Portal:Wine

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W i n e

A portal dedicated to wine

The Wine Portal


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Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from fermentation of grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Although fruits other than grapes can also be fermented, the resultant wines are normally named after the fruit from which they are produced (for example, apple wine) and are known as fruit wine (or country wine). Others, such as barley wine and rice wine (e.g. sake), are made from starch-based materials and resemble beer more than wine; ginger wine is fortified with brandy. In these cases, the use of the term "wine" is a reference to the higher alcohol content, rather than the production process. The commercial use of the word "wine" (and its equivalent in other languages) is protected by law in many jurisdictions. Wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast which consume the sugars found in the grapes and convert them into alcohol. Various varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are used depending on the types of wine produced.

Wine stems from an extended and rich history dating back about 8,000 years and is thought to have originated in present-day Georgia or Iran. Wine is thought to have appeared in Europe about 6,500 years ago in present-day Bulgaria and Greece and was very common in ancient Greece and Rome; the Greek god Dionysos, and his Roman counterpart Liber represented wine. Wine continues to play a role in religious ceremonies, such as Kiddush in Judaism and the Eucharist in Christianity.


The Wine WikiProject


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Some Wikipedians have formed a project to better present and organize information in articles related to Wine. This project contains their suggestions; it is hoped that this collaboration will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians on the subject of wine. If you wish to learn more about wine and get involved, please visit the Wine Wikiproject page to see how you can help!

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The oxidation of ethanol
A wine fault or defect is an unpleasant characteristic of a wine often resulting from poor winemaking practices or storage conditions, and leading to wine spoilage. Many of the compounds that cause wine faults are already naturally present in wine but at insufficient concentrations to adversely affect it. In fact, depending on perception, these concentrations may impart positive characters to the wine. However when the concentration of these compounds greatly exceeds the sensory threshold, they replace or obscure the flavours and aromas that the wine should be expressing. Ultimately the quality of the wine is reduced, making it less appealing and sometimes undrinkable.



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Jean-Louis Vignes
B. April 9,1780 – d. January 17, 1862

Jean-Louis Vignes, or as he was known to his Spanish and Mexican neighbors, "Don Luis del Aliso", was a French settler to the Los Angeles area during the Mexican era. He was the first commercial wine maker in California and one of the first men to import and plant European Vitis vinifera grapes in the state. A skilled cooper by trade and an adventurer and entrepreneur by choice, he arrived in the Sandwich Islands on July 6, 1827 from Béguey, a village downriver from Cadillac, Gironde, France. After losing his business in Honolulu, he sailed to California and landed at El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de la Porciúncula in 1831. Upon his arrival, he bought 104 acres of land located between the original Pueblo and the banks of the Los Angeles river. Vignes proceeded to plant vines and to build a winery. Unhappy with the quality of the local Mission grapes, he imported Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon blanc vines from Bordeaux In 1834, Vignes also planted one of the first orange groves in the Los Angeles area. By 1849, El Aliso, as Vignes' property was called, was the most extensive vineyard in California. Vignes owned over 40,000 vines and produced 150,000 bottles, or 1000 barrels, per year. In 1850, Vignes was the largest wine producer in California.



Selected winery


Dominus Estate, formerly Napanook Vineyards, is a California wine estate producing Bordeaux style blends, owned by Christian Moueix. The winery is located in Yountville within the Napa Valley AVA. George C. Yount, the founder of Yountville, planted in 1836 the first vines of the valley on the location of Napanook vineyard. In 1850 the property was bought by Charles Hopper, and owners since include Hugh La Rue, a pioneer in the use of rootstock and John Daniel Jr., the owner of Inglenook Winery who bought the estate in 1946.

Following Daniel's death in 1970, Napanook passed to his daughters Robin Lail and Marcia Smith who in 1982 began a partnership with Christian Moueix, acting on a recommendation by Robert Mondavi to establish production in Napa Valley. Moueix, also in charge of production at Château Pétrus and president of Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, became the sole owner of Dominus Estate when Lail and Smith sold their shares in 1995. Napanook, the estate's second wine, was first released in 1996.

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Selected grape


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Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon became internationally recognized through its prominence in Bordeaux wines where it is often blended with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. From France, the grape spread across Europe and to the New World where it found new homes in places like California's Napa Valley, Australia's Coonawarra region and Chile's Maipo Valley. For most of the 20th century, it was the world's most widely planted premium red wine grape until it was surpassed by Merlot in the 1990s.

Despite its prominence in the industry, the grape is a relatively new variety, the product of a chance crossing between Cabernet franc and Sauvignon blanc during the 17th century in southwestern France. Its popularity is often attributed to its ease of cultivation—the grapes have thick skins and the vines are hardy and resistant to rot and frost—and to its consistent presentation of structure and flavours which express the typical character ("typicity") of the variety. Familiarity and ease of pronunciation have helped to sell Cabernet Sauvignon wines to consumers, even when from unfamiliar wine regions. Its widespread popularity has also contributed to criticism of the grape as a "colonizer" that takes over wine regions at the expense of native grape varieties.

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Selected quote


Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favours what you do.
— King James Bible
Ecclesiastes 9:7


Did you know...


...that after placing fifth in the original Judgment of Paris wine tasting, the 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon made by Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards won the 2006 rematch?
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Improve the bird's eye view

The entire subject and Wikipedia's coverage of it is intended to be summarized in the Outline of wine. It in turn is part of Wikipedia's outline system which is one of Wikipedia's main contents systems.

Please look it over and fill-in missing topics. If Wikipedia has an article or article section about those topics, please add links to them.

While analyzing the outline, please answer the following questions (and fix the outline as needed):

  1. What's missing?
  2. Is the structure of the outline (sections and indents) representative of the subject?
  3. Does the outline help understand the relationships between the topics presented in the best way possible?

The overall purpose of the outline is to help readers comprehend the subject by showing what belongs to it, and within the subject what belongs to what.

The outline is a taxonomy of the subject, and also serves as a table of contents and navigation aid to browse Wikipedia's articles (and article sections) about the subject.

It is also a useful tool for the WikiProject to analyze, plan, develop, and revise wine-related material. It is a hub from which to organize related topics.

It was built as a "reverse outline", a structural model of an existing work, which in addition to being a summary of the work, can reveal the gaps and other weaknesses for revision purposes.

Please help improve it.

It's our bird's eye view.

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This list is transcluded from the tasks page, to edit this section click here.

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Here are some tasks you can do for WikiProject Wine:

  • Photo request: Just about all of them! Any pictures of wine regions, grape varieties or wine would be useful. In particular we need wine region maps that can be licensed for Wikipedia.
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Categories


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The following entries are categories relating to Wine:

Wine


Wine Lists

Topics relating to Wine


AppellationOenologyWineryWinemakingWine tastingVintageVinyardViticulture
Wine styles Red/WhiteRosé/BlushSparklingDessertFortifiedFruitIce Wine
Notable varietals AlbariñoChardonnayChenin blancGewürztraminerGrüner veltlinerMuscatPinot blancPinot grisRiesling
Sauvignon blancSémillonSilvanerViognierBarberaCabernet FrancCabernet SauvignonCarignaneDolcetto
GamayGrenacheMalbecMerlotMourvèdreNebbioloPetite Sirah/DurifPetit VerdotPinot noirPinotage
SangioveseSyrah/ShirazTempranilloZinfandel
Notable regions BordeauxBurgundyCaliforniaChampagneDouroMoselRheinhessenRhôneRiojaTuscany
Notable nations ArgentinaAustraliaChileFranceGermanyItalyPortugalSpainSouth AfricaUnited States of America


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