredients of a vermouth can be more than twenty.

There are quinado wines, based on the addition of quina, which is obtained from the bark of trees belonging to the genus Cinchona, a name given by Lineo in honor of Ana Osorio, countess consort of Chinchón and viceroy of Peru Quinado wines are considered medicinal. The pharmacopoeia administered the cinchona in the form of "enolito"; that is, using wine as an excipient. This is where quinado wines have come from, such as Santa Catalina, which have a reputation for whet your appetite. A spoonful of quinado wine was considered suitable even for children. Such wine is usually actually a mistela. St. Raphaël is a quinoa and herb wine, made in France with 16% Vol. The taste of wine is barely recognizable in these drinks.

Wine flavored with licorice juice was called vinum glycyrrhizites in classical Roman times. In short, the possibilities of aromatization are multiple.

Young and old wines

In Spanish, vintage is the name given to each year's harvest, especially in the case of wine. The harvest takes place in autumn and the first wine (also called "caldo") is the grape must fermented and vatted for about forty days, with an approximate alcoholic strength of 12%, very popular in Seville's Aljarafe. The Italians call the first wine “novello”, it can appear as early as November, a month and a half after the harvest. “Novello” wine requires a particular fermentation technique. It is very odorous and fragrant and not at all suitable for aging. In the northern hemisphere, a wine is no longer considered young on August 31; date taken to calculate the age of the wine. From that date the wine is from last year.

The vintage is an important reference in table wines and is usually stated on the bottle label. In Spain, since a ministerial order of August 1, 1979, it must correspond to that of the harvest by at least 85%. The rest consists of adding wines from other vintages, kept as reserve. The mixture of wines, which is usually called preferably with the French expression "coupage", is an art. With the "coupage" you can get very uniform wines over time regardless of the different vintages, if desired, or diversify them. Quite a few connoisseurs, despite admiring the art of "coupage", prefer vintages without any mixture, with the result that the difference between good and bad vintages is very marked; but those good vintages, however infrequent they may be, seem to more than compensate for the poor results of other years. In Jerez, the vintage date is not even indicated, as a consequence of the traditional process of aging the wine using stock from several years in criaderas and soleras. Only when it is understood that a vintage does not need any correction, it is not mixed and it is marked with the specific vintage. For many years vintage Jerez wines practically disappeared from the market, although the Regulatory Council currently protects them and they have begun to be marketed in the high-end sector.

Scheme of the aging process in criaderas and soleras

When wines began to be marketed in bottles, it was understood that their age should be calculated by the time they had spent stored in wood and not by the time they had spent stored in glass. Aging in wood gradually eliminates any methyl alcohol that might be present and the wood imparts tannins. This is relatively accurate, if aging is understood as a period of time relative to storage in wood. It must be taken into account, however, that in the case of wines, unlike what happens with spirits, excessive time in contact with wood is harmful. This is how Alexis Lechine pointed out about Rioja wines.

Article 8 of Royal Decree 157/88 of February 22 (Spain) contemplates what is called aging by the vintage system in the mixed process of wood and bottle. "In all cases of aging, it will begin to count at least," writes Carlos Delgado, "from January 1 following the production campaign." In the case of reds, "reserve" means a minimum of three years in barrel and bottle and a minimum of twelve months in barrel. If it is white or rosé, it means a minimum of two years in barrel and bottle and a minimum of six months in barrel. But regulatory councils can raise the bar for barrel aging. This is how those from Rioja, Navarra and Ribera del Duero have decided in relation to the denomination “crianza”. Consequently, when it reaches the consumer, what is certified by the regulatory council as “crianza” can actually be “reserva”, having completed its aging cycle in the bottle. The final result is that the consumer does not know exactly what period of time a Crianza, a Reserva and a Gran Reserva were in barrels and since when they stopped being so.

Consumers do not have a terminal at their disposal to find out what crianza, reserva and gran reserva legally mean in the various periods of Spanish legislative history, with the corresponding decisions of the regulatory councils, in relation to white wines and rosés on one side and red wines on the other. Even having that information, you can't exactly know more than approximately the time spent in wood. Law 24/2003 provided for new denominations to indicate age: oak, aged, old, crianza, reserva and gran reserva. Labels that express clearly are very appreciated. Harvest: September October. Oak barrel: 12 months. Bottled in December 2005. Tempranillo variety, etc.

Wines of the world

World production

Grapes are one of the most harvested fruits in the world. In 2008, almost 60% of the world's vineyard surface was distributed among the different states of the European Union, while the American territory (north and south) had only 12% of the surface. Most of the grapes are dedicated to wine production (approximately 66% in 2008). The percentage varies from country to country due to its geopolitical situation and religious beliefs. However, the country that most dedicates the grape to consumption of grapes in fruit form is China. The vine accounts for barely 0.5% of the total area dedicated to agriculture worldwide.

With more than 40 million hectoliters, in 2012, and 90 Protected Designations of Origin, Spain was the second largest producer of wine in the world, ahead of Italy and behind France, according to data from the Institute of Commerce. And in 2016, it was the third in terms of production (37.8 million hectoliters), behind Italy (48.8 million hl) and France (41.9 million hl), and ahead of the United States (22.5 million hl)..hl).

**Estimated production of wine per country in 2021 according to OIV (International Vine and Wine Organization)**
Post	Country	Production (millions of hectolitres)
1	ItalyItaly	50 2
2	France	37 6
3	SpainSpain	35 3
4	United States	24 1
5	Australia	14 2
6	ChileChile	13.4
7	Argentina	12.5
8	South Africa	10.6
9	GermanyGermany	8,0
10	Portugal	7.3
11	ChinaChina	5.9
12	Russia Russia	4,5
13	Romania Romania	4,5
14	BrazilBrazil	3.6
15	New ZealandNew Zealand	2.7

Per capita wine consumption has been declining since the 1970s in traditional wine-producing countries such as France (down almost 40% in 2006). The reasons for this decline are complex and have been part of numerous economic studies. However, in other countries growth has been sustained. According to the International Wine and Spirit Record, world wine consumption will continue to grow in the coming years and it is predicted that, in 2012, the United States will overtake Italy as the world's leading consumer.^[update] Americans spend more on wine than any other country. In 2007 they bought $22 billion worth of wine. Growth is also seen in emerging economies such as Russia and China, whose consumption levels reached those of European countries in the 2010s.

Production was forecast to increase by 3.83% in the 2008-2012 period to just over 3 billion 9-litre cases. Consumption would increase at an even higher rate of 6% to reach 2.8 billion boxes. Consumption is also constant in areas such as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Australian and South African wines are predominant in the British market and consumption has been growing since the turn of the century XX.

The way of making wine today, using technological advances that provide high connectivity between the world's experts, has given rise to a new concept called Wine Globalization. This new concept makes vineyards that are apparently geographically separated treated in a similar way by the same oenologist.

Foreign trade in wine

Evolution of the main wine exporters in the world

The three main world wine exporters are France, Italy and Spain. It can be seen that the level of exports from these countries fluctuated between 24% and 40% during the last five years.

The figures presented in the table below are in US dollars FOB value.

Date Export country	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
France	8.363.450.305	9.734.318.672	5.398.403.607	10.410.705.225	10.186.311.092
Italy	5.192.250.263	5.998.647.726	3.218.920.917	6.696.345.928	6.772.898.965
Spain	2.479.854.859	3.046.067.543	3.345.397.042	3.545.220.891	3.375.026.773

Evolution of the main world exporters of wine in the period 2010-2014. Source

Evolution of the main wine importers in the world

The three main world importers of wine are the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. The level of imports from these countries fluctuated by less than 25% during the last five years.

The figures presented in the table below are in US dollars FOB value.

Date Importing country	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
United States	4.450.207.243	5.141.103.568	5.308.373.047	5.494.762.322	5.584.737.817
United Kingdom	4.274.139.356	4.620.856.087	4.808.496.756	4.787.640.449	4.748.922.424
Germany	2.700.093.660	2.959.627.613	2.916.962.583	3.186.997.157	3.215.841.164

Evolution of the main world wine importers period 2010-2014. Source

Ways of serving wine

Decanter used for Air Some wines.

It is also customary for white wines to be drunk cool (with a temperature between 8°C to 10°C) and for red wines to be drunk at “room temperature” (for this they are uncorked approximately one to a half hour before being drunk), understanding as such that of the cellar, and in this case it is advisable to drink a red wine that has a temperature of 18 °C to 22 °C (some consider even lower temperatures: 15-16 °C, and even 13-14 °C for young reds or clarets). As for white wines, although the advice to drink them fresh is general, there is an exception when drinking in cold climates; On the other hand, sparkling wines such as champagne can be served with their bottles inside containers with ice and it is advisable to avoid sudden changes in temperature such as those produced by a freezer.

As for champagne, although it is popular and fun to make as much noise when opening the bottles and even make some of this wine "pop" when uncorked, the label states that the uncorking must be quiet (this is mainly understood in restaurants, places where you should not disturb other guests).

The decanter: there are decanter containers into which the wines are poured so that they can be aerated and their sediments can be decanted. The wine thus uncovers its aromas ("it opens") allowing them to be better appreciated.

The use of transparent crystal glasses is recommended to be able to appreciate the color and shades of the wine (coloured glasses are occasionally used to taste the white wines of Alsace and the Rhine) these glasses, like those seen in the photos have a slight inward bulge (not as obvious as in cognac glasses) and a fairly wide mouth. The slight bulge allows better retention of aromas, the wide mouth makes it possible to better see the nuances and brightness of the wine. These glasses are filled 2/3 full with wine and then the wine is drunk slowly to appreciate the different taste "shades". An important exception in the shape of wine glasses are glasses for sparkling wines such as champagne ("champagne"): it was common for sparkling wine to be drunk in glasses with wide mouths, although the opposite is more correct: Champagne-type wines are drunk in long, narrow glasses.

Storage

Not all wines are prepared for long periods of storage (or aging), only certain crianza wines, the vast majority of which are advisable to be consumed in the year itself. As a general rule, red wines are better preserved than white wines. A first aging can take place in the wineries themselves, fine wines are usually stored in oak barrels, the wood used to give them, add, special nuances to the wines in they saved. Not all wines can be aged, in fact only 1% of wines can do so. For this, it needs a constant temperature between 7 and 21 °C, being 14 °C the ideal

In homes, it is recommended to store fine wines in fitted cabinets or cellars, which should meet conditions similar to those of cellars (darkness, cool and stable environment, relatively high humidity, absence of vibrations...) and in which the bottles will be deposited lying down. Except for exceptional vintages, it does not take more than four years to reach its optimal point, a fine vintage wine can become "oxidized" if the aging exceeds certain years, but it depends a lot on the grape or grapes that make it up, its aging and its percentage of alcohol (minimum 12% for a wine for aging), in fact, aging wines where Cabernet grapes prevail Sauvignon or Tempranillo tend to have a long life, which is why the strains of these grapes are the predominant ones in Bordeaux or Riojas respectively.

One of the problems that can occur with wine is the so-called cork contamination, due to the presence of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (abbreviated as TCA). Affected bottle corks often have a musty odor. It usually comes in bottles stored next to large wooden tanks. This problem was of great dimensions in some countries in the 90's, which led to a new generation of alternative stoppers to cork.

Uses of wine

The sauce accompanying the ossobuco is usually watered in white wine to dissolve the aromas of the herbs and combine them with the meat.

Wine has accompanied humanity for almost more than 7,000 years. It is not surprising that the uses provided by wine during this time have been more than recreational. In history it can be seen how its intake has been associated in different cultures with religious rituals (cult of Dionysus in Classical Greece), alchemical, magical, culinary, medicinal, etc.

**Per capita wine consumption in 2021**
Post	Country	Consumption (annual liters)
1	Portugal	51,09
2	LuxembourgLuxembourg	54.6
3	France	46.9
4	ItalyItaly	46,0
5	SwitzerlandSwitzerland	35.3
6	AustriaAustria	30.6
7	Australia	28.7
8	GermanyGermany	27.5
9	SpainSpain	26.2
10	NetherlandsNetherlands	26.1
11	BelgiumBelgium	26,0
12	Czech RepublicCzech Republic	25.6
13	Sweden Sweden	25.5
14	Romania Romania	24.6
15	GreeceGreece	24,5
16	Argentina	24,5

Culinary

Wines have a primary use as a drink but since ancient times they have participated in one way or another in the culinary recipes of the Mediterranean countries. In Byzantium times it was used in the preparation of sauces that contained various spices such as: saffron, pepper, cinnamon and which were boiled until reduced by half volume, it was the civum conditum The use of wines In sauces it is used as a source of dissolution of the aromas due to its alcoholic content, the reduction to which it is subjected causes its alcohol to disappear completely. As a general rule, the quality of the wine used ends up being reflected in the final quality of the sauce. Wine, in the form of vinegar, is used in numerous dishes in order to provide an acid flavor, such as salads, soups, stews, etc. Among the dishes that contain wine as one of its ingredients is the French coq au vin (Rooster in wine), the Jewish charoset, or cold ones such as champagne sorbet. The use of fortified wines in the kitchen is used at the end of their elaboration, in order to maintain a certain alcoholic content, an example is the sherry spoon that is added to the consommés just before serving. The wines are also used as a marinade for some ingredients, an example is found in the kitchen of Aragon (Spain) in which a hare is marinated in wine before making the stew the next day, the dish is called llebrada. In the elaboration of desserts such as pear with wine, usual in Rioja cuisine.

It is particularly common to use dry wines for the preparation of main dishes. Likewise, red wines are more used for red meat dishes, while white wines are usually used in fish, shellfish or vegetable dishes (although there are exceptions to this rule). For their part, sweet wines are used more for desserts.

Drink

The majority of wine is consumed as a drink. In some countries, the wine is usually reduced with water or soda and with ice cubes during warm days, such is the case of the German Weinschorle, the so-called quebrachos in Argentina (usually red with strong tannin content), the punch with Chilean Culen. Sometimes it is served with a mixture of sliced fruits, such as zurracapote (a kind of sangria), Chilean strawberry burgundy, etc. Sometimes they are mixed with juices such as mimosa with orange juice. In the countries of northern Europe, in the harshest moments of winter, Glühwein (spiced hot wine) and Feuerzangenbowle are usually made, as well as the Nordic glögg. Spiced wines have been famous since the time of the Roman Empire, one of the best known being the Conditum Paradoxum.

With less ancient tradition, but no less popular, are the mixtures such as the calimocho, which is a cocktail mix of red wine and a carbonated cola in equal parts (by this name it is popularly known in Spain, also as mochete, Rioja libre or Jote), and tinto de verano (wine with soda).

In a particular way it is possible to make cocktails with wine, such is the case of countries like Chile, where those such as the earthquake, the pod, burgundy, Roman punch, etc. are prepared.

Medicinals

The use of wine as medicine dates back to ancient Egypt, where it was used as an infusion of different medicinal herbs. Hippocrates mentions its use as a disinfectant for wounds or as a vehicle for other medicines. In the same way Galen illustrates examples of its use already then in medicine as a tonic and stimulant of digestion.

Contrary to the misconception of some, alcoholic beverages are not mental stimulants, but are actually sedatives and calming to the central nervous system. "Give intoxicating liquor to him who is about to perish, and wine to those who are embittered in soul," not as a mental stimulant to make such people more aware of their misfortune, but rather, as the proverb says, to that he may 'forget his troubles' (Pr 31:6, 7) for as a sedative, wine mixed with myrrh, poppy or wormwood was administered to the dying and those accused of torture. The Romans had the ancient custom of giving criminals vinegary wine (posca) mixed with myrrh or gall to dull the pain of execution. Perhaps this is the reason why Roman soldiers offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh or gall when they were crucifying him. (Mr 15:23.)

In many cases since the Middle Ages the use of wine was related to magic and alchemy. In 1555 the alchemist author Alessio Piemontese wrote numerous recipes with wine. However, after the distillation discovered by Arnau de Vilanova (aqua vitæ), the medicinal use of wine passed into the background. From wine, and due to its antioxidant qualities, cosmetics are produced that tone the skin.

Preparation of other beverages

Wine is sometimes distilled, which gives rise to other types of drinks with a higher alcohol concentration. A case of drink is the brandy that is made from the distillation of specific wines. Spirits such as pisco are made from wine distillates. In some cases, the spirits themselves are used in the production of other wines, as in the case of fortified wines. A percentage of the wines is dedicated to the elaboration of vinegars of different types.

Religious

Wine is used in religious ceremonies of Christian confessions. In the Catholic Church, wine is used to celebrate mass, "which must be mixed with a little water". Any grape wine is fine; but a sweet wine with a low alcohol content is usually used, in which the must has not been quenched with alcohol, but rather is made with overripe grapes, which is why they have very little ferment and, above all, very little ferment nutrient. For this reason, the transformation of sugar into alcohol stops spontaneously at six or seven degrees and even earlier.

According to the Bible, wine is one of the gifts included among the blessings that Yahweh has given to humanity. Wine "makes the heart of mortal man glad," puts the heart in a "joyful mood." (Ps 104:15; Est 1:10; 2Sa 13:28; Ec 2:3; 10:19; Zec 10:7) Consequently, Daniel drank no wine while he was mourning. (Da 10:2, 3) A plentiful supply of wine, symbolized by the “vine” in the oft-repeated expression ‘to sit under one's own vine and one's fig tree,' indicates prosperity and security under Yahweh's righteous rule. (1Ki 4:25; 2Ki 18:31; Isa 36:16; Mic 4:4; Zec 3:10) Wine is also included in Yahweh's promised restoration blessings. (Joe 3:18; Am 9:13, 14; Zec 9:17.)

The use of wine in the Eucharist originates from the account of the Last Supper made in the gospels, where it is said that Jesus of Nazareth shared bread and wine with his disciples and ordered his followers to "do this in my memory" (Gospel according to Saint Luke 22, 19). Beliefs about the nature of the Eucharist vary among different Christian denominations. Catholics, for example, hold that the bread and wine are transformed (“transubstantiated”) into the Body and Blood of Christ through a process called transubstantiation.

For its part, Islam strictly prohibits the consumption of wine since its precepts strictly prohibit the consumption of any type of alcoholic beverage.

Wine and health

Picture of the vintage and pressed wine in the Taccuino Sanitatis (sixteenth century)XIV) originating from the Taqwin al-sihha تقوين الصحة (Health book).

On the beneficial and harmful qualities of wine, numerous investigations have been carried out in which there is no clear consensus within science. Excessive and prolonged consumption is clearly harmful, while moderate consumption could cause certain health benefits, although nutrition experts and public institutions indicate that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. Medical science tries to investigate whether it is possible to establish a level of beneficial consumption, where the border would be below the interval that goes from 250 ml/day to 300 ml/day (one third of a standard 750 ml bottle) for an adult person of average 70 kg. An unresolved curiosity in nutrition today is the so-called French paradox about the consumption of saturated fats and wine in the diet of the French contrasted with mortality in relation to the incidence of coronary diseases, some studies show that the incidence of coronary diseases is higher among teetotalers and drinkers. It is important to specify that the studies show the correlation with moderate consumption degree of alcohol, not specifically with wine.

Harmful consumption

Sulfur dioxide in wine can cause asthma attacks in sensitive people. However, most wines have amounts well below the dangerous levels for a normal person.

Similarly, studies show that moderate consumption, far from providing health benefits, increases the risk of several major cancers, including breast, colon, esophageal, and head and neck cancers, also despite the fact that in moderate doses It can produce a small protection against ischemic diseases, it is considered highly toxic for the cardiovascular system.

Frequent consumption of wine in high doses causes tissue damage (especially in the central nervous system and liver), being in this case, like other alcoholic beverages, a predisposing factor for cirrhosis and carcinomas. In this way, the consumption of wine (and other alcoholic beverages) is discouraged for pregnant or lactating women.

Beneficial consumption

Since it contains ethyl alcohol, wine has psychoactive effects: in very moderate doses it increases appetite and causes a certain degree of disinhibition as it is anxiolytic. This anxiolytic characteristic explains why, always in low doses, it is hypnoinducer (promotes sleep) and tranquilizer. However, like other psychoactives, high doses (and one can speak of high doses when the two glasses are exceeded) produce obvious signs of intoxication, being a central nervous system depressant, in such cases high doses can cause insomnia or Conversely, the deep sleep of the drunk, high doses also cause a decrease in libido.

Moderate consumption favors the circulatory system (inhibits the formation of thrombi) and especially the heart thanks to the presence of polyphenols, such as resveratrol, reducing the so-called bad cholesterol (LDL) and increasing HDL cholesterol. Wine Red wine owes its color to the presence of anthocyanins, antioxidant substances that are also found in red grapes. Reduces the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Likewise, there is evidence that moderate consumption of red wine increases antioxidant capacity and decreases oxidative stress in the circulation, both in young and old people.

Salvatore P. Lucia, professor of medicine at the University of California School of Medicine, teaches that wine is the oldest dietary beverage and the most important medicinal agent in continued use throughout human history. During the Middle Ages, wine went from being simply an alcoholic beverage to being considered a medicine against anemia, dysentery, and other nervous diseases. In fact, few other substances available to man have been so widely recommended for their healing powers as wines. It has been used extensively in the treatment of diseases of the digestive system, being particularly helpful in anorexia, hypochlorhydria without gastritis, and hyposthenic dyspepsia. Secondary liver failure responds favorably to dry white wine. The tannin content and light antiseptic properties of wine make it valuable in the treatment of intestinal colic, mucous colitis, spasmodic constipation, diarrhea, and many infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal system.

Legal aspects

The legal activities that cover wine are very broad and range from the cultivation of the vines, through their production, maceration and bottling, taxes, trade, distribution, etc. The additives that must be added to the wine are controlled by law, as a general rule it is considered a matter of public health and fraud prevention. The law regulates the content of wine labels. For example, in the US it is required to warn on risk labels.

Professions

Sumiller.

Tonelero - Person in charge of making the wooden barrels for the old wine.
Collector - Person responsible for bandaging grapes when it has reached its maximum point of sugar content.
Enologist - Technical advisor responsible for directing all winemaking processes.
Sumiller - Winemaker who suggests to the clientele the appropriate wine for each occasion.
Catador - Person who testes with attention different types of wines to appreciate their sensory qualities, write their impressions and assign scores.
Ampelologist - Scientist who studies the biology of the vine, its cultivation, the geographical origin of the different strains, its adaptation to soils and climates and its pathologies and treatments.
Ampelograph - Scientist responsible for the study, description and identification of the vine, its varieties and its fruits.
Viticultor - Systematic grower of vines to use their grapes in the production of wine.
Viverista - Owner of a nursery, planting and germinating feet mothers of grafts, viniferous to obtain other plants or stems.
Agricultural - Scientific consultant of the viticultor in the cultivation and improvement the quality of the vines.
Bodeguero - Owner of a winery, productive unit to produce and store wines.
Vinicultor - Person who is dedicated to the elaboration of wines and the breeding of wine.
Garagiste o garajista - Vinicultor of the region of Bordeaux that produces "garden wine", a wine elaborated with different procedures to the traditional in the area.

Wine in culture

Wine has had a greater reputation than other alcoholic beverages throughout history. In Greek and Roman art it gave rise to Bacchic art and expressions such as In vino veritas.

Sociology of wine

There are festivals in almost all the producing countries and they usually coincide with the weeks after the harvest, in these festivals the new wine is usually tasted. In this way, the Weinfeste (wine festivals) are popular in Germany. One of the largest wine festivals ever held (with around 600,000 people taking part) was at the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt in Bad Dürkheim. In Spain, a curious celebration known as the Battle of Wine is held annually in the Riojan city of Haro.

Today wine is widely used in celebrations and meetings between family and friends

Wine in film and television

Bottle Shock (2008): Documentary based on the wine ata called the Paris Judgment held in 1971, in which the wines of California were compared with those of France.
A good year (2006): Ridley Scott film starring Russell Crowe. It deals with the inheritance of a French vineyard.
Between drinks (2004): Film written and directed by Alexander Payne and interpreted by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church.
Mondovino (2004): Documentary of Director Jonathan Nossiter. It addresses the conflicts of the world of wine today.
Falcon Crest (1981-1990): Television series where the adventures of a wealthy family (Channing/Gioberti) are narrated in California. The cultivation of vineyards was one of the main sources of wealth.
A walk through the clouds: Film starring Keanu Reeves and Anthony Quinn. The vineyards in which history is developed are located in California.
Between White and Tint: Television program dedicated entirely to wine culture. It is broadcast on local televisions in Spain and also on the internet.

Wine in Literature

The Arab poetry of the centuryXV had authors of Balkan poetry (poesy in honor of wine) giving rise to particular specializations such as the so-called hamriya (very popular among the Arab poets of the Taifas kingdoms in the al-Andalus). One of his most outstanding representatives is Abu Nuwas.

Wine on the net

There are different websites and oenological communities on the web with a large number of tastings, pairings and information regarding wine, as well as the purchase of wines. Consumers are increasingly choosing to buy wine over the Internet, with red wines being preferred by online buyers.

Competitions and prizes

Up
Catavinum
China Wine Awards
Cinve
French General Agricultural Competition
International Competition Best Wines for Asia
International Competition Wines of Mountain
Decanter World Wine Awards
Effervescents du Monde
Girovi Wines and Cavas of Catalonia
Little Peñín
International Wine Challenge
International Wine exposespirit Competition
Les Citadelles du Vin
Gold nose
Zarcillo Awards
Tempranillos al Mundo
Terravino
Vinandino
Wine Masters Challenge
The Wine Advocate Robert Parker
Vinhoreca
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
Berliner Wine Trophy
Challenge International du VIn
Vinalies Internationales
Le Mondial du Rosé
Bacchus Awards Spain
Wine and Woman
Mundus Vini
Concours Mondial de Bruxelles
Mondial Selections des vins Canada

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