Although wine has been around for thousands of years, there are a number of facts about it that many people do not know. Here are some fun and interesting facts you can use as great conversation starters, or to impress your friends.
1. Wine is Popular For Young People
Wine is one of the most sought after alcohols among younger drinkers. Yes, it’s true. As a matter of fact, beer has seen a drastic decrease in sales over the last 10 years. Among college students, beer is actually the third choice, behind hard alcohol/malt liquor and wine. Wine is a lot less advertised than its chief competitor, beer, but one thing that wine has that beer doesn’t, is a sense of sophistication. Although wine commercials are targeted to a different demographic than beer, it is the more preferred choice. Wine is a lot more diverse, and can be mixed with so many other sodas and fruits.
2. Wine can also be made in the comfort of your own home
Although we believe Miles Wine Cellars has absolutely the best wine, you can make wine with simple ingredients you can find in your own home. Wine and beer making is a popular hobby and only helps people appreciate what goes into making high quality wines. Some hobbyists use Grape juice concentrate, yeast, berries and even plum and watermelons! You can buy wine kits as well, which make the process so much easier. You can generally find a wine kit in many stores, including major department stores. There are a few pieces of equipment you will want to have to make sure that your wine making experience is a good one. You will want a Gallon Jug, a small measuring cup, a siphon hose that is between 4 and 8 feet. You will also want a large plastic funnel. It is extremely important you have all the equipment in your home before you start making your wine because sometimes if you aren’t extremely timely, things can go bad. Once you start making the wine, making an extra trip to the store in the middle of the process can be the difference between good tasting wine, and sour tasting wine. It is important to have a ‘wine tongue’ as well.
3. What is a wine tongue you ask?
You need to be able to distinguish between good tasting wine and bad tasting wine. Wine is an acquired taste, and unless you are a wine connoisseur, you won’t be able to tell the difference between boxed wine and expensive wine. It’s important that you know which foods taste best with which wines, as there are so many different variations of wine. In the movie “City Slickers”, there was a professional wine taster who rode along with Billy Crystal. He would go on and on about which wines tasted good with different kinds of food, from ice cream to salads.
4. The top wine producing countries are:
1) France 2) Italy 3) Spain 4) United States 5) China. Wine consumption has almost tripled in China since 1985. Why is this? Well, the answer is really more complicated than one might think. As China moves towards capitalism, so to does their wine consumption and production. The Chinese have a communist government but they are slowly allowing their citizens to invest in foreign markets. The biggest investment the Chinese are making is towards urban development. Now, it is widely been said that the Chinese housing market is in a bubble much like that of the 2008 United States. Many Chinese are trying to pull their money out of real estate and put it in winery. It is a growing and exciting market among the Chinese people, and many Chinese are seeing the writing on the wall in regards to real estate. Wine is mostly synonymous with Italy and France, but it has recently been predicted that China could be the largest wine producing country by the year 2025.
5. Wine is more than just a drink, or even just an alcohol
Wine is a very symbolic drink that is mentioned in many historical texts, like the Bible. Jesus didn’t just drink the grape juice version however, he drank fermented wine. Why was wine so important in these historical texts? Why didn’t Jesus drink water, or some other drink? Why was it wine and why did he tell his disciples that his body was bread and his blood that of wine? Typically, wine was safer to transport and drink then water, which would become polluted in urban settings due to a lack of filtration technology. You will also notice that in American culture, wine is usually present at weddings, which are usually religious in base.