Wine

Wine

Glasses of red and white wine
Type	Alcoholic beverage
Alcohol by volume	Typically 12.5–14.5%[1]
Ingredients	Varies; see Winemaking
Variants	Red White Rosé Orange Sparkling Dessert

Wine is an alcoholic drink made from fermented grapes.^[a] It is produced in many regions around the world in a wide variety of styles, influenced by different varieties of grapes, growing environments, viticulture methods, and production techniques.

Wine has been produced for thousands of years, the earliest evidence dating from c. 6000 BCE in present-day Georgia. Its popularity spread around the Mediterranean during Classical antiquity, and was sustained in Western Europe by winemaking monks and a secular trade for general drinking. New World wine was established by settler colonies from the 16th century onwards, and the wine trade increased dramatically up to the latter half of the 19th century, when European vineyards were largely destroyed by the invasive pest Phylloxera. After the Second World War, the wine market improved dramatically as winemakers focused on quality and marketing to cater for a more discerning audience, and wine remains a popular drink in much of the world.

Wine is drunk on its own, paired with food, and used in cooking. It is often tasted and assessed, with drinkers using a wide range of descriptors to communicate a wine's characteristics. It is also collected and stored, as an investment or to improve with age. Its alcohol content makes wine generally unhealthy to consume, although it may have cardioprotective benefits.

Wine has long played an important role in religion. The Ancient Greeks revered Dionysus, the god of wine, from around 1200 BCE, and the Romans their equivalent, Bacchus, at least until the latter half of the second century BCE. It forms an important part of Jewish traditions, such as the Kiddushcode: iw is deprecated , and is central to the Christian Eucharist.

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