6 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Wine
Wine is a great social drink that bridges people. It is a mesmerizing piece to warm up conversations and deepen one’s fascination with the beverage. If you are looking for bits of trivia that will spice up your afternoons of drinking fine wine, check out these six fun, lesser-known facts about wines.
1. Ancient Greeks were not the first vintners.
Almost everyone believes that the ancient Greeks invented wine. After all, they call the Greek God Dionysus the God of Wine. The Olympian’s visage is also a mainstay in a Sommelier’s pin.
However, archeological records show that the earliest traces of wine production come from outside Greece. Wine dating methods put the earliest signs of wine production between 8500 and 4000 BC in ancient Persia’s northern Zagros Mountains.
Wine production spread to Georgia, Armenia, Egypt, and the rest of the Mediterranean. By 4500 BC, symposia drinking parties institutionalized wine-drinking in ancient Greece.
2. Not all wines are vegan.
Everyone knows that wines come from grapes. What you may not know is that some wines have animal products in them.
Traditionally, making wine is a slow process that involves many years of maturing. The growing demand for wines prompts vintners to tweak the maturation process by adding animal products.
Animal products bind unwanted substances in the fining wine. It allows for the more efficient removal of unwanted substances. It also speeds up the overall maturation process. Animal products also stabilize the wine, allowing the product to retain its clarity, flavors, and colors.
3. Wine for free, 24/7, anyone?
The most expensive wine bottle — a 1945 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti — sold for $558,000 in 2018. The average bottle of wine will cost you about $30 to $50.
If you do not like shelling out money to satisfy your thirst for wine, you might want to head over to the Caldari di Ortona in Italy’s Abruzzo region.
The vintners of Dora Sarchese installed the ‘Fontana del vino’ to provide travelers and pilgrims taking the Cammino di San Tommaso route with the village’s best locally-produced wine. It is free 24 hours, seven days a week.
4. The correct wine temperature matters!
Most of us think that the only way to enjoy red wine is by drinking it at room temperature. On the other hand, white wine is at its best when served cold.
Unfortunately, these are two of the biggest mistakes wine drinkers make. Different wine types have different ideal serving temperatures.
For example, you will appreciate the fullness of a Cabernet Sauvignon if served at 63 degrees Fahrenheit. enjoying a Pinot Noir requires a lower temperature of 61 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Modern vineyards use cow skulls to improve the growth of grapes.
There is a growing number of modern vineyards that are using biodynamic farming techniques. They adhere to these methods because they are safer and friendlier to the ecosystem.
One method is the use of cow skulls or any other animal for that matter. Vintners stuff the animal skull with finely-ground oak chips. They bury the stuffed cow or sheep skull in the ground for one or two seasons. They add the resulting biomass into the vineyard compost.
The biodynamic farming method improves soil pH and fights plant diseases.
6. The Chinese, not the French, are the world’s largest red wine consumers.
It may surprise you, but Chinese wine drinkers consume more red wine than any other nationality.
The International Wine & Spirit Research reports that the Chinese consumed nearly 2 billion bottles of red wine in 2013.
There are hundreds of other fun wine facts, trivia, and historical information awaiting discovery. If we missed out on something truly fascinating, share it with us in the comments below. Do not forget to share this article with your friends, too.
