Wines & Spirits

Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grape juice. Wines made from other fruits are always named accordingly. The chemical composition of wine is about 87.7% water, 11% alcohol, 1% acid, and 0.2% tannins.

There are various processing steps in making and producing wine. Firstly, the grapes are allowed to ripen in the vineyard until they attain a suitable sugar content, which is about 18% or more, and the right level of acidity. During ripening in the vineyard, grapes may become infected by moulds, yeasts, and bacteria. These infections generally destroy desired flavours and colour and introduce undesirable acetic acid and oxidised flavours. However, the infection of white grapes with the rot fungus called Bortrytis cinerea is very advantageous. Infection of white grapes with this mould leads to the concentration of the juice in the berry and also gives a characteristic aroma to the wine.