Wine and Winemaking: An Introduction

Wine has been prepared and consumed by man since antiquity and has a rich history dating back thousands of years. Wine is a completely or partially fermented juice of grapes, but fruits other than grapes like apple, plum, peach, pear, berries, strawberries, cherries, currants, apricots, banana, etc. have also been utilised in the production of wines. Wine production is both an art and a science besides being a blend of individual creativity and innovative technology. Plum wine is quite popular in many countries. In India, wine production is negligible but is gradually picking up now. Information on the production of various fruit wines is totally lacking except for the fact that cider was made and consumed widely. Wine is a non-distilled and fermented beverage produced by alcoholic fermentation of grapes or any other fruits. Dry white wines are a large group of wines intended to be consumed with meals and designed to have an acidic taste.