What Are They Getting When Buying Wine?

PERHAPS you have never purchased a bottle of wine. For many others, however, buying wine is relatively common. The majority of these persons enjoy drinking wine in moderation, often with meals. They are not alcoholics. But what are the many persons who buy wine getting?

Kinds of Wines

Wine is fermented fruit juice, commonly the juice of grapes. There are two general categories of wine, “dry” and “sweet.” Dry wines are produced by allowing the fermentation process to convert most of the grape sugar into alcohol, whereas sweet wines result when the fermentation process is stopped while a noticeable amount of grape sugar yet remains. In some varieties of sweet wine, sugar is added after fermentation.

In the making of sweet wines the fermentation process is usually arrested by adding a small amount of brandy. Wines to which brandy has been added are also known as “dessert wines.” The brandy serves to preserve the remaining grape sugar and also increases the alcohol content of the wine. While the alcohol content of dry table wines does not exceed 14 percent, that of dessert wines is approximately 20 percent.

White wines are commonly produced from white grapes, though red grapes can also be used if the juice is quickly separated from the skins. Regardless of the skin color of the grapes used in making them, most white wines are fermented from the juice alone. In the production of red wine, the pulp and skins of red grapes are allowed to ferment with the juice. The natural pigment from the skins enters the juice, giving the wine its red color. Additionally, substances such as tannin from the skins and seeds contribute toward giving red wine a stronger flavor than white wine. Pink wines result when the juice is allowed to ferment with crushed red grapes for a short time, after which the juice is drawn off to continue fermenting by itself.

Sparkling wines such as champagne and sparkling burgundy are effervescent due to the presence of carbon dioxide. Natural carbon dioxide is formed during the course of a second fermentation process in closed containers, either in the bottle in which champagne is sold or in large glass-lined tanks. The bottle-fermented products are, of course, more expensive than bulk-processed champagnes. Still cheaper varieties are carbonated artificially.

The quality and variety of grapes used have a direct bearing on the quality of the wines produced from them. Though poor quality wines have been made from good grapes, never can good wine be produced from bad grapes. Not only must the grapes be of a good variety, but also the soil and climate have to be suitable for the particular kind of grapes involved. Grapes cultivated in cool mountain valleys and on hillsides are best for most table wines. But for sweet wines, grapes growing in the sunshine of warmer valleys and in areas that are almost desertlike are superior.

The natural sugar content of grapes is greater when the weather is sunny rather than cloudy and rainy. Therefore, in France and Germany, where the climate is more variable than in the wine-growing regions of Italy, Spain and California (U.S.A.), the quality of the wine varies to a greater extent from year to year. Hence, particularly in connection with German and French wines, many persons make it a point to know the vintage of the wine, that is, the year in which the grapes were grown and the wine produced.

Why Certain Wines Are Selected

Often wines are selected to be drunk with particular foods. Whereas the ability of a certain kind of wine as the best complement of a particular dish is often exaggerated, there are a few basic combinations that have found general acceptance.

Dry table wines are usually considered best with the main food course. Having a stronger flavor than white table wines, red table wines are recommended with the stronger flavored red meats. But white table wines go well with seafood and with white meat of fowl. Either a red or a white table wine can be used with dark meat of fowl. Sherry and champagne are popularly used as appetizers, and sweet dessert wines are customarily served with desserts.

Adulteration of Wines

Not all persons who purchase wine get what they pay for. Due to illegal adulteration of a number of Italian wines, for example, many persons have in recent years and months unknowingly purchased concoctions made from apples and molasses, animal feed, figs and dates, synthetic alcohol and dried ox blood. The Italian police reportedly tracked down about ten million gallons of adulterated wine in 1970 alone. This would suggest that anyone buying wines, especially travelers, must exercise care. Rather than being lured into buying wine with a showy label, a person may find it to be the course of wisdom to purchase a product that he knows.

A milder form of adulteration that has been of concern to many is the extensive use of chemical additives in wines, especially in blended varieties. Additives have been used to preserve wines, to clarify them and to improve their taste and appearance. Aware of a possible health hazard from drinking wine containing such chemical additives, some persons feel better about drinking homemade wines or procuring a product (often an unblended wine) that they know to be comparatively free from chemical additives.

In selecting imported wines, some persons make it a point to find out whether the shippers or importers are indeed reputable. They also check the label to see whether they are getting an authentic product. For example, the words Appelation Contrôllée (controlled name) designate an authentic French wine and the expression Original-Abfüllung preceding the name of the producer certifies estate-bottled German wines.

A Matter of Greater Concern

Regardless of how good a wine may be, however, it can become something detrimental to the buyer if not used in moderation. Alcoholism is a major health problem in many parts of the earth. In France, for example, where much wine is consumed, one out of every three male patients confined to a hospital is there because of excessive drinking. A medical reference work (The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, edited by Louis S. Goodman and Alfred Gilman, Fourth Edition, 1970, page 291) observes:

“The large role that the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages plays in the economic and social life of Western society should not permit us to minimize the fact that alcoholism is a more significant problem than all other forms of drug abuse combined. Five million Americans exhibit some form of alcoholism, and about 5% of these eventually reach the derelict or ‘skid row’ level. It has been estimated that, in the United States, a total of 750 million dollars is lost each year in potential wages, crimes, accidents, and medical and custodial care; and the cost in broken homes, wasted lives, loss to society, and human misery is beyond calculation.”

Obviously, enslavement to wine or any other alcoholic beverage is wholly undesirable. Christians particularly have every reason to avoid such enslavement. Injudicious use of alcoholic beverages on their part would bring reproach upon the name of God and the congregation with which they are associated. In fact, they might completely lose God’s favor, for 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 clearly states that drunkards will not inherit God’s kingdom.

As for Christians who use alcoholic beverages in moderation, they should always remember that even among fellow Christians there may be persons for whom alcoholic beverages have been or continue to be a problem. Would it, therefore, not be a kindness to avoid encouraging others to drink when they decline to do so? Also, if one knows persons who tend to be heavy drinkers or who have had problems in exercising self-control in the past, would it not be fitting to refrain from offering them alcoholic beverages or even from drinking such beverages in their presence?

So what people get when buying wine depends, not only upon their selection, but also upon their use of wine. For the person who drinks wine in moderation, his purchase can add a little extra enjoyment to his life. As Psalm 104:15 says: “Wine . . . makes the heart of mortal man rejoice.” On the other hand, the buyer who uses wine without exercising moderation or manifests poor judgment in serving it to others, is getting something that is potentially very dangerous.