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Wine – Grape to Port

Wine is an alcoholic drink made from fermented grapes or other fruits. Grapes can be fermented without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, water, or other nutrients. Yeast consumes the sugars in the grapes and converts them into ethanol and carbon dioxide. Different types of grapes and strains of yeasts produce different types of wine. Wines made from rice, pomegranate, apple and elderberry are generically called fruit wine. The earliest-known production of wine is from fermenting grapes during the late Neolithic or early Chalcolithic in the Caucasus and the northern edge of the Middle East. The earliest chemically attested grape wine in the world was discovered at Hajji Firuz in the northwestern Zagros Mountains of Iran, ca. 5400 BC. In 2003 archaeologists reported a possibility that grapes were mixed with rice to produce mixed fermented drinks in China in the early seventh millennium BC. Pottery jars from the Neolithic site of Jiahu, Henan, contained traces of tartaric acid and other organic compounds commonly found in wine. Today, wine is enjoyed and produced all over the world.

The studies of wine and its health effects have focused on cardiovascular health, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, alcoholism, cirrhosis of the liver, and oral bacteria. Although excessive alcohol consumption has adverse health effects, epidemiological studies have consistently demonstrated that moderate consumption of alcohol and wine is statistically associated with a decrease in cardiovascular illness such as heart failure. Additional news reports on the French paradox also back the relationship. This paradox concerns the comparatively low incidence of coronary heart disease in France despite relatively high levels of saturated fat in the traditional French diet. Some epidemiologists suspect that this is due to higher wine consumption by the French, but the scientific evidence for this theory is limited. The next items are the wine from my Mini Liquor Bottle collection, I hope you have a chance to try some of the different types of wine and I’m sure you will find a favorite. Cheers!