All about wine

HISTORY OF WINE

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The history of wine spans thousands of years and is closely intertwined with the history of agriculture, cuisine, civilization and man himself. Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest wine production came from sites in Georgia and Iran, dating from 6000 to 5000 BC. The archaeological evidence becomes clearer, and points to domestication of grapevine, in Early Bronze Age sites of the Near East, Sumer and Egypt from around the third millennium BC.

Evidence of the earliest European wine production has been uncovered at archaeological sites in Macedonia, dated to 6,500 years ago. These same sites also contain remnants of the world’s earliest evidence of crushed grapes In Egypt, wine became a part of recorded history, playing an important role in ancient ceremonial life. Traces of wine dating from the second and first millennium BC have also been found in China. Wine was common in classical Greece and Rome and many of the major wine producing regions of Western Europe today were established with Phoenician and later Roman plantations. Wine making technology improved considerably during the time of the Roman Empire; many grape varieties and cultivation techniques were known and barrels were developed for storing and shipping wine.

In medieval Europe, following the decline of Rome and therefore of widespread wine production, the Christian Church was a staunch supporter of the wine necessary for celebration of the Catholic Mass. In places such as Germany, beer was banned and considered pagan and barbaric, while wine consumption was viewed as civilized and a sign of conversion.Whereas wine was also forbidden in medieval Islamic cultures, Geber and other Muslim chemists pioneered the distillation of wine for medicinal purposes and its use in Christian libation was widely tolerated. Wine production gradually increased and its consumption became popularized from the 15th century onwards, surviving the devastating Phylloxera louse of the 1870s and eventually establishing growing regions throughout the world.

EARLY HISTORY

Wine residue has been identified by Patrick McGovern's team at the University Museum, Pennsylvania, in ancient pottery jars. Records include ceramic jars from the Neolithic sites at Shulaveri, of present-day Georgia (about 6000 BC), Hajji Firuz Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of present-day Iran (5400–5000 BC)and from Late Uruk (3500–3100 BC) occupation at the site of Uruk, in Mesopotamia. The identifications are based on the identification of tartaric acid and tartrate salts using a form of infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). These identifications are regarded with caution by some biochemists because of the risk of false positives, particularly where complex mixtures of organic materials, and degradation products, may be present. The identifications have not yet been replicated in other laboratories. Little is actually known of the prehistory of wine. It is plausible that early foragers and farmers made alcoholic beverages from wild fruits, including wild grapes (Vitis silvestris). This would have become easier following the development of pottery vessels in the later Neolithic of the Near East, about 9000 years ago. However, wild grapes are small and sour, and relatively rare at archaeological sites. It is unlikely they could have been the basis of a wine industry. Domesticated grapes were abundant in the Near East from the beginning of the Early Bronze Age, starting in 3200 BC. There is also increasingly abundant evidence for wine making in Sumer and Egypt in the third millennium BC. The ancient Chinese made wine from native wild "mountain grapes" like Vitis thunbergii for a time, until they imported domesticated grape seeds from Central Asia in the second century. Grapes were, of course, also an important food. There is scant evidence for earlier domestication of grape, in the form of grape pips from Chalcolithic Tell Shuna in Jordan, but this evidence remains unpublished. Exactly where wine was first made is still unclear. It could have been anywhere in the vast region, stretching from North Africa to Central/South Asia, where wild grapes grow. However, the first large-scale production of wine must have been in the region where grapes were first domesticated, Southern Caucasus and the Near East. Wild grapes grow in Georgia, northern Levant, coastal and southeastern Turkey, northern Iran or Armenia. None of these areas can, as yet, be definitively singled out, despite persistent suggestions that Georgia is the birthplace of wine.

In the year 1000 AD, Leif Ericsson the Lucky sailed from Norway across the North Atlantic Ocean and returned with stories about a new country he named "Vinland" because of the abundance of wild grapes found growing there. It is not know exactly where this was, but historians agree that "Vinland" was one of the Eastern maritime provinces of Canada. Cultivated varieties of grapes have been grown on a large scale in the Old World since the dawn of history. The art of grape growing was said in Greek legend to have been introduced by Dionysus; Bacchus was the god of wine. Throughout history, the grape has been a symbol in art and literature of revelry and joy. Wine grapes mostly grow between the 30th and the 50th degree of latitude, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Grapes will sometimes grow beyond this range and minor amounts of wine are made in some very unexpected places. The equitorial side of these zones produce wines characterized by warm climate viticulture; the areas near the poles produce cool climate wines. The unique flavor of each wine is the result of multivariate interactions between the geography, climate, cultivar, vineyard management and enology.

Of the many varieties of grapes for the winemaker, only the classification vitis vinifera matters. The genus vitis and the species vinifera are responsible for all the world's great wines. Of course, there are many sub genus that account for all the different kinds of grapes that are used to make wine. Of the many named varieties of wine grapes on earth, perhaps on about 40 have really recognizable flavor and character. Of these a dozen have moved into international circulation and the dozen can be narrowed again to those that have characteristics so definite that they form the basis of a whole international category of wine.

Grapes may be classified as red, blue and white - which are actually pale green in color. Each kind has its own particular character for wine making and as a table grape. Grapes, like fruit trees, require a stable climate in order to provide a dependable growing environment.

ANCIENT GREECE

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Much modern wine culture derives from the practices of the ancient Greeks. While the exact arrival of wine in Greek territory is unknown, it was certainly known to both the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Many of the grapes grown in modern Greece are grown there exclusively and are similar or identical to varieties grown in ancient times. Indeed, the popular modern Greek wine, retsina, is believed to be a carryover from when wine jugs were lined with tree resin, which imparted a distinct flavor to the wine. Evidence from archaeological sites in Greece, in the form of 6,500 year-old grape remnants, represents the earliest known appearance of wine production in Europe. Several ancient sources, such as the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, describe the ancient Greek method of using partly dehydrated gypsum before fermentation, and some type of lime after fermentation, to reduce acidity. The Greek writer Theophrastus provides the oldest known description of this aspect of Greek wine making. Dionysus, the Greek god of revelry and wine and frequently referred to in the works of Homer and Aesop, was sometimes given the epithet Acratophorus, by which he was designated as the giver of unmixed wine. In Homeric mythology wine is usually served in "mixing bowls" – it was not traditionally consumed in an undiluted state – and was referred to as "Juice of the Gods." Dinonysus was also known as Bacchus and the frenzy he induces, bakcheia. Greek wine was widely known and exported throughout the Mediterranean basin, as amphorae with Greek styling and art have been found throughout the area, and was most likely the origin of the first appearance of wine in ancient Egypt. The Greeks introduced the Vitis vinifera vine and made wine in their numerous colonies in modern-day Italy, Sicily, southern France, and Spain.

ANCIENT EGYPT

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In Egypt, wine played an important role in ancient ceremonial life. A thriving royal winemaking industry was established in the Nile Delta following the introduction of grape cultivation from the Levant to Egypt c. 3000 BC. The industry was most likely the result of trade between Egypt and Canaan during the Early Bronze Age, commencing from at least the Third Dynasty (2650–2575 BC), the beginning of the Old Kingdom period (2650–2152 BC). Winemaking scenes on tomb walls, and the offering lists that accompanied them, included wine that was definitely produced at the deltaic vineyards. By the end of the Old Kingdom, five wines, all probably produced in the Delta, constitute a canonical set of provisions, or fixed "menu," for the afterlife. Wine in ancient Egypt was predominantly red. A recent discovery, however, has revealed the first ever evidence of white wine in ancient Egypt. Residue from five clay amphorae from Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb yielded traces of white wine. Finds in nearby containers led the same study to establish that Shedeh, the most precious drink in ancient Egypt, was made from red grapes, not pomegranates as previously thought. Outside Egypt, much of the ancient Middle East preferred beer as a daily drink rather than wine, a taste likely inherited from the Sumerians. However, wine was well-known, especially near the Mediterranean coast, and figures prominently in the ritual life of the Jewish people going back to the earliest known records of the faith; the Tanakh mentions it prominently in many locations as both a boon and a curse, and wine drunkenness serves as a major theme in a number of Bible stories. Much superstition surrounded wine-drinking in early Egyptian times, largely due to its resemblance to blood. In Plutarch's Moralia he mentions that, prior to the reign of Psammetichus, the ancient Kings did not drink wine, "nor use it in libation as something dear to the gods, thinking it to be the blood of those who had once battled against the gods and from whom, when they had fallen and had become commingled with the earth, they believed vines to have sprung." This was considered to be the reason why drunkenness "drives men out of their senses and crazes them, inasmuch as they are then filled with the blood of their forbears."

ANCIENT ROME AND WINE

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A mosaic depicting the harvest in Pompeii, recovered from a bar that served the city prior to its destruction. The Roman Empire had an immense impact on the development of viticulture and oenology. Wine was an integral part of the Roman diet and wine making became a precise business. As the Roman Empire expanded, wine production in the provinces grew to the point where the provinces were competing with Roman wines. Virtually all of the major wine producing regions of Western Europe today were established by the Romans. Wine making technology improved considerably during the time of the Roman Empire. Many grape varieties and cultivation techniques were developed and barrels and bottles began to be used for storing and shipping wine and bottles. The Romans also created an early form of appellation system, as certain regions gained reputations for their fine wines. Wine, perhaps mixed with herbs and minerals, was assumed to serve medicinal purposes. During Roman times it was not uncommon to dissolve pearls in wine for better health. Cleopatra created her own legend by promising Marc Anthony she would "drink the value of a province" in one cup of wine, after which she drank an expensive pearl with a cup of wine. When the Roman Empire fell around 500 AD, Europe went into a period known as the Dark Ages. This was a period of invasions and social turmoil. The only stable social structure was the Catholic Church. Through the Church, grape growing and wine making technology was preserved during this period.

ANCIENT CHINA - CHINESE WINE AND WINE IN CHINA

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Following the Han Dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE) emissary Zhang Qian's exploration of the Western Regions in the 2nd century BCE and contact with Hellenistic kingdoms such as Fergana, Bactria, and the Indo-Greek Kingdom, high quality grapes were introduced into China and Chinese grape wine (called putao jiu in Chinese) was first produced. However, rice wine remained the most common wine in China, since grape wine was still considered exotic and reserved largely for the emperor's table during the Tang Dynasty (618–907), and was not popularly consumed by the literati gentry class until the Song Dynasty (960–1279).The fact that rice wine was more common than grape wine was noted even by the Venetian traveler Marco Polo when he ventured to China in the 1280s. As noted by Shen Kuo (1031–1095) in his Dream Pool Essays, an old phrase in China amongst the gentry class was having the company of the "nine guests" (jiuke), which was a figure of speech for drinking wine, playing the Chinese zither, playing Chinese chess, Zen Buddhist meditation, ink (calligraphy and painting), tea drinking, alchemy, chanting poetry, and conversation.

ISLAMIC MIDDLE EAST

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Wine was forbidden in the Islamic civilization, but after Geber and other Muslim chemists pioneered the distillation of wine it was used for other purposes, including cosmetic and medical uses.The 10th century Persian philosopher and scientist Al Biruni described a number of recipes where herbs, minerals and even gemstones are mixed with wine for medicinal purposes. Wine was so revered and its effect so feared that elaborate theories were developed which gemstone-cups would best counteract its negative side effects.

MEDIEVAL EUROPE - HISTORY OF BORDEAUX WINE

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In the Middle Ages, wine was the common drink of all social classes in the south, where grapes were cultivated. In the north, where little or no grapes were grown, mead,beer and ale were the common drink of both commoners and nobility, whereas vodka and related spirits predominated in much of the East. Wine was imported to the northern regions, but was expensive, and thus seldom consumed by the lower classes. Wine was necessary for the celebration of the Catholic Mass, and so assuring a supply was crucial. The Benedictine monks became one of the largest producers of wine in France and Germany, followed closely by the Cistercians. Other orders, such as the Carthusians, the Templars, and the Carmelites, are also notable both historically and in modern times as wine producers. The Benedictines owned vineyards in Champagne (Dom Perignon was a Benedictine monk), Burgundy, and Bordeaux in France and in the Rheingau and Franconia in Germany. In 1435 Count John IV. of Katzenelnbogen, a very rich member of the holy roman high nobility near Frankfurt, was the first to plant Riesling, the most important grape of Germany. Nearby the winemaking monks made it into an industry, producing enough wine to ship it all over Europe for secular use. In Portugal, a country with one of the oldest wine traditions, the first appellation system in the world was created.

A housewife of the merchant class or a servant in a noble household would have served wine at every meal, and had a selection of reds and whites alike. Home recipes for meads from this period are still in existence, along with recipes for spicing and masking flavors in wines, including the simple act of adding a small amount of honey to the wine. As wines were kept in barrels, they were not extensively aged, and therefore were drunk quite young. To offset the effects of heavy consumption of alcohol, wine was frequently watered down at a ratio of four or five parts water to one of wine.

One medieval application of wine was the use of snake-stones (banded Agate resembling the figural rings on a snake) dissolved in wine against snake bites, which shows an early understanding of the effects of alcohol on the central nervous system in such situations.

DEVELOPMENTS IN EUROPE

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GREAT FRENCH WINE BLIGHT
In the late 1800s the Phylloxera louse brought devastation to vines and wine production in Europe. It brought catastrophe for all those whose lives depended on wine. The repercussions were widespread, including the loss of many indigenous varieties. On the positive side, it led to the transformation of Europe's vineyards. Only the fittest survived. Bad vineyards were uprooted and better uses were found for the land. Some of France's best butter and cheese, for example, is now made from cows that graze on Charentais soil which was previously covered with vines. "Curvées" were also standardised. This was particularly important in creating certain wines as we know know them today — Champagne and Bordeaux finally achieved the grape mix which defines them today. In the Balkans where phylloxera did not hit, the local varieties survived but along with Ottoman occupation the transformation of vineyards has been slow. It is only now that local varieties are getting to be known beyond the "mass" wines like Retsina.

WINE IN THE NEW WORLD

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Grapes and wheat were first brought to what is now Latin America by the first Spanish conquistadores to provide the necessities of the Catholic Holy Eucharist. Planted at Spanish missions, one variety came to be known as the Mission grapes and is still planted today in small amounts. Succeeding waves of immigrants imported French, Italian and German grapes, although wine from grapes native to the Americas is also produced (though often deemed an acquired taste, since the flavors can be very different). Wine in the Americas is most closely associated with Argentina, California and Chile, all of which produce a wide variety of wines from inexpensive jug wines to high-quality varieties and proprietary blends. While most of the wine production in the Americas is based on Old World varieties, the wine growing regions of the Americas often have "adopted" grapes that are particularly closely identified with them, such as California's Zinfandel (from Croatia), Argentina's Malbec, and Chile's Carmenère (both from France).Until the latter half of the 20th century, American wine was generally looked upon as inferior to European product; it was not until the surprising American showing at the Paris Wine tasting of 1976 that New World wine began to gain respect in the lands of wine's origins.

OUTSIDE THE AMERICAS

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For wine purposes, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and other countries without a wine tradition are also considered New World. Until quite late in the 20th century, the product of these countries was not well known outside their small export markets (Australia exported largely to the United Kingdom, New Zealand kept most of its wine internally, South Africa was closed off to much of the world market because of apartheid). However, with the increase in mechanization and scientific winemaking, these countries became known for high quality wine. Fossil vines, 60-million-years-old, are the earliest scientific evidence of grapes. The earliest written account of viniculture is in the Old Testament of the Bible which tells us that Noah planted a vineyard and made wine. As cultivated fermentable crops, honey and grain are older than grapes, although neither mead nor beer has had anywhere near the social impact of wine over recorded time. Wine and history have greatly influenced one another.

MIDDLE-EASTERN ORIGINS

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An ancient Persian fable credits a lady of the court with the discovery of wine. This Princess, having lost favor with the King, attempted to poison herself by eating some table grapes that had spoiled in a jar. She became intoxicated and giddy and fell asleep. When she awoke, she found the stresses that had made her life intolerable had dispersed. Returning to the source of her relief, her subsequent conduct changed so remarkably that she regained the King's favor. Certainly wine, as a natural phase of grape spoilage, was "discovered" by accident and is not an invention of man. It is established that grape cultivation and wine drinking had started by about 4000 BC and possibly as early as 6000 BC. The first developments were around the Caspian Sea and in Mesopotamia, near present-day Iran. Texts from tombs in ancient Egypt prove that wine was in use there around 2700 to 2500 BC. Priests and royalty were using wine, while beer was drunk by the workers. The Egyptians developed the first arbors and pruning methods. Archeological excavations have uncovered many sites with sunken jars, so the effects of temperature on stored wine were probably known. The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology has a web site covering the Origins and Ancient History of Wine with several very interesting and user-friendly articles about the discovery and science of wine's social origin and development.

GRECO-ROMAN CONTRIBUTUONS

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Wine came to Europe with the spread of the Greek civilization around 1600 BC. Homer's Odyssey and Iliad both contain excellent and detailed descriptions of wine. Wine was an important article of Greek commerce and Greek doctors, including Hippocrates, were among the first to prescribe it. The Greeks also learned to add herbs and spices to mask spoilage. The foundation and strength of viniculture in Western Europe are primarily due, however, to the influence of the Romans. Starting about 1000 BC, the Romans made major contributions in classifying grape varieties and colors, observing and charting ripening characteristics, identifying diseases and recognizing soil-type preferences. They became skilled at pruning and increasing yields through irrigation and fertilization techniques.

WORLD'S OLDEST BOTTLE OF WINE

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Unearthed during excavation for building a house in a vineyard near the town of Speyer, Germany, it was inside one of two Roman stone sarcophaguses that were dug up. The bottle dates from approximately 325 A.D. and was found in 1867. The greenish-yellow glass amphora has handles formed in the shape of dolphins. One of several bottles discovered, it is the only one with the contents still preserved.The ancient liquid has much silty sediment. About two-thirds of the contents are a thicker, hazy mixture. This is most probably olive oil, which the Romans commonly used to "float" atop wine to preserve it from oxidation. Cork closures, although known to exist at the time, were quite uncommon. Their oil method of preservation was apparently effective enough to keep the wine from evaporation up to modern day. The bottle is on permanent display, along with other wine antiquities, at the Historisches Museum der Pfalz (History Museum of the Pfalz), which is worth a virtual visit or an actual one, if traveling near the area of Speyer, Germany. The Romans also developed wooden cooperage, a great advance for wine storage which had previously been done in skins or jars. They may also have been the first to use glass bottles, as glassblowing became more common during this era.

ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND RELIGION

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By the first century AD, wine was being exported from the Empire (Italy) to Spain, Germany, England and Gaul (France). It wasn't long before these regions began developing their own vineyards and the Roman Emperor forbid the import of French wines to eliminate their competition with the local wines. Over the next few centuries, France would become dominant on the world wine market. Monastic wineries were responsible for establishing vineyards in Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhine Valley. Sacramental usage preserved wine industry methods and traditions through the dark ages. By 1152, during the reign of Henry II, Britain had become the principal customer of Bordeaux. The end of the Hundred Years War in 1453 left the city of Calais as the only French territory still under British control and trade between England and France nearly cut off. So the English "discovered" and developed a great love of Port. Exploration, conquest and settlement brought wine to Mexico, Argentina and South Africa in the 1500s and 1600s. Although there were many attempts during this period to plant European wine vines along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America and in the Mississippi River basin valleys, none were successful. Each vineyard planted would die off within two or three seasons. No one apparently sought to determine why, even though little difficulty was encountered in Mexico or California vineyards. In the late 1800s, one answer to this mystery would ultimately prove fatal for nearly all the vineyards of Europe.

WINE MISSION FOR CALIFORNIA

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Hernando Cortez, as Governor of Mexico in 1525, ordered the planting of grapes. The success was such that the King of Spain forbid new plantings or vineyard replacements in Mexico after 1595, fearing his colony would become self-sufficient in wine. This edict was enforced for 150 years, effectively preventing a commercial wine industry from forming. As in Europe, however, vineyards survived under the auspices of the church and the care of the missions. In 1769, Franciscan missionary Father Junipero Serra planted the first California vineyard at Mission San Diego. Father Serra continued to establish eight more missions and vineyards until his death in 1784 and has been called the "Father of California Wine". The variety he planted, presumably descended from the original Mexican plantings, became known as the Mission grape and dominated California wine production until about 1880. California's first documented imported European wine vines were planted in Los Angeles in 1833 by Jean-Louis Vignes. In the 1850s and '60s, the colorful Agoston Harazsthy, a Hungarian soldier, merchant and promoter, made several trips to import cuttings from 165 of the greatest European vineyards to California. Some of this endeavor was at his personal expense and some through grants from the state. Overall, he introduced about 300 different grape varieties, although some were lost prior to testing, due to difficulties in preserving and handling. Considered the Founder of the California Wine Industry, Harazsthy contributed his enthusiasm and optimism for the future of wine, along with considerable personal effort and risk. He founded Buena Vista winery and promoted vine planting over much of Northern California. He dug extensive caves for cellaring, promoted hillside planting, fostered the idea of non-irrigated vineyards and suggested Redwood for casks when oak supplies ran low.

BLINDED WINE WITH SCIENCE

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For centuries wine was produced and enjoyed with little thought for and no true understanding of its underlying science, wine evolved through "spontaneous generation," as far as anyone knew. French chemist Louis Pasteur, among many discoveries relating to his germ theory of diseases, first proposed and proved, in 1857, that wine is made by microscopic organisms, yeasts. This led to the discovery and development of different yeast types and properties and ultimately to better hygiene, less spoilage, and greater efficiency in wine production. In 1860, Dr. Jules Guyot published the first of three treatises describing regional traditional vinicultural and viticultural practices as well as his own observations and arguments on the economy of grape growing. Before these documents, viniculture was a practice that had been apprenticed from generation to generation for over 5000 years, without written records or formal instruction.

YANKEE VINE-KILLER BUG

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In 1863, species of native American grapes were taken to Botanical Gardens in England. These cuttings carried a species of root louse called phylloxera vastatrix which attacks and feeds on the vine roots and leaves. Phylloxera is indigenous to the Mississippi River Valley and was unknown outside North America at the time. Powdery mildew, a fungal disease, also indigenous to North America, had previously migrated to Europe and caused problems in some areas. No one, however, had any idea of the wide-reaching destructive potential of Phylloxera. Native American varieties developed resistance to phylloxera by evolving a thick and tough root bark, so that they were relatively immune to damage. The vinifera vines had no such evolutionary protection and phylloxera ate away at their roots, causing them to rot and the plant to die and driving the pests to seek other nearby live hosts, spreading inexorably through entire vineyards and on to others. By 1865, phylloxera had spread to vines in Provence. Over the next 20 years, it inhabited and decimated nearly all the vineyards of Europe. Many methods were attempted to eradicate phylloxera: flooding, where possible, and injecting the soil with carbon bisulfide, had some success in checking the louse, but were costly and the pests came back as soon as the treatments stopped. Finally Thomas Munson, a horticulturist from Dennison, Texas, realized that native American vines were resistant and suggested grafting the vinifera vines onto riparia hybrid rootsocks. So, there began a long, laborious process of grafting every wine vine in Europe over to American rootstocks. It was only in this manner that the European wine industry could be retrieved from extinction. Downy mildew, another fungal disease in American grapevines, unfortunately probably migrated to Europe on some of the rootstocks imported for grafting. One tragic consequence of the Phylloxera devastation is that many of the native species indigenous to Europe, since they were of negligible commercial value, were not perpetuated by grafting and became extinct. There was some debate generated by this replanting that the quality declined in "post-phylloxera" wines. Whether this was indeed the case and whether this was due to the rootstocks themselves or to the relatively sudden and nearly universal youth of the vines, or to changes in vinification techniques, or to some other concurrent factor or variable, is unknown. Undoubtedly, it will remain a matter of theory and opinion and provide animated conversation at wine tastings, but ultimately never be proven. The blight resulted in shortages of wine for many years, so that fraud and adulteration became problems, eventually leading French wine growers to the form the system of Appellation Controlée, which has become the model for all wine producing countries to both protect wine trade reputations and authenticate products for consumers. Northern California wine harvest, c. 1900. Around the turn of the century, the quality of American wines had reached excellence by international standards, as testified to by the three dozen medals won by them at the 1900 Paris Exposition. During the period when the Europeans were contending with phylloxera, the American wine industry was ironically flourishing. By 1900, America had a fully developed and proud commercial wine producing business. Leading brands from California, New York, Ohio, Missouri and New Jersey were appearing on many of the best restaurant wine lists alongside French, German and Italian listings. Barrels of California wine were being regularly exported to Australia, Canada, Central America, England, Germany, Mexico and the Orient.

VINE KILLER POLITICS

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The destruction of the American wine industry would come not from an entomological pest, but from a political one. While it took a hundred years instead of 20 to complete its course, the results were even more devastating. It didn't spread from vineyard to vineyard, but from town to county to state to the entire nation. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism and their related problems were much more widespread and affected a radically larger share of America's population in the early and mid-1800s than they do at present day. Excessive use, rather than moderate use, was the norm in an era of fewer entertainments and diversions. The first Prohibition law went on the books in Indiana in 1816, forbidding the sale of any alcohol on Sunday (still enforced to this day). By the 1840s, towns and counties in Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York and Ohio had gone legally "dry". In 1851, Maine enacted the first statewide law prohibiting the manufacture and sale of liquor and, by 1855, thirteen of the thirty-one United States had followed suit. The Industrial Revolution led from local to large-scale brewing and mass marketing, with intense competition. A proliferation of saloons drove owners to seek side profits by pursuing illegal and unsavory vices such as gambling and prostitution. As another beverage containing alcohol, wine began to suffer the successful excesses of beer. In 1880, Kansas became the first entirely "dry" state, followed by Iowa, Georgia, Oklahoma, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia. Although the laws allowed winemaking to continue for sale elsewhere, few wineries in these states could compete without selling their wines locally. Most closed their doors and abandoned their vineyards. The Drys went so far as to have any mention of wine expunged from school and college texts, including Greek and Roman classic literature. Medicinal wines were dropped from the United States Pharmacopoeia. They even tried to prove that praises for wine in the Bible were actually referring to unfermented grape juice. Thirty-three states had gone dry at the outbreak of World War I. While the Doughboys were fighting in Europe, Wartime Prohibition was enacted in 1919. Over President Wilson's veto, Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, known as the Volstead National Prohibition Act, named after Minnesota Republican Andrew Volstead, teetotaller and primary proponent. After midnight on January 16, 1920, the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors," as well as the exporting or importing of same was forbidden and became a Federal crime. Through a provision that made penalites not applicable1 to "a person manufacturing noninoxicating cider and fruit juice exclusively for use in his home," thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens became home winemaking hobbyists and quasi-bootleggers. This poorly-constructed clause eliminated consequence without strictly legalizing either home brewing or winemaking, yet the obvious difficulty of intepreting and applying its intent led to new pasttimes for many households. Explosive demand for fresh grapes and a shortage of refrigerated railroad cars in which to ship them caused prices to skyrocket. Growers began replanting their vineyards from fine wine varieties over to table or juice grape varieties that shipped better. Planted acreage nearly doubled from 1919 to 1926. Vineyard land prices climbed from $200 an acre in 1918 to $2,500 an acre in 1923. Prosperity for the growers lasted barely five years. In 1925, the railroads finally had enough cars, too much fruit was shipped and it rotted on the Eastern docks. In 1926, vineyard land fell back to $250 per acre. The massive plantings produced a constant surplus of California grapes that persisted until 1971. By the time of National Repeal, effective December 5, 1933, the industry was in ruins. Although some wineries managed to survive by obtaining permits to make wines used for medicinal, sacramental and non-beverage additive purposes, production dropped 94% from 1919 to 1925.

STUDY COLOR AND CLARITY OF WINE

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Most people, when they think about wine tasting, imagine people sipping, swilling and spitting their wine though it is a lot more than that. First off, you need to understand the need to study your wine which may involve picking the glass in as elegant a manner as you possibly can and choosing to do so in one of two methods. If the wine is chilled, then you need to hold the glass by its stem and remember not to touch the bowl at all. Wines that are not chilled and which can be served at room temperature will require picking the glass by its bowl and holding it while cupped in the palm of your hand with the stem being held between your two middle fingers. Next, you need to remember when indulging in wine tasting, to hold the glass at a bit of an angle and that too with something white in the background and then keeping the glass at a distance most suitable such as at an arm’s length.

Study Color And Clarity Of Wine:
Having got the mechanics of holding the wine glass right, your next step in wine tasting is to study the color of the wine as well as its clarity, and though you may be conversant with wines that are only red, white and pink in color, be sure to know that there are many different colors as well that will include colors such as green, gold, yellow, purple and in some instances, even black. And, from the clarity of the wine, you can be sure of what the age of the wine is - with young wines being more see-through types while cloudiness will indicate that something is amiss with the wine. No doubt, studying the color and clarity of the wine may not have much bearing in how your wine is going to taste, though for a wine tasting connoisseur there is as much joy in holding the wine as there is in tasting it. Another important aspect to wine tasting is the bouquet, which is not a bunch of flowers, but as any wine tasting expert will inform you, is the way that the wine smells. Thus, you will need to properly hold the wine glass and lower your hand so that the glass is level and then you need to make a rotation of your wrist in order to gently swirl the wine within the wine bowl, though remember that to get the best out of swilling the wine, very little wrist movement is necessary. Swilling the wine brings its aroma to the fore which can then be savored as well as smelled which you can do by bringing the wine glass at the level of your nose and do so in an elegant manner. Now, you are ready for the real wine tasting activity which essentially requires that you do not guzzle the wine; rather, you need to take dainty sips and it requires bringing the glass to your lips which should part slightly and a small sip is taken. Next, you should close your mouth and roll the wine gently about your tongue for a couple of seconds and then let the wine slide down your throat while making sure that you do not exhale at this time. That, all there is to wine tasting in a basic form so to speak.

RED WINE BENEFITS - IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH!

2008-05-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Red wine is general good for you, but it is important to know the specifics of these benefits because you can then employ them to serve your body better. Over 600 million gallons of red wine is consumed in US and the numbers keep growing. The presence of flavanoids called Resveratrol in red wine is responsible for the health benefits.
There are many benefits of red wine. It has been shown to help prevent heart disease, when drunk in moderation. In fact, studies have actually shown that one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men reduces the risk of heart attack for people in middle age by 30-50 percent, which is a quite impressive. There are also many other red wine benefits, such as the fact that it has been proven to help lower bad cholesterol in the body. Lower cholesterol level reduces the risk of blood clots forming and blood vessel damage being caused as a result of fat deposits. Red wine also contains anti-aging property which helps to keep your arteries healthy and aids in boosting the immune system. Some people even claim that red wine can play a role in preventing cancer. The Bordeaux region of France produces Cabernets and also some fine Merlots. California is known for quality Cabernets, Merlots, and Zinfandels which are grown in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Oregon and Washington are also making their mark with wonderful Pinots and Merlots. Only drink red wine in moderation, because drinking too much just because you have heard that it is good for you can be bad for your body. By drinking too much wine you are going to be putting yourself at more danger than before for conditions like obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol, stroke, cardiac arrhythmia. Plenty of research and studies have shown us that the red wine benefits are plentiful, but it is also important to realize that you have to maintain an otherwise healthy lifestyle at the same time. To get the benefits of something such as wine, then you should also be consuming a healthy, well-balanced diet, drinking plenty of water and getting lots of regular exercise.

When your body is in generally healthy shape overall, then and only then will it really be able to prosper from the red wine benefits that are so touted today. Now that you know the benefits of drinking red wines, quickly run to the nearby wine shop or better yet shop the fine wine shops online. To serve red wine, let it get to about 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Open it at least 30 minutes before serving to let it “breathe”. This will help to release pent up gasses and add flavor to the wine. While waiting for the wine to breathe get that favorite dish you like prepared, take off your shoes, sit down and relax and enjoy your meal. While you sip your favorite red wine imagine all the benefits and then thank your lucky stars.

CHAMPAGNE-GOOD TIMES

2008-05-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Champagne has always been a way to celebrate achievements or toast the bride and groom on their marriage. Champagne is considered to be a mellow beverage. Champagne can be served with a meal or with dessert. For many years, this exotic drink has been used as a way of celebration or to enjoy the good times that lie ahead. You probably want to know if champagne is a wine or a category all on its own.
Champagne is a form of wine, and it is made with wine grapes. The most commonly used wine grapes are Pinot Noir, Pinot Muenier, Chardonay and sometimes a combination of other wine grapes. Noir and Meunier are black grapes, while the well known Chardonnay is a type of white grape. The label on the bottle will indicate what type of Champagne you are buying, so you’ll know what flavor to expect. What sets champagne apart from its contemporary still wines is the second fermentation process that it undergoes to get the bubbles. If it was not made in the Champagne region of France, then no matter how close in taste you get to a real champagne, it will still be considered a sparkling wine. Most people prefer Champagne because of the bubbles that are known to spew forth once a bottle has been uncorked. The bubbles that erupt from this wine are the result of tiny drops of liquid that are disturbed by the carbonic acid gas. This is a normal reaction of the double fermentation process. Extra Brut is the driest champagne, and Demi-sec is the sweetest. The next time you have a ceremony and need something to make the celebration a bit more interesting, you should grab a bottle of Champagne. Few things praise a celebration like the bursting bubbles of a fine bottle. Below are some premium champagnes that are considered to be the very best amongst the entire lot. These, I have to say, is worth every penny and for the most part are used traditionally for celebrations. Piper Heidsieck, Moet & Chandon, Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Laurent Perrier, Bollinger, Krug, Cristal, Korbel

RED AND WHITE THE DIFFERENCE!

2008-05-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

Most people have tried various red wines and white wines and they still have no idea what differentiates both. If you have no clue, then this article will give you the factors to look for; apart from the color which is obvious. Red and white wines can either be dry or sweet or anywhere in between. The red wine is more robust, more complex than white wines. White wines are generally lighter without the complexity of reds. Though the grapes used do matter, but the main difference is in the fermentation process. Red wines are mostly made from red and black grapes, and white wines from green grapes. Sometimes red, black and black grapes are combined. During the fermentation process for white wine, the stems, seeds and grape skin are gently removed from the grape juice after it has been squeezed from the pressing machine. On the other hand, during fermentation process for red wines the grape stems,seeds and grape skins are left in the squeezed juice. By leaving the stems,seeds and grape skins in the juice it produces tannins and pigments and are the ingredients that is also responsible for the complexity of red wines. Tannins are compounds that are present in grapes and other plants. When you partake in drinking a very strong cup of tea, the bitter, sharp taste is caused by these tannins. These tannins act to prevent oxidation of the wine during the aging process. This prevention is very important in red wines, since they’re usually aged and matured for much longer period of time than white. Because it is aged longer the tannins provide another layer of flavor, therefore increasing the complexity of the wine and also making it more robust. The bite of the tannins will diminish and be mellow as the wine ages. Both red and white wine can make an excellent addition to your delicious meal, depending on what brand and flavor you chose. The rules for picking the type of wine to match your meal is not edged in stone, but the differences in wine do provide some guidelines. I will pick red wines to go with my strong flavored meals, because it is more complex and robust in taste. White wines on the other hand I will pick for my less flavored meals. Some people prefer red for meat dishes and white for fish and chicken dishes. The most important factor in choosing a wine for a meal is your own taste. Do you like it dry, light, sweet or slightly in between? Regardless of what wine you chose for your meal, just sit down and relax and pour yourself a glass as you slowly enjoy your meal.

CHOOSING A WINE GIFT!

2008-05-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

For a wine admirer, a wine gift will most often be so very welcome. Choosing a wine gift can be so easy today, since there is such a variety available. Not just the wine, but also the accessories. The pack of accessories for wine today is quite overwhelming. We demand more choices these days. Their fore someone is always coming up with a new design so there will always be something new to add to a wine gift for the wine lovers you know. You can find wine gifts depicting your favorite basketball team. If your sporting passion is golf, fishing, bowling, you name it there will almost surely be a wine gift to match. We also have wine racks, wine bottle holders, wine chillers, wine buckets. Don’t forget decanters, corkscrews, wine glasses, the list is quite long. From that list you can choose gift each one. If you should visit wineries in your area, some cellar doors turn out to have extraordinary bottles of wine and the best part is you can get the real history of the wine you are giving. Your good friend will really appreciate knowing the history of the wine gift you have given them. If your choice for a wine gift is a couple of bottles of fine wines, then consider including a subscription to a wine magazine delivered to your friend’s home each month. You could also make up a gift voucher on your computer to include with the gift. Some wine companies will add a name, birthday or whatever else you want to say to the label. You can also have your message engraved on the bottle. Let’s not forget the wine gift basket. The basket can be almost anything your imagination can think of like a timber box, tool carry-all, storage box, small wine rack one of the table varieties, etc. In your wine gift try to be unique by including things like a pair of wine glasses to suit the wine you have selected, a wine corkscrew, wine charms, glass etched coasters. For finishing touches you can also add some crackers and cheeses, caviar, dark chocolates or anything else you feel would be appropriate. Another great wine gift is a wine chiller. Some are portable or stationary depending on the size.Lastly, look online and you will find wine makers that can make a private label wine for you. You can definitely name it what you like. Online stores also have all the above mentioned accessories. Uniqueness is the essence of a gift, so use your creative imagination to come up with that design will gladden the recipient. The suggestions given above are not edged in stone. You can mix and match or come up with that special touch that only you can imagine. Always keep a thought of the receiver in your mind’s eye as you ponder the gift design. Uniqueness is the essence of a gift, so use your creative imagination to come up with that design will gladden the recipient.

PROPERCARE AND STORAGE OF WINE

2008-05-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

The consumption and collection of wine has been growing over the last few years. While more and more money has been going into wine as investment or for future consumption, questions about the wine’s history are asked. So the question often arises when it comes time to understand the provenance of a wine: How has this wine been stored? This question is important, as it can mean the difference between euphoria and depression in the wine drinker. The glory of opening a beautiful bottle of perfectly stored wine, or the agony and letdown of opening poorly stored wine. That poorly stored wine that upon opening is nothing more than vinegar. So what are the issues of how to properly store wine? The issues are: Temperature, humidity, lighting, cleanliness of the storage unit or facility, vibration, and the angle of the bottle in storage. Temperature is relatively simple. The ideal temperature is between 50 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The lower the temperature, the more the aging process can be retarded in the wine. Fluctuations in temperature, as long as they are not drastic, are ok, though not completely ideal. One does not have to worry that because the wine was stored at 63 degrees versus 56 degrees does not affect the provenance of the wine. As long as the fluctuations in temperature occur slowly, it is fine. However, the higher the temperature is in the storage facility, the wine can age more quickly. The recommended humidity of a wine storage facility is 70 percent, though it is fine to be 10-15% above or below that level. Humidity of the cellar is important to the wine for a couple of reasons: the cork and the labels. If there is too much humidity (over 80% for example) the labels are susceptible to rot and mold, which can affect the value of the wine. If it is too dry (below 50%), the corks can dry out, which can cause the cork to shrink, increasing the likelihood of air coming in contact with the wine, which would begin an oxidation process, and ruin the wine. Making sure that the wine is stored at a horizontal angle is important, as the cork will not dry out if the wine is in contact with the cork. Otherwise, the cork drying out can cause air to come into contact with the wine prematurely. Light can have an affect on the wine as well. Light will prematurely age a wine, cause it to be ruined. Florescent lighting can cause the most damage, and too much light can “turn” the wine. Vibration can be another issue. The sediment in the wine can be affected, and can cause damage to the wine. So keeping the wine in a “vibration-free” environment is very important. Often times, the term “bottle shock” is used for wines that have been excessively jostled during the shipping process. Even in drinking a wine that has been shipped or brought from the store is often well served by waiting a few days to weeks before opening, allowing the sediment in the wine to “settle down”. Another factor to point to is how clean where the wine is being stored. Poorly ventilated, dirty, grimy facilities can have very negative affects. The label can get very dirty and will negatively affect the resale value of the wine, and poor ventilation can affect the taste of the wine, giving a musty component that is certainly a negative attribute! All in all, the storage and care of wine is very important to the investment quality of the wine, as well as the potential enjoyment to the drinker down the road. There may be little else as disappointing in the wine world as opening a poorly stored wine that has turned to vinegar. However, when storage conditions have been appropriately kept, and the wine has been well cared for, the aging process happens the right way, and the beauty of that wine can be savored as it was intended to be when it was acquired in the first place

Tip 1: Smell ? This step is critical in tasting wine as our sense of taste is good, however our sense of smell is much better, in fact on average a person can smell over 2000 various scents! What we smell also affects what we taste so it is important to take the time to smell the wine before you taste. You will begin to notice many different scents that may be hard to differentiate at first.

Tip 2: The ‘length’ of a wine is the amount of time the sensations of taste and aroma persist after swallowing. Usually, the longer the better.

WINE AND HEALTH.... BENEFITS ARE WITH CAUTIONS...

2008-03-03T23:01:00.000-08:00

The medical profession has recognized the healthful and nutritive properties of wine for thousands of years. Hippocrates recommended specific wines to purge fever, disinfect and dress wounds, as diuretics, or for nutritional supplements, around 450 B.C. A French doctor wrote the earliest known printed book about wine around 1410 A.D. Wine as Rx illustration.Most of the pathogens that threaten humans are inhibited or killed off by the acids and alcohols in wine. Because of this, wine was considered to be a safer drink than much of the available water up until the 18th century. Wine is a mild natural tranquilizer, serving to reduce anxiety and tension. As part of a normal diet, wine provides the body with energy, with substances that aid digestion, and with small amounts of minerals and vitamins. It can also stimulate the appetite. In addition, wine serves to restore nutritional balance, relieve tension, sedate and act as a mild euphoric agent to the convalescent and especially the aged.

FRENCH PARADOX
Only when the television news magazine "60 Minutes" reported in November, 1991, the phenomenon that has come to be known as the French Paradox did popular thinking of wine as medicine rather than toxin begin to return. Typically, the diet of people in Southern France includes a very high proportion of cheese, butter, eggs, organ meats, and other fatty and cholesterol-laden foods. This diet would seem to promote heart disease, but the rate there was discovered to be much lower than in America; herein lies the paradox.

REGULARITY & MODERATION
Regular moderate wine drinking was discovered to be one prominent factor. Studies in England and Denmark found the occurrence of coronary disease to be much higher in heavy or binge drinkers and (surprise!) even higher in abstainers. It is very important to note that Europeans generally drink wine and water with their meals, while Americans drink milk, iced tea, soft drinks, or coffee.

ANTI-CANCER & CORONARY BENEFITS
Moderate consumption of red wine on a regular basis may be a preventative against coronary disease and some forms of cancer. The chemical components thought to be responsible are catechins, also known as flavanoids and related to tannins . Catechins are believed to function as anti-oxidants, preventing molecules known as "free-radicals" from doing cellular damage. One particular form of flavinoid, called oligomeric procyanidin, recently proved to prevent hardening of the arteries. There are also compounds in grapes and wine (especially red wine, grape juice, dark beers and tea, but absent in white wine, light beers and spirits) called resveratrol and quercetin. Clinical and statistical evidence and laboratory studies have shown these may boost the immune system, block cancer formation, and possibly protect against heart disease and even prolong life. One recent study, published in the 2004 year-end edition of the American Journal of Physiology, indicates that resveratrol also inhibits formation of a protein that produces a condition called cardio fibrosis, which reduces the heart's pumping efficiency when it is needed most, at times of stress. More evidence suggests that wine dilates the small blood vessels and helps to prevent angina and clotting. The alcohol in wine additionally helps balance cholesterol towards the good type. Research is ongoing and it is a mistake for anyone to radically change their consumption pattern based on preliminary data. A study of obese mice showed that doses of resveratrol prolonged their lifespans, but for a human to duplicate this prescription using wine, he would to drink over 250 gallons per day!

FOUNTAIN of YOUTH?
A Harvard study of factors that influence aging, as reported in the May 8, 2003, issue of the journal Nature, has shown that resveratrol extends the life span of yeast cells by 80%. Preliminary results of tests on multi cellular animals are said to be encouraging; study co-author David Sinclair told Reuters News Agency that "Not many people know about it yet, but those who do have almost invariably changed their drinking habits, that is, they drink more red wine." Wine might even preserve cognitive function in the elderly. Several European studies have shown the prophylactic effects of regular light to moderate alcohol consumption may include the prevention or postponement of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other forms of dementia. Could wine be the original brain food?

DIGESTIVE PROPHYLAXIS
A study published in January, 2003, in the American Journal of Gastroenterology showed that moderate, regular consumption of wine or beer decreases the risk of peptic ulcers and may help to rid the body of the bacteria suspected of causing them. Interestingly, both over-consumption, especially of beer, and any regular consumption of spirits at all, even at a low level, seemed to increase the ulcer risks. The Harvard School of Public Health conducted a 14-year study of over 100,000 women, aged 25 to 42, from 14 states. The Nurses Health Study required participants to complete a questionnaire every two years, detailing lifestyle choices and diagnoses of any medical conditions. The subjects were categorized into three levels of alcohol consumption. After factoring in such variables as family histories of diabetes and smoking habits, the study found that women who drank regularly and moderately (one or two drinks per day, a total of 15 to 30 grams of alcohol) had a 58% lower likelihood of developing diabetes. Both those levels that drank more or that drank less had a 20% lower risk than either abstainers or former drinkers. When preferences for types of alcohol were compared, those who chose beer and wine shared similar levels of risk, but those in who drank spirits and consumed more than 30 grams per day had a 150% higher risk to develop diabetes than even non-drinkers. Other medical studies point to multiple benefits of regular moderate wine drinking that may include lowered risks of stroke, colorectal tumors, skin and other types of cancers, senile dementia, and even the common cold, as well as reduce the effects of scarring from radiation treatments.

NUTRITION
The nutritional content of wine is minimal. There is no fat, cholesterol, or dietary fiber in any wine. On the other hand, only with overindulgence would anyone reach their Minimum Daily Requirement for calories, carbohydrates, sodium, protein, vitamins or minerals, all of which all wines contain to some mostly insignificant degree. The specific content varies between types, depending upon color, alcoholic strength and residual sugar.

OFFICIALLY
The official recommendation in the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Fourth Edition, published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is "Advice for today: if you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation, with meals, and when consumption does not put you or others at risk." This is a rather weak and passive permission, rather than the ringing endorsement moderate wine consumption deserves, according to the vast majority of medical and scientific evidence. It is, however, a progressive leap from the 1990 Guidelines, which said, "wine has no net health benefit", which is the contemporary scientific equivalent of saying "the earth is flat".

CAUTIONS
On the other hand, wine is not a cure-all and not everyone should drink wine. There are also circumstances when no one should drink any alcohol. When combined with certain over-the-counter or prescription drugs, for example, alcohol in any form can produce an adverse reaction. Wine should not be given to people with inflammations of the digestive tract, peptic ulcers, liver disease, pancreatitis, kidney or urinary infections, prostate disorders, epilepsy, or alcoholism. As previously mentioned, pre-menopausal women with a family history of breast cancer should abstain from drinking any alcohol, including wine.
Sulfites exist in nature and are also naturally contained in or even added to preserve a very long list of many common foods, including wine, cheese, yogurt and other processed dairy, bread and baked goods, tortillas, dried fruits, dried spices, shellfish, dried seafood, canned, bottled, or frozen fruits and juices, jams and jellies, tofu and other soy protein products, packaged pasta or rice mixes, etc.. The human body actually produces about 1 gram of sulfites daily through normal metabolism. About 1% of the general population and about 5% of asthma sufferers may react to sulfites. Symptoms commonly include restricted breathing ability to varying degrees from mild to severe, even life-threatening, especially in asthmatics prescribed to steroids. Skin rashes, hives, itching and nausea are relatively rare symptoms for sulfite allergy. Reactions depend on both the sensitivity of the individual and the level of sulfites ingested. Headaches are not a symptom of sulfite reaction, although this is a common folk tale. Foods may legally contain sulfites at levels ranging from 6 to 6,000 parts per million. The legal maximum for wine is 350 ppm, but the average content in premium wine is under 40 ppm. White wines are generally higher in sulfites than red wines. Inexpensive wines generally have higher sulfur content than expensive wines. There are no wines that are entirely sulfite-free, even those labeled "organic".The best advice is to waste no time thinking about sulfites, unless your personal physician has warned you against them.
Headaches, affecting some people during or after consuming wine, may result from individual reactions to one or more of wines' natural compounds. Although clinical trials have produced inconsistent results, red wine is suspected by some sufferers to trigger migraine headaches. Some clinical evidence had shown that phenolic flavanoids (the same ones that provide anti-oxidant benefits), a component in grape skins related to tannins, to be the most probable culprits. Red wine has a much higher content than white wine of both tannins and flavanoids. In September, 2006, UC Davis Professor David Mills announced his research in the field of genetic mapping indicates that slightly modified amino acids in red wine are responsible for the headaches. Professor Mills says slight changes in fermentation techniques will be able to solve the problem. Chemicals called amines either dilate (histamines) or constrict (tyramines) blood vessels in the brain, either of which may cause headaches in a small segment of the population. Aged and fermented foods such as cheese, sauerkraut, salami, and sourdough bread are high in histamines. Although both red and white wines contain histamines, reds generally have higher content, especially low-acid reds made from grapes grown in warmer areas. Chocolate, vanilla, beans, nuts, bananas, cultured products like cheese and yogurt and fermented products, especially dark beer, soy sauce and red wine are all significant sources of tyramines. Taking antihistamine drugs, either before or after consuming, won't prevent or cure headaches. The use of either aspirin or acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) either before of after alcohol consumption can seriously damage the lining of the stomach and should be avoided. The combination of acetaminophen and ethanol causes liver damage, so the former should never be used to treat hangover symptoms. The only way to prevent a hangover is to avoid consuming too much alcohol. One good habit to develop is to match every glass of wine or drink with one full glass of water. Alcohol depletes electrolytes from the body and brain, so "sports" drinks can help also. The worst possible hangover "cure" is "hair of the dog", since hangover is merely the winky-winky, socially-tolerant slang term to describe episodic alcoholism withdrawal.
Overindulgence is potentially the worst health problem of consuming wine or any alcoholic beverage. Drinking too much ethanol at one time will cause headaches, nausea, and other symptoms for anyone, regardless of individual tolerance to other compounds in wine. Drinking too much or too fast leads to loss of control and judgment. A couple of glasses of wine may help relaxation and lower blood pressure, but four or more raises blood pressure to a level of concern. Alcohol enters the bloodstream while it passes from the stomach to the small intestine and continues to the liver which uses an enzyme called dehydrogenase to break down and eliminate alcohol from the body. Evidence suggests factors of body size, muscle mass, food intake, gender, and experience affect one's capacity to resist drunkenness to some degree. On average, a healthy human can metabolize one-half ounce of alcohol per hour. The best rule is to not consume more than one drink (4 ounces of table wine) per hour, regardless of size, sex, or a full stomach. Practiced in moderation and consumed with food at mealtime, wine drinking may develop cultural and sociological patterns that actually help to prevent alcoholism. The vast majority of healthy people may enjoy wine regularly and moderately as a pleasure that supports and prolongs a gracious life.