Wine, Red
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Flavorings
Wine, Red
Latin:
Origin:
Wine is the fermented juice of the grape. At harvest time, the healthiest grape clusters are picked and loaded into a machine that destems and gently crushes the grapes to release the juice. In the production of red wines, skins, seeds, and juice are all fermented together; while in white wine, the juice is usually separated from the skins and seeds immediately after crushing. Vines are meticulously pruned in winemaking to limit the number of grapes, thus intensifying the flavor of the wine.
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Of the grape genus Vitis, one species, Vitis vinifera, is used almost exclusively. Beverages produced from Vitis labrusca, the native American grape, and from other grape species are also considered wines. When other fruits are fermented to produce a kind of wine, the name of the fruit is included, as in the terms peach wine and blackberry wine.
Vitis vinifera was being cultivated in the Middle East by 4,000 BC, and probably earlier. Egyptian records dating from 2,500 BC refer to the use of grapes for wine making, and numerous Old Testament references to wine indicate the early origin and significance of the industry in the Middle East. The Greeks carried on an active wine trade and planted grapes in their colonies from the Black Sea to Spain. The Romans carried grape growing into the valleys of the Rhine and Moselle (which became the regions of Germany and Alsace), the Danube (in modern-day Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Austria), and the Rhone, Saone, Garonne, Loire, and Marne (which define the French regions of Rhone, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Loire, and Champagne, respectively). The role of wine in the Christian mass helped maintain the industry after the fall of the Roman Empire, and monastic orders preserved and developed many of the highly regarded wine-producing areas in Europe.
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Following the voyages of Columbus, grape culture and wine making were transported from the Old World to the New World. Spanish missionaries took viticulture to Chile and Argentina in the mid-16th century and to lower California in the 18th. With the flood of European immigration in the 19th and early 20th centuries, modern industries, based on imported Vitis vinifera grapes, were developed.
The prime wine-growing regions of South America were established in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. In California, the centre of viticulture shifted from the southern missions to the Central Valley and the northern counties of Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino.
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British settlers planted European vines in Australia and New Zealand in the early 19th century, and Dutch settlers took grapes from the Rhine region to South Africa as early as 1654.
Prior to the 19th century little was known about the process of fermentation or the causes of spoilage. The Greeks stored wine in earthenware amphorae, and the Romans somewhat extended the life of their wines with improved oaken cooperage, but both civilizations probably drank almost all of their wines within a year of vintage and disguised spoilage by adding such flavorers as honey, herbs, cheese, and salt water. Wooden barrels remained the principal aging vessels until the 17th century, when mass production of glass bottles and the invention of the cork stopper allowed wines to be aged for years in bottles.
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In the mid-19th century the French chemist Louis Pasteur and others explained the nature of fermentation and identified the yeasts responsible for it. Pasteur also identified the bacteria that spoil wine and devised a heating method (later called pasteurization) to kill the bacteria. Later in the century, methods were developed for growing pure strains of specific yeasts in culture. Advances in plant physiology and plant pathology also led to better vine training and less mildew damage to grapes.
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Mechanized innovations in the 20th century have mainly contributed to quality control. Stainless steel fermentation and storage tanks are easily cleaned and can be refrigerated to precise temperatures. Automated, enclosed racking and filtration systems reduce contact with bacteria in the air. Beginning in the 1960s, the use of mechanical grape harvesters and field crushers allowed quick harvesting and immediate transfer to fermentation tanks.
The thousands of grape varieties that have been developed, with 5,000 reported for Vitis vinifera alone, differ from one another in such characteristics as color, size, and shape of berry; juice composition (including flavor); ripening time; and disease resistance. They are grown under widely varying climatic conditions, and many different processes are applied in producing wines from them. All of these possible variations contribute to the vast variety of wines available.
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Vitis vinifera, probably originating in the Caucasus Mountains, is the principal wine-producing plant, with most of the world's wine still made from varieties of this species. Vitis labrusca and Vitis rotundifolia have been domesticated in the eastern United States, the domestication of Vitis amurensis has been reported in Japan, and various interspecies hybrids have been used for wine production.
The high sugar content of most Vitis vinifera varieties at maturity is the major factor in the selection of these varieties for use in much of the world's wine production. Their natural sugar content, providing necessary material for fermentation, is sufficient to produce a wine with alcohol content of 10 percent or higher; wines containing less alcohol are unstable because of their sensitivity to bacterial spoilage.
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The moderate acidity of ripe grapes of the Vitis vinifera varieties is also favorable to wine making. The fruit has an acidity of less than 1 percent (calculated as tartaric acid, the main acid in grapes) and a pH of 3.1 to 3.7 (mildly acid). Malic acid is also an important acid; only small amounts of citric acid are present.
A third factor attracting wine makers to this grape is its tremendous range in composition. The pigment pattern of the skin varies from light greenish yellow to russet, to pink, red, reddish violet, or blue-black. The juice is generally colorless, although some varieties have a pink to red color, and the flavor varies from quite neutral to strongly aromatic. Some varieties, such as Pinot Noir, having rather neutral flavored juice, develop a characteristic flavor when fermented on the skins and aged.
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Almost all wines are labeled by the region of production, maturity of the fruit, variety of grape or type of wine, and year of production, and they can be further distinguished by color, sweetness, and varietal aroma. Specific characteristics are traditionally associated with certain wines, and in many cases these traditions are guaranteed by law.
The greatest wine producing regions in France are Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Loire, Champagne, and Alsace.
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Medical opinion is divided as to whether wine is beneficial or harmful to health, though there is growing support for the argument that moderate consumption--particularly of red wine--may reduce the risk of heart disease later in life. On the other hand, some substances in wine are suspected of causing cancer.
Properties:
Pungent, sweet and bitter in flavor, warm in nature, it is related to the channels of the liver, stomach and lung.
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Functions:
Promotes blood circulation, disperses cold, speeds up effects of herbs.
Applications:
Wine is used for wind cold rheumatism, spasms of tendons, chest pain, cold abdominal pain.
Dosage and Administration:
Serve most red wines between 15 and 18 degree Celsius; they taste their best between this temperature range.
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Cautions on Use:
Avoid excessive drinking.
Reference Materials:
Toxic or Side Effects:
Modern Researches:
Wine has little nutritional value except for its alcohol content. A glass of red wine (125 ml) supplies about 85 calories.
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Red wines typically contain about 12 percent alcohol (ethanol) by volume, or 9.5 percent by weight, and minimal amount of sugar. Wine also contains some iron but, more importantly, it helps the body to absorb iron in food when it is drunk at mealtimes.
There are elements in wine that can trigger asthma attacks in susceptible people. One of them is sulphur dioxide--used to inhibit the activities of some yeasts and bacteria--which is released when the wine is first uncorked. The other is histamine, which is found predominantly in red wine.
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It is often claimed that, in spite of the high fat intake in French diets, coronary heart disease rates are low in France because of the high level of red wine consumed there. However, many other wine-drinking countries, such as Bulgaria and Hungary, have high rates of heart disease. Moreover, a recent World Health Organization study found that the French rates of heart disease were somewhat higher than had previously been claimed.
Mouth and throat cancer are common in France and this has been linked to the high wine consumption. Anyone who drinks a lot of wine and also smokes is particularly at risk from these forms of oral cancer. Numerous studies have confirmed that moderate quantities of alcohol (two to three units a day) offer some protection against heart disease regardless of the source of alcohol. Some recent studies also suggest that a substance in red wine may offer additional health benefits by decreasing the tendency for blood to clot, as well as acting as an antioxidant.
However, some individuals find that red wine triggers migraine. It is thought that this may be due to the polyphenols it contains. Studies also show that for some people wine can spark allergic reactions which include nausea, rashes and wind., 百拇医药