Wine Basics
From grapes to Glass
Claudia Steen
Definitions
Viticulture
The science and business of growing
wine grapes
• Vigneron - Cultivator of grape
vines / wine maker
• Vitis vinifera – wine grape
(Genus/species)
Enology
• The science of wine production
• Enologist (vintner) - wine maker
• Enophile - someone who enjoys
wine
History of wine
• Earliest wine 8000 BC in
Mesopotamia
• 2500 BC - Egyptians
• Greek & Romans worshiped a god
of wine
• Bacchus – Roman
• Dionysus - Greek
• Wine is referred to in the Bible
• Middle Ages - monks took the
ancients' knowledge of winemaking
and refined it
History of WA wine grapes
• First vines planted in WA state in 1825
Fort Vancouver – Hudson Bay Co.
• 1860 in Walla Walla
• Dr. Walter Clore – father of Washington
wine
• 2014 statistics – WA Wine Commission
• 50,000 acres in production
• 40 + varieties planted
• 350 grape growers
• 227,000 tons of grapes harvested
• 890 + wineries
• 16 million cases of wine produced
• 4.4 billion dollar industry
53% white wines
47% red wines
Health Benefits of Wine
• Wine, in moderation, is a health
benefit:
• decreased incident of heart
attacks & strokes (the French
paradox)
• reduce tumors
• block formation of amyloidal
plaques which contribute to
Alzheimer's
• better dental health, etc
• Flavonoids - Anthocyanin in grape
skin give red color
• decreases cholesterol
• Rich in antioxidants
Health Benefits
of Wine
• Resveratrol – a class of
antioxidants known as
polyphenols
• Found in tannins in grape
skin, seeds, stems
• Is produced by plants to
ward off fungal infections
and other diseases
WINE IS MADE IN THE VINEYARD
Wine grape growing primarily
between 30-50 degrees latitude
• 50 degree - cool climate wine
characteristics
6-7 months to ripen, ↑ acid, ↓
sugar (alcohol), lighter color, not
as fruit forward, more delicate
body
• 30 degree - warm climate wine
characteristics
4-5 months to ripen, ↓ acid, ↑
sugar, deeper color (↑ skin