Why are grapes used as the wine fruit? I've read it has something to do with the balance of sugar, tannin, acid, etc, but that doesn't really answer the question to well. Could anybody elaborate on this for me? Thanks.
Why grapes?
- Thread starter mccann51
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I think the main thing is simply that wine grapes are one of (if not the only) fruit that has a high enough sugar content to reach 10% to 16% ABV on it's own. I've never heard of another fruit that can come close to typical wine ABV, and ABV is a major aspect in both aging and how smashed you can get off of it.
The fact that the flavours make such an excellent beverage certainly helps, but there are other fruits that can do that as well (with the aid of added sugar).
The fact that the flavours make such an excellent beverage certainly helps, but there are other fruits that can do that as well (with the aid of added sugar).
Everything I've ever read supports what AToE said - they're one of the only widely growing fruits that contain enough sugar to make a wine that will have a decent shelf life, and they are uniquely well-balanced all on their own with respect to tannin and acidity.
Yes, other fruits work well with the addition of other sugars, but if you consider how long people have been making grape wines (a rather long time) and how long refined sugar has been easily obtainable (not long by comparison unless you count honey, but that is another supply issue
) it's not surprising that aside from ciders meant to be drunk quickly, most wine was grape, it just made the most sense.
Yes, other fruits work well with the addition of other sugars, but if you consider how long people have been making grape wines (a rather long time) and how long refined sugar has been easily obtainable (not long by comparison unless you count honey, but that is another supply issue
) it's not surprising that aside from ciders meant to be drunk quickly, most wine was grape, it just made the most sense.
So if one were to mash up enough berries to fill a gallon jug with the juice, the sugar content would be too low to reach 10%? Even 8% seems like it would keep for quite some time, or am I being too time-centric and not considering the sanitation levels of historical brewing?
The low sugar content seems to make a damn good argument for melomels then, haha.
The low sugar content seems to make a damn good argument for melomels then, haha.
I think apple juice is one of the sweeter non-grape juices and (correct me if I'm wrong, guys? brewbook's in the basement) the SG of apple juice or pressed cider ends up being around 1.050, not quite 7%, so it'd have to be drunk quicker, like beers.
My favourite winery, Sunnybrook Farms, uses pure fruit juice with enough sugar added to bring it up to 10-12%.
Historically I think it was all about preserving things so they could be enjoyed later, since there was no fridge/freezer available. Fruits ended up being dried or evaporated (through boiling or sun) down until there was enough sugar content to preserve them until they were needed to stave off disease in the winter months when fresh fruit/veggies were scarce, grapes were fermented so they wouldn't... well, ferment, meat was smoked so it wouldn't rot... they didn't really need to do anything to honey, since it is already pretty stable.
My favourite winery, Sunnybrook Farms, uses pure fruit juice with enough sugar added to bring it up to 10-12%.
Historically I think it was all about preserving things so they could be enjoyed later, since there was no fridge/freezer available. Fruits ended up being dried or evaporated (through boiling or sun) down until there was enough sugar content to preserve them until they were needed to stave off disease in the winter months when fresh fruit/veggies were scarce, grapes were fermented so they wouldn't... well, ferment
, meat was smoked so it wouldn't rot... they didn't really need to do anything to honey, since it is already pretty stable.
Remember, in olden times, grape juice was a common drink. Grapes also came with their own yeast supplies. I think grape wine was inevitable.
Like CG says above, apples are one of the highest sugar fruits and even they can only reach 7% (maybe once in a blue moon higher). Something like blueberries is significantly lower than that.
Shelf life is an issue, (we're talking beyond a couple years here) but I also think it might simply come from people wanting a higher ABV beverage back in the day. Both just for the sake of it (look at how many of the newbs here jump right into trying to make the highest ABV mead they can) and to get more drunk!
If we look at how much work goes into making the booze, having higher ABV also makes sense, if we're looking at "the efficiency of getting drunk", something like beer is the most work per unit of alcohol, much more than wine really, and then all the ciders and other fermented fruits also take a similar amount of work as wine does, but they don't "go as far" as wine does.
Maybe I'm overthinking that...
I really like the "food preservation" argument. Most of our food cultures stem from some need to preserve food past the harvest. Spicy foods developed around the equator since the spices are necessary preservatives in the high heat environments there (and also mask the taste of rotten/rancid food). Smoked, dried, and cured foods are common around the world. Even food laws like Kosher have aspects about food safety (lots of boiling, keeping meat utensils separate, etc) which don't make too much sense in strictly religious themes. Fermented foods are really common, from kimchee to sauerkraut, and preserving a really seasonal food like grapes by fermentation is a no-brainer. Making beer from grains is the same thing. Asking why grapes are "the" fruit for wine is kind of like asking why pork is used for so many cured meats: thousands of years of use has changed both the food and the people who eat the food.
If we decided today that kumquats were going to be our only source for fermented drink, in a thousand years they'd have higher sugar content and a balanced mix of tannins and acids perfectly suited for making kumquat wine. Then we'd be here asking the same questions! ;D
If we decided today that kumquats were going to be our only source for fermented drink, in a thousand years they'd have higher sugar content and a balanced mix of tannins and acids perfectly suited for making kumquat wine. Then we'd be here asking the same questions! ;D
Just one small point of contention - about spicy food. Yes it is good for preserving things, but my personal hypothesis about why spicy food is more common around the equator (really until more recently it wasn't anywhere else) is that that's where the spices grow!
I think if chili's had been native to England we'd all be eating spicy English food. ;D
Purely my own logic though, be warned! And of course, my comment had nothing at all to do with what you were saying, I must just like the sound of my own fingers clacking on the keyboard.
I think if chili's had been native to England we'd all be eating spicy English food. ;D
Purely my own logic though, be warned! And of course, my comment had nothing at all to do with what you were saying, I must just like the sound of my own fingers clacking on the keyboard.
Given, that is where the spices grow. I'd like to say it fits my argument though that folks around the equator would cultivate spicier and spicier chiles (to use your example) for more and more potent preservation potential. On the other hand, I could be wrong and maybe that's just how the peppers grow. My version makes me sound smart though. ;D
It's a combination of culture and ease of fermentation. There is a milenia old culture of wine grape/wine making, and there is the wine grape itself. The sugar content is so high that you can take a Brix or SG reading and asssume that the gravity points represent sugar, with little margin of error.
In cooler northern climates which don't support the growing of wine grapes, you're going to find a dominant brewing culture. Mead will also factor in.
Wine was still a part of the culture in these northern areas, but it would have been an import.
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In cooler northern climates which don't support the growing of wine grapes, you're going to find a dominant brewing culture. Mead will also factor in.
Wine was still a part of the culture in these northern areas, but it would have been an import.
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The alcohol content argument may also be why there are so many non-grapes fruit-based liquors. The added alcohol content of distillation would provide the additional preservative qualities needed for a stable beverage capable of aging.
If I were to wager a guess, though, I'd say that beverages fermented from all types of fruit, and even non-fruit sources, were likely much more common a couple hundred years ago. Modern commercial requirements of storing and shipping likely changed the types of alcoholic beverages consumed and produced. The Mexican drink Pulque is one that comes to mind:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulque#Pulque.27s_decline
If I were to wager a guess, though, I'd say that beverages fermented from all types of fruit, and even non-fruit sources, were likely much more common a couple hundred years ago. Modern commercial requirements of storing and shipping likely changed the types of alcoholic beverages consumed and produced. The Mexican drink Pulque is one that comes to mind:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulque#Pulque.27s_decline
Hmmm... There's got to be someone here who's fermented agave nectar...
What was that like?
