Talk:Wine/Archive 1

Introduction - some suggestions

I propose a slightly edited version of the intro text as follows:

Wine is an alcoholic beverage resulting from the Fermentation of grapes or grape juice. The word comes from the Greek οινοσ and through the Latin vinum - referring to both "wine" and the "vine"). Wine-like beverages can also be made from other fruits or from flowers or grains. In this sense the word wine is used with a qualifier, for example, elderberry wine. The word wine by itself always means grape wine. This terminology is often defined by law.

The remainder of this article discusses grape wine. For non-grape wines, see country wine or Chinese wine.

Wine is of particular interest for several reasons. It is a popular and important beverage that accompanies and enhances a wide range of European and Mediterranean style cuisines, from the simple and traditional to the most sophisticated and complex. As an agricultural product it reflects, more than any other, the variety of the land, the local yeast cultures and the climate and conditions under which grapes are grown, the so-called "terroir". As a result, wine is a very varied and, year-on-year, variable product - perhaps more so than any other. The fermentation process itself and improvements attained with proper ageing, sometimes for a century or more, will further increas variation. However, variety is not in itself a sought after quality for large producers of table wine or more affordable wines. For large and modern factory wines and mass market wine brands consistency is more important than distinction and their producers try to hide any hint of often unremarkable "terroirs" or climatically underperforming harvest years, by blending harvests of various years and vinyards, pasteurizing the grape juice in order to kill indigenous yeats (after which "choice" cultivated yeasts are reinserted), using flavor additives and so on. Wine is also used in religious ceremonies in many cultures and the wine trade is of historical importance for many regions.

Comments: what is important should come first (drinking some good wine with your meal!). The English was at moments a bit jumbled. The year on year blend issue applies also to proper champagne - all the non-millésime French stuff is blended (an not cheap!). I am not so sure this discussion on variety, terroir and manipulation actually belongs here - it may sit better somewhere else in this article.

cheers --Modi 22:04, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

I have also added some text relating to vintage and Champagne, as it is typically non-vintage but is not reallly table wine plonk; I have also mildly edited some of the English that I found a bit too "relaxed" and thus challenging for non-English mother tongue readers. I have added a reference to Shiraz the grape and Persian town. It was late at night so I may have done a few more minor edits I cannot recall now. cheers --Modi 06:23, 10 May 2005 (UTC)

I think this first paragraph is confusing: the first sentence says wine comes from grapes; then later sentences say wine comes from a variety of sources. Which is it? 62.231.39.150 15:25, 9 September 2005 (UTC)

Problem with Firefox, IE

I have attempted to fix the problem on this page with image layout and whitespace. (In Firefox, images would overlap if you closed the contents, and in Internet Explorer there was almost a page of whitespace with the contents open). Now there is a slight problem in Firefox with the [edit] signs coming afterwards, but it looks fine in IE. Also, I filled out a little text in one section for wording purposes, and I removed the reference to wine as an "entheogen." Last I checked alcohol wasn't vision-inducing. -- April 05, 2005 8:42 PM (EST) entropix

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America and Canada confuse this system by using some European appellations as generic wine names, as champagne, port, burgundy. In the rest of the world Champagne, for example, can only have been grown and fermented in the Champagne region of France. This practice is being phased out.

I removed the last sentence, because it seemed to relate to French exclusivity over the term Champagne being "phased out", which I'm not sure is true. The sentence should be replaced by something less grammatically vague. --DavidSaff

What it boils down to is that USA can't easily be bullied by the EU into dropping names, while Chile, South Africa, Australia etc can. It's gone way beyond names of places, in recent trade talks, Italy was prepared to scupper the whole deal if South Africa didn't drop "grappa" for which there is absolutely no geographical referent. European (not just French) exclusivism is getting worse, not better -clasqm

Oh, sure. And while we're about it, let's let anyone who likes claim to be producing Coca-Cola sodas, Ford cars, and Microsoft software. Look, these names are the livelihoods of communities and the people who live in them; they are older than the trademark system but they exist for the same kind of reason. Using them when you are not the authentic producer of wine, cheese or whatever from the region concerned is simple piracy. I thought the US had outgrown that, but it appears not. seglea 07:09, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Who in their right mind would claim to be producing Microsoft software? =) Other than that, I agree fully. 85.76.152.179 21:07, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I also agree with seglea - there's nothing wrong with protecting one's trademarks, it is common business practice. Try printing an image of Mickey Mouse on a wine label, and see how fast you get dragged into court by Disney Corp. :) --Cheese Sandwich 20:21, 21 October 2005 (UTC)

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I think the etymology given in this article is wrong. The Latin words for "grape" are "uva" and "racemum" -- not "vin" which doesn't even look like a Latin word. And there seems to be a general word in the Mediterranean area from which the Latin "vinum" (wine) derives -- note Hebrew "yayin" and a similar Greek word.

You're about 2/3rds right - 'vinum', not 'vin', and it means "wine", not "grape", but 'yayin' is disputed. The Oxford English Dictionary says that the Latin vinum is the source of the word in all the Germanic languages and says the 'yayin' connection is disputed. --MichaelTinkler (who is sorry some characters go away in cut and paste, but what can you do?):

[OE. wín = OFris., OS., MLG., MDu. wîn (Du. wijn), OHG., MHG. wîn (G. wein), ON. vín (Sw., Da. vin), Goth. wein:OTeut. *wnom, a. L. vnum, the source also of the Balto-Slavic (OSl. vino, Lith. vnas) and Celtic words (Ir. fín, W. gwîn). L. vinum is primitively related to Gr. , wine, vine, wine, Alb. vne, Arm. gini, which according to some scholars are all derived from a common Mediterranean source, while according to others prim. Arm. *woiniyo (Arm. gini) is the immediate origin of the Gr., Lat., and Alb. words; the nature of the connexion of the Indo-Eur. words with the Semitic (Arab., Ethiopic wain, Hebrew yayin, Assyrian înu) is disputed.]

Surely Greek oinos is undisputed, at least? Replace mine with a better etymology if I'm mistaken. Wetman 19:07, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)

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Would it maybe be appropriate to set up an article on New World wine?
-- Ruhrjung 14:18, 4 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Do you mean to explain what the word New World means in relation to the wine industry or an article on New World wines? Rmhermen 14:23, 4 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Sure. An article would be nice. Try linking to it from here, from Wine_producing_regions, and from Americas -- Williamv1138 13:41, Aug 5, 2003 (UTC)

Yes, that is a good idea. I wrote a stub in New World and Old World, but the topic is significant enough to warrant more text. I can go either way on whether it should be a separate article. I kind of like the juxtaposition with the original use of the term, but obviously it is not easy to find. Wnissen 14:08, 5 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Now done. None for Old World wine yet... Justinc 11:38, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)

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Ruby Cabernet is a grape variety, right?--JensMueller

That is correct. However, at least in the U.S. it is rarely seen as a varietal wine, so that's why it's not on the list. Perhaps a list of grapes used for blending would be helpful. Wnissen 13:12, 9 Sep 2003 (EDT)

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"Wine was (like beer) known to be produced by the Babylonians about 5000 BC" -- This should probably read "5000 years before present" or "3000 BCE", right? Babylonia says: "The earliest mention of Babylon can be found in a tablet of the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to around 2400 BC."

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This should be expanded by someone more knowledgeable than myself with more varietals than simply the popular French ones, especially ones of historical importance (the French varietals are, historically speaking, of relatively recent origin). Some Greek ones include Asyrtiko, Roditis, Agiorgitiko, Mavrodaphne, and Xinomavro, and I'm sure some other countries have others of note. --Delirium 01:21, Apr 18, 2004 (UTC)

--- "Wine became such a valued trade item that the Romans, in 97 BC, ordered the known world to pull out all vines in an attempt to protect their wine industry. " Something has been misunderstood here. This is impossible. Wetman 19:05, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)

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Having both "types of wine" and "special types of wine" seems rather redundant, and the "List of wines" contains both varietals and vinyards. Moreover, there is a far more complete list of varietals on the page "varietal" and an even more exhaustive "list of grape varieties". This should be improved. -- Burschik

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Alcibiades and Plato were speaking Latin around B.C. when they said "In Vino Veritas"? Say it ain't so, Joe.... Hayford Peirce 20:27, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

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I'm very dubious about the use of "country wine" as a term for all "non-grape" wines.

A.) I've never heard it, and I've been drinking wine for 45 years. B.) The Merriam-Websters New International Dictionary, Unabridged, 2nd Edition, with 600,000 entries, does not even list it as a footnote. C.) The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (small print, but still the complete dictionary) does not list it. D.) The 700-page "Food Lover's Companion", a recent, very useful encyl. about food and wine does not list it. E.) I can't find anything in a Google search that jibes with this definition. F.) Today's New York Time's food section had a lead article on Bordeaux wines. In the course of the article they translated "vin du pays" as "country wine".

Did whoever wrote the article about "Country Wine" just make up this term? I think it's a nice one, and I have nothing better off-hand to replace it, but I wonder if it's accurate? Hayford Peirce 20:46, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

The full version of OED gives bare credence to this usage, with the following under "wine":

2. In wider use, usually with qualifying word: A fermented liquor made from the juice of other fruits, or from grain, flowers, the sap of various trees (e.g. birch and palm), etc.: sometimes called made wine (MADE ppl. a. 3).

the wine of the country (= F. le vin de pays): properly, the wine made in a particular locality for local consumption; usually transf. the alcoholic beverage most drunk in a particular country, or regarded as peculiar to it.

and going on to give examples that include (but are not limited to) country wines in the sense under discussion. However, "country wine" to mean non-grape wine certainly is a phrase that is in common use in the UK (possibly because until recently virtually no grapes suitable for winemaking were being grown in the country, though more likely because such wines are much more often home-made in the countryside than manufactured for retail sale). Try a search of UK websites through www.google.co.uk to see some examples. seglea 07:09, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

• • Ah, I was looking under "country wine" in the OED, not under "wine." I've now looked at the UK Google and, as you say, found some references to non-grape country wine. But it seemed to me that there were even more references to "vin du pays" country wine. I wonder if a disambig. point should be made about this? And I think I'll at least create a "Non-grape wine" article header and put a redirect to "Country wine." Hayford Peirce 22:46, 13 Aug 2004 (UTC)

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As I have started adding German wine entries I have started doing miscellaneous changes. I had to add an entry for it, because at the moment pretty much all links in the wine pages go to the country which will often barely mention the wines. I think we need more sections like French wine and then regional things like Alsace wine. I have fixed the sparkling wine redirect to Champagne, and started tidying up some of the classification , and have added some otehr articles such as chaptalization. Lots to do though... Justinc 14:29, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

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Can we get rid of special types of wine on this page and just link to Category:Wines? Justinc 14:47, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)

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Replaced vinyards misspelled category with vineyards. Added wineries category for those that clearly werent vineyards. Yquem etc are confusingly a wine a winery and a vineyard, and the text for some indicated this confusion. Arguably what they are least is a vineyard - these probably have their own names. Justinc 16:01, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

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Why is the first picture on the wine page, Raspberry port?

Yes thats not good, someone take a picture of some real wine... Justinc 23:39, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

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I have created a category Category:French wine AOCs and intend to fill it comprehensively, at least with basic stubs of grape varieties and a few other details initially, to expand later. All help appreciated! Justinc 23:39, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

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Removed some clear spam from a wine shop, but this brings up an issue as to which wineries it is appropriate to link to. Some, like the first growth wineries, have substantial history and impact on the world of wine, but the average winery is inconsequential. The link to clickwine winery seemed really superfluous, so I took it out. Wnissen 05:31, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Removed quotes section

• I took the liberty of removing the quotes section since all of the quotes were already in Wikiquote. I'm not sure if there's an official policy regarding these sorts of things, but to me it seemed unencyclopedic, and after all, this is the reason that Wikiquote exists. If anyone seriously objects, feel free to revert. Andyabides 04:21, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

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Removed raspberry port and moved nice new pictures to top. Justinc 14:39, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Wine faking article, anyone?

Someone please write an article about fake wines or fakeing intoxicating liquors in general. This is a way cool topic. You can make very stong spirits out of artifical fertilizer, linoleum, horse manure (sic!), aromatic tablets, discarded grape peel, carrot sugar and all kinds of chemicals. Wine faking is a big business some places in Eastern Europe.

I remember there was a big wine faking scandal in France some 12-15 years ago?

I second this request. From Roman times to the English embargo of claret and even modern times there is quite a bit of info to coverAgne27 14:29, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Category Oenology

I was thinking of moving this to category:Wine as it seems more friendly... I have been doing some other recatsegorisation, and I think it looks better - comments welcome. Justinc 01:39, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Now I see that Category:Wine already exists, although with not much in it. I think I will start moving things to there. Justinc 23:28, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Hmmm. My opinion would be to hold off moving other stuff for the time being. Oenology being the science of wine, it strikes me that there are specific articles that would fit within this cat to do with viniculture/viticulture and production methods like Champagneoise. On the other hand the article on Wine itself doesn't belong in the cat for Oenology. Noisy | Talk 00:36, Mar 30, 2005 (UTC)

Its a bit difficult. I see your point, and was going to wait until I saw that cat:Wine already existed. We dont really have any articles yet that are really detailed Oenology ones (although I hope we will do in a bit, I created a stub Ampelography for example. When they do we should make Oenology a subcat of wine for them. Justinc 02:09, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Generally Wine is a better root category as it is more general. Oenology is a subcat. Justinc 02:10, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I disagree with what you are doing, but not strongly enough other than to make this comment. In my early days on the Wikipedia, I was really dismayed by the explosion in categories, but I have now come to accept them. To my mind, a separate category for Oenology (as a subcat of wine) was a good idea, and should have been left. Noisy | Talk 09:48, Mar 30, 2005 (UTC)

I am quite happy for it to be a subcat. It wasnt, it was an independent cat with same scope. ok I will make it a sensible subcat with a couple of things in. Justinc 10:42, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Well I started doing this, and was looking at the oxford companion to wine on Oenology, and Jancis completely disagrees with the definition of Oenology we have, saying it was originally synonymous with wine-making, and distinct from viticulture, but generally includes some aspects of viticulture "as more people accept that wine is made to a great extent in the vineyard". Degustation etc are not included. Who has another source for this? Not inclined to move things until this is cleared up. Justinc 10:57, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I have moved wine making things to Category:Oenology, and grape stuff to Category:Viticulture. I might be inclined to rename cat Oenology Category:Wine making, and Category:Appellations category:Wine classification. A few articles still need moving around.

Flavour terms

User:Novalis added this:

• However, these flavor terms are unique to an individual wine expert; one expert is basically unable to identify a wine from another's description of it (Lawless, 1984). Additionally, experts' perceptions of a wine's quality depends primarily on its labeling, rather than its flavor (Brochet, 2001).

Clearly wanting to be provocative. I dont have any objections to this being written about in NPOV way, but I have removed to talk page as the references are not specified, it is clearly not neutral (and judging from the post name not intended to be), and probably would be better off in a wine tasting article anyway, as the paragraph above is referring to quite obvious things such as sugar levels, which can be measured. Justinc 12:45, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

True, its presence is intended to be provocative. But it's well-supported by the literature, as far as I can see. Here's the Brochet reference: Frédéric Brochet and Denis Dubourdieu, "Wine Descriptive Language Supports Cognitive Specificity of Chemical Senses", Brain and Language, Volume 77, Issue 2 , May 2001, Pages 187-196. I can't find the original Lawless (Harry T) article, but his other work which is available online supports the basic idea that high-level descriptors are useless.

Would it be OK with you if I put it back with (a) a citation to an appropriate Lawless paper, and (b) a citation to Brochet's paper? I do think it belongs here, since this section concerns the taste of wine, and the section immediately below concerns the value of wine. Perhaps we do need a larger section on the culture of wine tasting as well.

-- Novalis 04:47, 5 May 2005 (UTC)

If you give full citation and reasonably neutral point of view I am fine with it. It can stay there for the moment, as there isnt yet enough to justify a full article; there probably should be one soon. I will look up the references when I get a chance, though I dont have access to that journal. Suitable online references would be better if at all possible. Justinc 09:50, 5 May 2005 (UTC)

Champagne and regional names

I don't understand the remark on Champagne being applied only to cheap Californian wines. I would rather suggest the following:

Special storage and aging results in a wine with high CO2 contents, commonly known as sparkling wine. Based on the international trademark agreements included in the Treaty of Versailles 1918, only sparkling wine grown in the region of Champagne in France may be sold as Champagne. Other international denominations of sparkling wine include Sekt (Germany), Cava (Spain), Spumante or Prosecco (Italy).

Now I am not an expert, so I would like to have some feedback if this sounds okay to replace what is there or how to do it better.

Cheers --Ernie 14:13, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

I read the wine article a while back and something has been bothering me. I understand the European concerns about naming conventions for wine and food based on the region they originate from, but a lot of people, Americans primarily, don't share those concerns. The article is written with a bias towards the European viewpoint on this issue. I plan on making a series of minor edits in coming days to remove this POV. This is otherwise a very well written article so naturally, I'll proceed carefully. If anyone has strong feelings on this topic, please discuss here. Thanks, Gregmg 14:14, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

First, you are right that there is some POV that could usefully be excised, so go right ahead. I guess my comment would be that the term is undoubtedly confusing, and that confusion results in detriment to genuine Champagne, and that non-genuine Champagne is without exception of poorer quality, and that essentially the entire wine-producing world has agreed to stop using "Champagne" except the U.S. I'm an American, but from a practical standpoint our behavior is embarrassing. The U.S. could ban the name tomorrow with essentially no negative impact on anyone, including the producers of "California Champagne," but we choose not to because the TTB is basically in the pocket of the big wine producers. I don't rant at you, don't worry, but I think it's important to keep mention of the many objective negatives that accrue from using a fraudulent name. Wnissen 14:33, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

I notice that FaZ72 reverted one of my edits. "Confusing" is now reinstated in describing the American use of these terms generically. I take issue with this. In the paragraph above, the difference in naming conventions is introduced as confusing; this, I believe, is true. However, in describing the American naming conventions as confusing, the POV of the author is shown. So, "confusing" needs to go as it is POV. Anyone care to discuss? Gregmg 15:23, 14 August 2005 (UTC)

I waited for about a week to give time for feedback on this and to give myself some time to consider it more carefully. No one responded to my queries, so I reworded the offending paragraph to leave in 'confusing' but to make the article less POV. Gregmg 23:04, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

Alcohol free wine

Can somebody add some information about the wine, which had its alcohol removed? Health and other?

Anyone else bothered by that Jesus Juice reference?

The first thing one sees in the article (after the heading) is that it is a redirect from Jesus Juice, a reference which seems to me to very much lower the tone of the article. If there was a genuine article about something called Jesus Juice, then fine, but as it is, it seems to be irrelevant to me. Incidentally, I am not religious so please don't think it is religion motivating me. It ain't. Moriori July 6, 2005 02:38 (UTC)

Links to external resources

The external link to "Wine Dictionary, Glossary of Wine Terms" was added 07/25/05, reversed by EvilMonkey on 07/26/05, added back later on 07/26/05, and reversed again by Wnissen on 07/26/05 with the note "(Removing link to wine glossary - Sorry, the content should be incorporated, not linked to)". I have restored it again, this time with the note "(Restoring link again. Sorry, content is copyrighted & thus cannot be incorporated on Wikipedia, but is a worthwhile wine resource.)" Don't have any desire to start an edit war, but since this addition does not constitute vandalism and it observes Witiquette in every way, I believe it deserves to be there. Anonymous July 26, 2005 02:40 (UTC)

If it was desireable to link to a wine glossary, the vastly superior [1] version at Epicurious would be to the one to use, not a bare-bones version on some random travel site. I appreciate that reasonable people can differ on whether a link applies under the statement "High content pages that contain neutral and accurate material not already in the article," however in this case the external link is only medium content, laden with commercial advertising, and being added repeatedly by an anonymous person. If the site were any good, wouldn't it at least be in Google? And, may I ask, do you have a personal connection with the site. Adding one's own sites is strongly discouraged. Wnissen 19:58, 26 July 2005 (UTC)

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There have been several links added in recent weeks to commercial web sites. While these may have been added by well-intentioned contributors, I suspect they were added by proprietors of these sites. Please refer to the External Link Guide for what should and should not be linked to. Gregmg 00:49, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

jesus juice up for deletion!

So go vote:

Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Jesus Juice

Article balance / focus

To me, it seems that the article is mostly about wine production and doesn't really seem to contain anything significant about wine "use". Is it all buried in some other link I can't spot or is this article as obsessed with grapes and name wars as all the other sources? ;)

If you see something missing, by all means add it. A section on the use of wine, perhaps dealing with its place in our culture, use in religious practices, etc. would be an excellent addition to this article. Remember to "be bold" when contributing to Wikipedia. If the concensus is that you were too far off the mark, your edits will be corrected and revised as necessary. Gregmg 03:53, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

The articles seems to be getting too large on it's on. Would it be better to split the article into at least two-one for the wine production and the other going more into use. For instance, there are at a couple paragraphs that could be written on the ancient medicinal use of wine alone and then lead up into the French Paradox.Agne27`

Non-alcoholic wine

The section on non-alcoholic wine is just a teensy bit POV, what with calling it "inferior" and all. I'm going to do a brief rewrite, but I'm not very studied in non-alcoholic wine; someone with more information (and some NPOV) should probably rewrite my rewrite. --XkarlmagneX 13:34, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

Varieties

I am concerned about grape names listed in the wine varieties list. It is true that some grape manes cone be considered also names of whines, but alt last in the case of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon i can't realy agree. Everywere in the world there are bottles made with this names on the etiquete. Should'nt we remove at last these two (and mabe a few others) from the list? --FaZ72 17:11, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

I understand your concerns and I do agree, at least to some extent. Since these varietals are produced everywhere, it's not quite accurate to associate a few regions and countries to them. However, in the States and elsewhere these varietal names are commonly used to designate varieties of wine. In fact, 'varietal' is defined as 'Of, indicating, or characterizing a variety, especially a biological variety'. Thus, to include these varietals under the variety subheading does seem appropriate. I suggest either removing the region and country names from these varietals, or segregating regional and varietal lists under the separate, existing subheadings. Gregmg 19:44, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

This seems reasonable to me. Since my knowledge is mainly in Italian wines, could someone with a beter international insight possibly make this changes? --FaZ72 23:48, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

You're right, this section is misleading. The term varietal is always used to specify the kind of grape. There should be a separate section devoted singularly to grape varietals, and another devoted to wine-growning regions. A third section should differentiate wine labelling conventions, e.g. French wines are typically labelled by appellation, while wines from California are typically labelled by varietal.

I have removed most of the edits of 65.50.41.255 21 September 2005 who has been adding Spain to most of the wines with names of grapes. I have done this not because I know for shure they are wrong, but because they seem added indiscriminately. If some of those i deleted are actualy typical spanish wines my excuses for this. I have added Italy to Merlot, becaus 'Merlot delle venezie' is a very common and known Italian whine now. The nations are in alphabetical order with de nation of origin of the grape (usualy France) first now.--FaZ72 19:45, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

I think that is reasonable. Spain is known more for its traditional wines than for varietals. Almost every grape is now grown in many countries. This section should not try to be a list. Justinc 23:57, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

Fine wine

At the moment the article at fine wine just points to wine. Seems to me there is plenty more to be said on the subject. Any takers?

If you have any knowledge on the subject, please take a stab at it. Remember the directive to "Be Bold" in making edits on Wikipedia. Gregmg 14:50, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

Slovenia and collectable wines

An anonymous user has expressed concerns on my talk page about my reversal of an an edit that listed Slovenia first in a list of countries producing collectable wines. I removed Slovenia because I couldn't find anything that suggested it should be featured so prominently. I wanted to make sure that this issue was reviewed by others, in case I'm off-base on this one, so I decided to include a reference on this talk page. Gregmg 15:59, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

I tend to agree with you, but ask for references from them so it can be independently verified. Justinc 17:28, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

After re-reading that section, I thought it best just to remove the short list of countries. Gregmg 05:09, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

Greg, I would not necessarily be so hasty. I think we can just look at auction catalogs to see which wines are genuinely collectible. Believe me, if Christie's thought there was a market for collectible Slovenian wines, they would not hestitate to auction them. For example, their latest catalog [2] shows wines from France, California, Italy, Australia, Spain, and Portugal, in descending order of number of lots. The most expansive list I can find does in fact include Slovenia. It is on [3], and lists Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine, and the United States. It is worth noting that currently Slovenia, Canada, and Hungary each have only one wine listed, and the Ukraine has none. The rest have a half dozen or more. I realize that any such list is going to be contentious, and that Anglo-American bias is important to avoid, but it would be a failure to at least note some of the biggies. Probably half the collectible wine in the world is red Bordeaux, so that should at least merit a mention. Let's see if we can't hash out something that works. Wnissen 05:26, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

I think a short list would be appropriate. If no one beats me to it, I'll update the article later and include references. Gregmg 22:11, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

New section (or article) on wine faults?

I propose a new section on wine faults, as this is a common source of anxiety for people that buy wine (retail or in restaurants).

• Oxidation
  • Acetaldehyde (rotten apple, sherry aromas)
  • Acetic acid (vinegar smell)
  • Ethyl acetate (nail polish remover, glue, or varnish smell), a.k.a. volatile acidity
• Sulfur
  • Sulfur dioxide (matchstick smell)
  • Hydogen sulfide (rotten eggs)
  • Mercaptans (onion, rubber, or skunk), a.k.a. bottle stink
• Fungus/yeast
  • Refermentation (prickle/fizz sensation not from carbonation, funky aromas)
  • Brettanomyces (horsey, wet saddle, band-aids, rancid bacon), agreeable in small amounts
  • Cork taint (cardboard, mustiness, wet dog)

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Sounds like a great addition to the article. Remember the Wikipedia directive... "Be Bold". Gregmg 21:56, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

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Personally I think this would be better as a new article, because wine seems to be getting pretty bloated as far as they go, and the amount of information that there is on the topic of wine faults is pretty overwhelming. I do think, however, that the concept of a corked bottle is common enough to include it in this general article.

The wine nut

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== My input == --Aryan Khadem 13:11, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

I did an essay on wine for university, I can add my material, but the oldest known wine making process was in Iran and as for the grape actually wine did not enter europe or Greece till 2000BC beer was made later after the use of wine by proto-Sumerian colonies as with wine.

http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/online_exhibits/wine/wineneolithic.html

Patrick McGovern is one of the leaders in this feild for the origins.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_9_112/ai_110737012

In his book he states that China had 25 species of grape but never domesticated or used them to make wine, Rice was used to make rice wine, it is the species found in the Caucas and some parts of Iran when it was covered with forests. In his book McGovern explains the lingusitic origns for the word Wine which he traces to Eastern Turkey. --Aryan Khadem 13:33, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

Wine Tastes

I'm not entirely clear on why wine tasters always describe everything but wine when they talk about flavor. Can someone elaborate on the "nutty with a hint of cherry and a bit of a whatnot" language? Why it's used, what it means? Can a wet drink every be "dry"?

Here are some terms to get you by:

• Tannic- gives the wine a medium-full body, i.e. it just feels heavy in your mouth. Also indicated by a feeling of drying out in your mouth after swallowing like someone just inserted a giant cotton swab.
• Acidic = sour
• Dry = lack of sweetness, dry and sweet are opposites, and off-dry means slightly sweet.

As for the aromas, they're just a matter of personal judgement, and they're completely subjective. Most people find that after they've tasted a few dozen wines, they're better at picking out the subtle nuances of each. Most wine experts say to be a good wine taster you have to become a smeller. Smell absolutely everything you come into contact with and make a mental note of it so that you can describe the scent if you ever get it in a wine.

Cheers! Eric (AKA The wine nut)

Some issues with types of wine

I take the opinion that from wine's main page, links should only be made to articles discussing wine in various countries, from where you can go to any given region within that country, to any given wine. The heading "types of wine" is so vague and broad in its charactarization that possible additions to the list are infinite in number. Maybe I am alone here, but in this particular matter, I think a broad-to-specific approach is appropriate.

-The wine nut

To me it seems that the article tries to accomodate the New World tendancy of thinking in terms of varietals and the Old World approach of appellations, while not forgetting wine types based on vinification methods. All in all it this works out pretty well, but there are a few shortcomings. Right now, white and red grapes are subsections below "By Taste". Red and white wines are then listed under "Types of wine". These grape and wine links duplicate a lot of the same links. This article could benefit from a major overhaul, but I'm not sure where to start. If you have any ideas for how to improve it, remember the Wikipedia credo to Be Bold. Gregmg 03:50, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

_________

Vranec : varietal of the Republic of Macedonia

I think that vranec (pronounced vrah-netz) deserves space on the list. In the Balkans, it is well known as a dark red, even ruby, colored wine that makes up a large portion of Macedonia's grape harvest. It stands on its own very well but has also contributed to champion blended wines.

Pinotage

Isn't pinotage a variety of grape and a varietal wine rather than a "blended wine name" as indicated in the article? What am I missing?David Justin 03:38, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

I can only find two references to Pinotage in the article. One indicates that it is from South Africa, and the other indicates that it is a hybrid of Pinot Noir and Cinsault. Both of these statements are true... am I missing something? Gregmg 03:53, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

My apologies... I didn't realize what you were referring to. Yes, it's preceeded by the blended wine name introduction. I thought, but haven't been able to quickly confirm, that due to it's relatively recent invention, Pinotage had at least originally been protected by intellectual property laws. If this is true, then the text that preceeds it makes sense. Gregmg 04:02, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for the insight. David Justin 15:48, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

I concur with David Justin above - multiple references on the internet seem to indicate that Pinotage is a varietal and not a blended wine. Furthermore, in the article, Pinotage is included in a list of wines that are "marketing terms" and "protected by trademark law". I can find no support for this claim. I'm changing this in the article. Revert or modify if you disagree.

References:

• Perold bio
• Winepros description of Pinotage

dpotter 02:40, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I concur. It seems that my recollection of the history was a bit off, but since I wasn't the original contributor of the text in question, I hadn't fully researched the subject. I believe that a paragraph or two concerning popular hybrids might be in order. Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon are two that quickly come to mind. I'm sure there are others. Gregmg 03:01, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Bordeaux not semigeneric?

My read of 2005 Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27, Section 12.31 shows Bordeaux as a nongeneric name recognized as a distinctive designation, and Section 24.257 does not enumerate Bordeaux as a semi-generic name.

Thus, it appears to be a protected designation, and I will change the article to reflect this. Please revert or modify if you disagree.

I may also expand the list of semi-generics to be complete. dpotter 03:20, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I updated the list of semi-generics, but it's not complete. The next paragraph mentions that "all of these names are specific regions in Europe", so I left out semigeneric names that weren't also region names. I opted not to include "Sauterne" since I believe it's an intentional misspelling of "Sauternes". dpotter 03:32, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Typography of a vineyard???

There is a reference to the "typography of a vineyard" which, I'm assuming, should be "topography of a vineyard" and have changed the word accordingly; if typography is, indeed, correct, it requires further explanation.

EmmetCaulfield, I'm certain you are correct. Thanks for the correction. Wnissen 14:42, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Georgia as birthplace of wine

The recent edits concerning the Republic of Georgia as the birthplace of wine are disconcerting. Can anyone provide any independent supporting evidence for this? Gregmg 16:46, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

I went ahead a cleaned up the Georgian wine references, but I'd still like to see an independent source. Something in a scientific journal would be best. All I could find were references like those provided by the contributor; i.e., commercial websites, promotional websites for the Republic of Georgia, etc. Gregmg 21:04, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Boy, I'd like to see a more reliable source for this too. From our friend, the 1911 Brittanica:

The art of viticulture or wine-making is a very ancient one. In the East, it dates back almost as far as we have records of any kind. In Egypt and Greece the introduction of wine was ascribed to gods; In Greece to Dionysius; in Egypt to Osiris. The Hebrews ascribed the art of wine-making to Noah. The earliest examples of specific wines of which we have any record are the Chalybon wine, produced near Damascus, in which the Phoenicians traded in the time of Ezekiel (xxvii. 18)"

In 1996, the Archaeological Institute of America reported that a wine jar had been discovered in Iran's northern Zagros mountains had been carbon dated to 7,000 years old (appx 5,000BC). They further report that this inferred that the art of wine-making is at least 2,000 years older than previously thought. Their news brief.

Patrick McGovern, Senior Research Scientist, Adjunct Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture (Princeton University Press, 2003) writes:

If winemaking is best understood as an intentional human activity rather than a seasonal happenstance, then the Neolithic period (8500-4000 B.C.) is the first time in human prehistory when the necessary preconditions for this momentous innovation came together. Most importantly, Neolithic communities of the ancient Near East and Egypt were permanent, year-round settlements made possible by domesticated plants and animals...A major step forward in our understanding of Neolithic winemaking came from the analysis of a...jar...excavated...at the site of Hajji Firuz Tepe in the northern Zagros Mountains of Iran. (available online.)

dpotter 02:05, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

There are more recent sources out there than 1911 Brittanica. And not everything that comes up at the first page of Google search is the most recent news either. Also, it is important to study carefully what you are citing. The same site of the Archaeology magazine cited here has a review of McGovern's most recent (2003) book that says the following:

McGovern proposes modern-day Georgia and Armenia as the likely sites of the domestication of the Eurasian wine grape some 8,000 years ago. Winemaking spread south from there, with wines being produced in northwestern Iran at Hajji Firuz Tepe by 5400 B.C. A little more than 4,000 years later, Near Eastern wine culture had evolved to the point where amphoras found in the palace of Amenhotep III in western Thebes noted vintage, quality, appellation, and even the purpose or occasion for the blend. [4]

And if somebody actually bothered to read McGovern's book they would have found out that the wine residue on the walls of the jar found in Shulaveri, Georgia appears to be a bit older than the one in Firuz Tepe. By about a 1000 years. I do not know of any source disputing these findings. See also [5].

So, yes, it does appear that the most ancient remains of wine (made from grapes) are currently found in Georgia and it does appear that Georgia being the birthplace of wine is not too outrageous a claim after all. No need to be disconcerted. (PaC 00:22, 22 May 2006 (UTC))

History tidy-up

Have attempted a more nuanced treatment of wine's early history, including:

• Mention of grape domestication as this helps date large-scale wine production
• Mention of controversy surrounding analyis of wine residues. Identification of archaeological food/drink residues in in its infancy, with many interesting results that have not been replicated.
• I'm not aware of any evidence for the primacy of Georgia for either grape domestication or wine production. Have suggested a wider area of origin with reference to evidence for this.
• Have tidied up Egypt a little and will come back to this and Mesopotamia.

References added at the bottom for all this.

I also removed

Other early known evidence of a fermented wine-like drink is from the Chinese village of Jiahu dated from 6000 to 7000 BC [6]. The wine, found in 16 buried jars, contained millet, rice, beeswax (from honey) and either hawthorn fruit or wild grape. A 3,000 year old bronze jar has also been unearthed, still containing a similar liquid wine.

as this is clearly more relevant to alcoholic beverages or sake than an article that explicitly treats wine as made of grapes.

Cheers! Mark Nesbitt 18:52, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Deletion of copyright vio

Have deleted text added by 81.159.142.250 as it's comes straight from [7], is wrong (wine cultivation in Lebanon at 6000 BC???), and doesn't cite any references. There's also no attempt to integrate the text into the structure of the article. Would welcome more info on the history of viticulture in Lebabon, though.

81.159.142.250 - please see guidelines at Wikipedia:Simplified Ruleset

Mark Nesbitt 08:50, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Announcement: launch of sister site -- vinopinions.org

Launched mediawiki sister site vinopinions.org with the purpose of structuring toward individual wines, and implementing open ratings application allowing for individual user/IP votes with averaged results (1-100 WS style ratings).

Wikipedians encouraged to become involved. VinOpinions 21:42, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Looks like it "doesn't pass muster per the external links guide", whatever that means. And it looks like wine.wikicities.com also doesn't pass muster. I thought that Wikipedia was a community encyclopedia, with people encouraged to add and edit. If we start deleting people's additions because they don't "pass muster", then why should people try and add information? I can understand discouraging blatent self-promotion, but if you're trying to share information and encourage others to share information, where are we supposed to go? Or does Wikipedia want to be the end-all and be-all of online encyclopedias? That's going to drive people away, not encourage them to participate. Chadlupkes 16:01, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Please review the External_links guide. Everyone is encouraged to edit articles, but ultimately the article should remain consistent with the various guides and policy articles. Presently, vinopinions.org doesn't appear to provide the quality or quantity of content that adds any value to the article. Perhaps that will change, and if it does, maybe the link will be included. It isn't for me or any other individual contributor to say what should or should not be linked to; the external links guide already does this. Please review this guide and let's discuss further. Thanks. Gregmg 16:28, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

The purpose of vinopinions.org forking off into another site is to augment, not detract, from wikipedia (as well as other wine information sites). Firstly, we wish to allow for a public rating system requiring back-end applications outside the scope of wikipedia, and secondly, we wish to provide for a more accessible and consumer-oriented categorization of the database information (hierarchal navigation to information on individual wines being paramount).
The purpose of posting the link as a work in progress was to encourage wikipedians to contribute. I don't see how the link detracts from the page, nor why it would not abide by the spirit of the External_links guide as I've re-read it. If I've stepped on someone's toes here, I apologize, and will not re-post the external link. I will, however, point out that wikipedia is a collaborative, community effort. If a few people take it upon themselves to "sanitize" every entry to serve their own standards and/or motives, we will all lose this great resource. In contrast, I would like to assure potential contributers that vinopinions.org has been created to celebrate a variety of opinions, rather than be the bastion of a few. VinOpinions 02:23, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Encyclopedias inform, period. The links are there because they provide useful information, not to promote worthy causes. The appropriateness of a link has nothing to do with respect or disrespect of anyone's opinion, but rather its contribution to the content of the encyclopedia. Sorry to be so blunt. Wnissen 15:04, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Claims for the origin of wine

So far this page has seen at least three unsupported claims for countries as the original home of wine: Georgia, Lebanon and Iran. For reason explained in the article and referenced at the bottom, it's impossible to point to any single country. All that can be said is that the earliest wine production must have started in areas growing grapes at or prior to 3000 BC, which means the Near East. Anywhere from Turkey to Georgia, the Levant to Iran. It's perfectly plausible that wine-maing started in all these areas at the same time - it's not a difficult process.

Well-researched info on the early history of wine-making, referenced to recent archaeological reports, would be very useful. Lets try and keep claims based purely on nationalism off the page. Mark Nesbitt 09:15, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Wine in Religion

This seems to me an absolutely essential and obvious addition which I don't feel really qualified to make. Very obvious things would be its use in Passover (and other Jewish holidays?) and the Catholic/Orthodox Mass, as well as the wedding feast at Canah, but I'm pretty sure there is more than just that; does it have special significance in non-Judeo-Christian religions? Snowboardpunk

There's a short paragraph about this at the end of the section on uses. Cana and the Eucharistic rites are covered; Passover and perhaps Purim (though i suppose one can get drunk on anything then) are not, nor are the rites of Dionysus, which are the first non-Judeo-Christian religious use that springs to mind. now they are.—Charles P._(Mirv) 15:33, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

Looking for China

China is, according to FAO stats, one of the 10 biggest wine producing nations in the world, which seems reason enough to add the country. China is also lacking from the wine producing countries entry, despite having a small but nevertheless 2,000 years old tradition of wine making. 213.89.48.107 19:36, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

The Wine Spectator's article, "China's Wine Revolution" (Nov. 30, 2005, pp. 60-85) is an excellent source of information.David Justin 02:58, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Also lots of info in this Anthropology of Food article (on-line) Wine in ChinaBerox 21:56, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Etymology

Indeed the Aeolic Greek Fοίνος (vinos) is the earliest recorded word for wine. Kassios 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Riesling & Petrol

Is this vandalism or is this true? —This unsigned comment was added by Hedymiguel (talk • contribs) 10:19, 25 March 2006.

It is a character seen in aged rieslings. See here. ◄§ĉҺɑʀκs► 00:29, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

"Petrol" character is a common problem, not only with riesling.--Symposiarch 10:21, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Wow. Thanks for the links. Good stuff. Hedymiguel 23:39, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

US bias

Considering that modern wine production and culture is predominately European, this article seems rather US-centric. Not necessarily a criticism but it seems a little odd. Ajkgordon 21:02, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Well... fix it. Gregmg 22:08, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

No. I'm not expert enough. However, considering that France is probably the leading wine nation and its standards and wines are the benchmark, (whatever the New World might say), it gets remarkably little coverage. Ajkgordon 17:44, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

If you were to point out a few specific shortcomings, perhaps that would spur someone else into action. What aspect of wine is absent or at least lacks proper coverage in the article? Gregmg 18:50, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

OK, fair point.

In the Production section ([8]), Its first comment is how much wine California produces as a proportion of US production. As only the 6th largest producer it would make more sense to talk about France's relative decline, the New World's successes/failures, or the increase in numbers of successful wine exporting countries.

The Medical Implications section ([9]) is totally US-centric. There is plenty of other research particularly from Europe. Again, I'm no expert. An expert would know the best sources.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. But it is obvious that the article is written if not exclusively then predominately by Americans for an American audience. As France has probably produced most of the standards, both in terms of quality and "administration", it might be good if we had someone with a French wine background or expertise to balance the article a little. Ajkgordon 17:14, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

This is a general article on wine that appears to do a good job in covering the large subject well. In addition, of the dozen and a half top wine producing countries, all have separate articles on their wine except for Romania, the Russian Federation, Hungary, Brazil and Austria. These are obvious holes that need filling.Cheese Lover 19:29, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

forget the Russian Federation, there is wine production in Georgia, Moldavia, Armenia, etc. but Russia stated a wine war or boycott. --Symposiarch 20:23, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Given your knowledge and interest, would you be willing to prepare a Georgia wine, Armenia wine or other article? Even a short beginning of an article would be very, very useful and appreciated.Cheese Lover 21:04, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

External links

The external links section is getting rather long, and several links don't appear to meet the criteria presented in the External links guide. I'll try to clean this up a bit over the next few days. What is and is not appropriate to include is always contentious; often because Wikipedia can drive a lot of traffic to obscure, privately run websites when a link is included in a high traffic article like this one. It can also be a matter of pride and prestige... bragging rights I guess, to have one's site linked to from within a Wikipedia article. Please take a moment to review the External links guide and some of the links in this article. It would be best if this were a group effort. Thanks, Gregmg 18:08, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

There seems to be a dispute brewing about bettertastingwine.com. An anymous user 68.175.112.70 insists on adding this link despite repeated removals by myself and others. While this link isn't inappropriate, it just doesn't add any value to the article and I suspect that the anonymous contributor who keeps adding this link is the proprietor of the site or has some other relationship with it. This user has also added a link to the Wine label article, but in that case, the link does appear to add value to the article and in my opinion is worth having. Gregmg 21:41, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

The user had not been warned about spamming. As he added his links again today, I've removed them and added a message to his talk page. --GraemeL ^(talk) 12:10, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

3.1 Wine Producing countries listing Wine Exporting countries.

If the title of this chapter is "Wine Producing countries", how come there is no information about wine production, but instead information about wine exporting countries?

I have fixed this by creating a true 'Wine Producing countries' chapter that takes the 10 top listed countries in the linked article, and moving the old content to a new section called "Wine Exporting Countries" since this is what the content is about. Kickin' Da Speaker 00:33, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

A user attempted to update the content of this chapter, but in italian, and without any source linked. Please list a source if you're going to replace the data, and only replace with more recent data.Kickin' Da Speaker 00:33, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

Most Northerly Winegrowing Area

The article states that the world's most northerly winegrowing area is in England. I have found Blaxsta Vingård in Flen, Sweden, at Lat: 59:03:24N, Lon: 16:35:22E, [10] is further north than Leventhorpe Vineyards outside of Leeds, W.Yorks, England, at Lat: 53:45:49N, Lon: 1:26:10W. [11] I couldn't find wine being made further north in Canada. If agreed, can this be changed? Alan Davidson 06:24, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Sure, go ahead. The information in question was only added recently. You seem to have found references to indicate the corrent information is incorrect, so make the change. --GraemeL ^(talk) 12:07, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Expansion request

The history section of the article is severely lacking. I've tried to add a little info and structure, but I'm not a wine scholar. Haikupoet 02:18, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Nutrition Facts

Are there any informations about how many calouries are in wine? -- 88.73.180.224 05:25, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Is American wine really wine?

Europeans accuse americans of using sacharine massively to produce wines in chemical factory like equipment and they think these drinks should not be called wine but some kind of a "McDrink", because this has nothing to do with several millenia old wine culture. Such manufacturing practices would be criminally prosecuted in Europe under wine-purity laws. None of these are addressed in the article. 195.70.32.136 07:41, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

My first thought was this anonymous user has been smoking crack since to the best of my knowledge no American winemaker has ever used Saccharin, the artificial sweetener, in wine. A search of Google confirmed that no one has ever even accused an American winemaker of doing this. I took a look at the Saccharin Wikipedia article, and that cleared up my confusion... apparently this term has a usage that predates the modern artificial sweetener and it simply means "sweet". I'm guessing that the anonymous contributor above is accusing American winemakers of adding sugar to their wines. Wine production laws vary from state to state, but generally, states like California that produce a lot of wine have fairly restrictive laws. For example, I believe (and I welcome being corrected if I'm wrong) that in California it illegal to add sugar to wine, even though in some countries (France) winemakers may add sugar in cold years when grapes don't develop the proper Brix. So, in a nutshell, the issue referred to above has not been covered in this article because it doesn't exist. Gregmg 14:24, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

May I ask two questions? First, do you have a citation for such accusations, and second, where are you from (just curious)? American wines are all over the map quality-wise, but the best of American wines are as good as the best of any other country. There are a few extremely down-market wines that have artificial flavoring (Franzia and Peter Vella come to mind) but they aren't really representative. Honestly, I think such accusations are wine snobbery and possibly thinly veiled anti-Americanism; in any case, it's not like the Europeans don't tweak their wines as well (where New World wines adjust acid levels, European wines sometimes add sugar), and I do believe the French have a problem with too much low-grade vin ordinaire that nobody wants to buy. Quite honestly, the growing environment is different, so the vinification techniques have to change to get good results. Haikupoet 06:13, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Japan and its wine

For the past several years, Japan has a wine importation and exportation company called Millesimes. To my knowledge, I have heard that they have been making a white wine made from the Japanese grape, Koshu. I am definite that Koshu is grown around the Mount Fuji area. Millesimes also has its own website...yet its in Japanese. The Website Possibly,Japan should be added for being a wine-making company? -MisterSocks 19:58, 19 September 2006 (GMT)

Many Corks

Corks

Deserve a mention. Dfrg.msc ^{1 . 2 . 3} 07:16, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Wine Names

Can someone please direct the links here to where they should go rather than disambiguation pages. I would, but I am not 100% sure which is the correct link. Examples include Central Coast and Walla Walla. Todd661 08:19, 17 October 2006 (UTC)