Wine is fermented wine
According to the production process, wine can be divided into distilled wine, fermented wine and blended wine.
Distilled wine is made by distillation to increase the alcohol concentration, so we usually drink white wine or vodka. In fact, foreigners call white wine vodka. They all use distillation to obtain more alcohol strength.
Distilled spirits and cooking alcohol are usually the main ingredients used to make wine, and water, sugar, flavorings, food coloring, and herbs are added.
These are outside the scope of our discussion of wine today. The wine we are talking about today is a fermented wine.
Then we will narrow it down. In the whole process of fermentation or the whole process of wine fermentation, we are talking about natural fermentation, that is, the fermentation of the fructose and yeast in the fruit to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide, and the wine is made by this reaction.
How much alcohol is this? We all find that the alcohol content in the bottle is very high: 12%, 13%, 14% and 7%, 8%. The whole fermentation process is basically about 15% alcohol because the yeast is deactivated by the high alcohol content.
Why make wine from grapes
First of all, it should be clear that fruit wines are not only wines. For example, in Normandy, in northern France, a wine called cider is produced. It is cider, made from apples. Other fruits can also be made into wine, as long as they have sugar and yeast.
So why is wine so popular? I think there are several reasons.
Secondly, the grapes are particularly sensitive and make wines that reflect their surroundings and local customs. On the one hand, this sensitivity may be due to the sensitivity of the grape to its surroundings. For example, it has been said that wine brings the fragrance of flowers grown around the vineyard. This is based on experiments and papers on the subject. On the other hand, we all know that there are in fact mutations in genes that are passed from generation to generation. Grapes also have the potential to reflect many subtle terroirs in their wines, as small genetic mutations in each terroir are passed on from generation to generation. This is a characteristic that sets grapes apart from other fruits.
Third, I think there is a very real possibility that grapes are usually grown on relatively poor soils. We can’t grow food in such soils. So in the past, I thought that if I wanted to use a piece of land to grow something to make wine, it might not be used as much as the fertile black soil of the Northeast. It just so happens that in poor areas, such as the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains in Ningxia, which are not suitable for growing grain, are prime wine producing areas.
