Wine and Spirits

1. Wine and Spirits

2. Readings • Chapter 24, pp. 428-435, and 438-443

3. Wine • Wine can be defined as fermented fruit juice. Most wine is fermented grape juice, but almost any fleshy fruit can be fermented. • Fermenting of sugar in fruits to alcohol occurs naturally, and many animals have enjoyed getting intoxicated on fermented fruit. Thus it is not unlikely that crude wine was humanity’s first experience with alcohol. • Evidence of fermented grape juice has been seen in 8000 year old pottery shards from China. The ancient Egyptians (5000 years ago) had a well-developed wine production system. • Wine is mentioned many times in the Bible. Jesus’s first miracle was converting large amounts of water into wine at a wedding feast.

4. Early History • Many species of grape are found in both the Old World and the New World. • The species most used for wine making, Vitus vinifera, was domesticated in western Asia, in the Caucasus Mountains region. It soon spread into the developing civilizations in Mesopotamia. • The ancient Greeks thought the god Dionysus gave wine to humans, to ease our suffering. • Dionysus was the god of wine, ecstasy, and insanity • Known as Bacchus to the Romans, who celebrated with orgiastic festivals called Bacchanalia

5. Native American Grapes • A second species important to wine making is Vitus labrusca, which is native to North America. • Concord and catawba are varieties of labrusca • When Leif Ericson and the Vikings reached North America in 1000 AD, they named the place “Vinland” after the labrusca grapes found here. (northern end of Newfoundland) • In 1860, the European vinyards got infected with an insect, the root aphid, Phylloxera. It is native to North America, and got imported accidentally. • It was found that American (labrusca) grape vines are resistant to Phylloxera, The Europeans planted it, then grafted vinifera grapes to the labrusca roots. • This remains the common practice for wine grapes: a hardy, disease-resistant rootstock with good wine grapes grafted on top.

6. Wine in America • European grapes didn’t grow well in the northeastern part of the US, where early English settlement occurred. • The Spanish brought grapes to California in 1769, when Father Junipero Serra founded the chain of missions that became the major cities in California. • Prohibition (1920-1933) nearly destroyed the American wine industry. A Constitutional amendment was passed banning the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol for human consumption. Although this did decrease alcohol consumption, it led to widespread criminal activity, since many people resented the law. Prohibition was repealed by another amendment in 1933. • California produces the best American wines, and many wine critics rate some of them on par with the best French wines. A blind taste test in 1976, the “Judgment of Paris”, gave California red and white wines top honors when compared to the best French wines.

7. Wine Growing • Wine grapes like a sunny, dry environment. They don’t grow well in cooler climates. • Different cultivars like slightly different conditions, and even minor variations in climate, such as north-facing vs. south-facing slopes, can affect the quality of the wine. • The weather in a given year also has an effect. • Soil conditions also affect wine flavor and quality. • Wine grapes grow as a vine. They are trained onto trellises and pruned to maximize exposure to the sun. • It takes about 5 years from planting to full production, and a vine can bear good fruit for 50 years or more. • It takes about 100 days for the grapes to mature after fertilization. Before maturity, the grapes contain very little sugar: this gives us the expression “sour grapes”.

8. Extracting the Grape Juice • Grapes can be harvested mechanically or by hand. Harvest time is set by the winemaker, whose decision is based on sugar content and acidity. • The juice is extracted from the grapes by pressing them. This was traditionally done by human feet, but a screw press in used today. • The seeds contain bitter compounds, so pressing is done at relatively low pressures to avoid breaking them. • For white wine, the grape skins are immediately removed. It is possible to make white wine from red grapes! • For red wine, the grape skins are allowed to stay with the grape juice during fermentation. The red pigment leaches out of the skins into the juice.

9. Fermentation • The grape juice is transferred to vats for fermentation. This process is anaerobic, and the temperature must be controlled because it generates considerable heat. • It is possible to ferment the grapes using the natural yeast that grows on them. This is the traditional method, but it often led to fermentation failures because other microorganisms would convert the sugars to sour acids (vinegar) instead of alcohol. • Louis Pasteur, in the 1860’s, first studied wine production from a scientific point of view. He recommended sterilizing the grape juice, then introducing a pure culture of a specific yeast. • Sterilization is done by introducing sulfur dioxide gas. • Different wineries each have their own special yeast. • The yeast is a different strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also used in producing beer and bread.

10. Further Steps • Fermentation will continue until all of the sugar has been converted to alcohol, or until the alcohol concentration reaches about 18%. This takes 2-3 weeks. • However, for sweet wines, the process is stopped before all the sugar is used up, by adding alcohol to the mixture or by killing the yeast with sulfur dioxide gas. • A secondary fermentation (aging) then takes place, lasting several months. During this time fine particles settle out of the wine. This process is done under anaerobic conditions. A lot of flavor development occurs during the aging process. • Before the wine is blended and bottled, a clarifying agent such as gelatin in added to precipitate out any remaining particles. This also reduces tannin content: tannin adds bitterness to the wine. The particles are then removed by filtering. • Some wines, especially red wines, continue to improve with further aging in the bottle.

11. Sparkling Wines • Champagne is carbonated wine that is made in the Champagne district of France. Other sparkling wines are made by the same process, but aren’t technically called champagne. • The carbonation comes from adding some sugar and fresh yeast to bottled wine. The yeast ferments this extract sugar, and the carbon dioxide gas is trapped in the bottle. • It is necessary to remove the dead yeast after the fermentation is complete. This is tricky: you can also lose all of the carbon dioxide. • During this fermentation, the bottle are stored upside down, so the yeast accumulates in the neck. After fermentation is complete, the necks are frozen . The bottle are opened and an icy plug of yeast and wine comes out. A little replacement wine is added, and the bottles are quickly re-sealed.

12. Distilled Spirits • The alcohol content of beer and wine is limited by the fact that an alcohol concentration of 18% or more kills the yeast that produces it. • To produce stronger alcohol, distillation is needed. The principle is that ethanol boils at a temperature lower than water. So, the alcohol boils off, leaving the water behind. You just need to capture the alcohol vapor and condense it. • The first 1% or so of what distills off has headache-inducing compounds in it, and it is generally discarded. • Distillation was invented by the Arabs around 700 AD. • The word “alcohol” comes from Arabic: al’kuhul, which refers to kohl, a preparation used to darken the eyes. Alternatively, al’ghoul, which means monster or spirit. This word origin is somewhat debatable. • Alcohol concentration is measured in proof, where each proof is 1/2 %. So, 80 proof means 40% alcohol. Most distilled spirits are 80-100 proof. • Alcohol can only be distilled to 95%. It is colorless and tasteless. The color and taste of distilled spirits come from other byproducts of fermentation and aging that remain after distillation.

13. Brandy • Brandy is distilled grape wine that has been aged in oak barrels for up to 50 years. • Cognac is brandy produced in the Cognac district of France. • Brandy is consumed using a large glass to concentrate the fumes. • Other fermented fruits can be distilled to produce fruit brandies of various kinds: peach, apricot, plum, cherry, blackberry, etc. • Brandy was produced shortly after distillation was invented, as a way to avoid taxes based on the volume of product and to make it easier to transport. • The gunpowder test: if brandy had been distilled to a high enough alcohol concentration, a pinch of gunpowder put in the brandy would ignite when the brandy was set afire.

14. Rum • The starting material for rum is molasses, the main byproduct in sugar manufacture. It is first fermented (by adding yeast) to generate alcohol, and then distilled. Aging it in wooden barrels gives it color and flavor. • Rum was invented on the sugar plantations in the Caribbean by the slaves. • It got popular in the American colonies, and rum distilling was an early industry in America. • One version of the Triangular Trade route was: rum from the American colonies shipped to Africa and sold for slaves, who were shipped to the Caribbean to work on the sugar plantations. The sugar and molasses then went to the American colonies. • Early elections in the US were often accompanied (and influenced) by a generous supply of rum. • The British Navy supplied a daily ration of rum to the sailors until 1970, and even now they do it on special occasions. “Splice the mainbrace” is the order given to issue the crew a drink. • When Admiral Horatio Nelson was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 (against the forces of Napoleon), his body was preserved in a cask of rum. When it got back to England, they opened the barrel, and the rum was all gone. The sailors had bored a hole in it and drunk the rum: Nelson’s Blood. (Yet another story of dubious truthfulness).

15. Whiskey • Whiskey is a distilled spirit made from fermented grain. It is aged in wooden barrels, usually made from white oak that have been charred. Some whiskies are distilled several times. • As in beer making, the starches in the grain need to be converted into sugars before yeast can ferment them. Malt whiskey is made using only malted barley, without other grains. In contrast, grain whiskey is made by mixing malted barley with other grains. • Malted barley: allow the barley kernels to germinate, which produces the enzymes that convert starch to sugar. Then, the kernels are dried and ground up. • Different forms of whiskey use different grains. The legal systems of various countries define the types. • Bourbon whiskey is made from corn. It was invented in Bourbon County, Kentucky and is a distinctly American product. • Scotch whiskey is made in Scotland from malted barley plus other grains. The smoky flavor comes from drying the malted barley over a peat fire. • Rye, wheat, and corn whiskies are made from the respective grain.

16. Whiskey Manufacture

17. The Whiskey Rebellion • After the American Revolution, settlers started moving west of the Appalachian Mountains. They were farmers, but shipping corn and rye over the mountains to the markets on the East Coast was expensive. It was much easier to distill it into whiskey and ship that. • The government of the United States that we still have today started in 1789, after the Constitution was ratified. It inherited a large debt from the previous government. Alexander Hamilton, the first Treasury Secretary wanted to pay this off by levying a tax on domestic whiskey production. He thought whiskey was a luxury so there wouldn’t be too much objection. • The people on the Western frontier thought they were being unfairly targeted. Their lives were hard and dangerous. The federal government hadn’t built any roads or canals in the West, and Indian attacks were common. • They refused to pay taxes, and mistreated the tax collectors. • President George Washington sent troops to suppress the rebellion, and eventually the tax was repealed.

18. Gin • Gin is a distilled spirit flavored with juniper berries. Juniper is a gymnosperm, and the “berries” are actually the cones (reproductive structures). • Gin is made by fermenting wheat, corn, and rye with malted barley, and then distilling it with juniper berries and other spices mixed in. It does not need to be aged, which made it an attractive product during Prohibition. • Gin was invented in Holland, and came to England during a war in the early 1600’s. It was the original “Dutch courage”, a term that means courage gained from being drunk. • Gin became very popular among working class people in England, because it could be brewed from grain unfit for making bread or beer, and it wasn’t taxed, unlike other distilled spirits. It was often flavored with turpentine. Lots of extreme drunkenness and otherwise immoral behavior during the Gin Craze (1700-1750). • The English in India prevented malaria with quinine. Since quinine is very bitter, they mixed it with carbonated water and gin, with a lime : the gin-and-tonic. Gin Lane, London, 1751

19. Vodka • Vodka is the traditional distilled spirit of Russia, Poland, Finland, and other Eastern European countries. • Vodka is made from fermented grains (mostly wheat and rye), or from potatoes. It is distilled repeatedly until it is almost pure alcohol (95% = 190 proof). Then, it is diluted to a drinkable concentration, around 40% alcohol. Flavoring is sometimes added at this point, but pure vodka is unflavored. • Vodka is not aged. • Vodka was rarely consumed outside Europe before 1950, but it has become very popular in the United States since then.

20. Absinthe • Absinthe is a bitter tasting distilled spirit flavored with wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). Anise and fennel are also added for flavoring. It is usually green, and in literature it is often called the Green Fairy. • Absinthe was traditionally made by soaking wormwood leaves in concentrated alcohol, then distilling the mixture. • It was invented in Switzerland and became very popular with artists and avant-garde types in France in the late 1800’s. Preparation involved pouring the liquor into a glass, then adding cold water poured over a sugar cube. • Absinthe contains thujone, which is alleged to induce hallucinations. Absinthism was considered a problem separate from alcoholism. • For this reason, absinthe was banned in the US and most of Europe in about 1910. However, the quantities of thujone present in absinthe seem too low to be dangerous beyond the normal dangers of alcohol. Thujone-free absinthe is now legal in the US.