ABSTRACT

Wine is commonly defined as a product of “normal alcoholic fermentation of the juice of sound ripe grapes”. Nevertheless, any fruit with a good proportion of sugar may be used for wine production. Thus, citrus fruits, bananas, apples, pineapples, strawberries, etc. may all be used to produce wine. Such wines are always qualified as fruit wines. If no other fruit is specifically identified, then the wine is regarded as being derived from grapes, Vitis vinifera. The production of wine is simpler than beer as no need exists for malting due to the presence of sugars in the fruit juice being used. However, this exposes wine making to greater contamination hazards. Wine is today principally produced in countries or regions with mild winters, cool summers, and an even distribution of rainfall throughout the year. The distilled alcoholic or spirit beverages are those potable products whose alcohol contents are increased by distillation. This chapter discusses, grape wines, processes in wine making, fermentation, ageing and storage, clarification, packaging, wine defects, wine preservation, champagne, palm wine, distilled alcoholic (or spirit) beverages, measurement of the alcoholic strength of distilled beverages, and general principles in the production of spirit beverages.