When most people think of wine, they think of the red or white wine that is made from grapes. Wine can be made from a variety of things though, including other fruits. However, although grapes are a fruit, they do not make what is collectively known as ‘fruit wine’; fruit wine is wine made from any fruit other than grapes. What are the differences between fruit wine and grape wine?
Sugar
Grapes are ideal for making wine for a reason; they contain just the right balances of sugars and acids to ferment well into great wine. The sugar content is perfect for the amount of yeast used so that you get the right alcoholic content for your wine without it being too sweet or bitter.
Other fruits though need a little help; generally varying degrees of sugar has to be added in early in the process in order to have the yeast function properly. This sugar has to be handled very carefully; too little and it won’t ferment properly and too much and the wine will be too sweet to be drunk. This takes a good recipe and no little practice to perfect, though some fruits are far easier than others; apples being the easiest of all to work with.
Reputation
Grape wine has a reputation for refinement, fine dining, and sophistication; likely because grape wine has a long history and careful growing to create wonderful flavours of wine. Part of this reputation is no doubt from the merchants, but it’s also got a more vibrant history backing it and of course good grape wines are well deserving of it.
Fruit wine on the other hand has a weird reputation; many people think of apple wine or pear wine as being somehow rustic; indeed, the other name for fruit wine is country wine. This reputation is only somewhat true though; while many fruit wines are homemade wines, they can also be extremely well made fruit wines with plenty of flavor, bouquet and beautiful colors. It’s all a matter of how the wine is made and the skill level of the maker, just as it is with grape wine.
Fruit wine is not the same as grape wine even though grapes are fruit! They are made slightly differently and come out very differently depending on the maker. However, fruit wine and grape wine can both be excellent wines to drink. Indeed, fruit wine comes in such a wide range that you can find lots of new wine to try for a long time to come. When it comes to making homemade wine, variety is great and fruit wine as well as grape wine can deliver it.
Making homemade wine is a great hobby and really fun; if you want to learn how to make homemade wine, then check out our informative and interesting website on making your own wine at http://wwww.secretsofwinemaking.com.