50 Fun Facts About Wine

50 Fun Facts About Wine

Wine is enjoyed all around the world for a variety of reasons. Whether you like to drink it alongside your favourite meal at a restaurant, or as a stress relief from a long, tiring week, there is no right or wrong occasion to indulge in this delicious beverage. With so many types and brands to choose from, there is something for everyone. So to celebrate this well loved alcoholic drink, we have 50 fun facts about wine that you can share with your loved ones!

Historic Facts About Wine

1. Greek wines were often infused with herbs, spices, and honey. 
2. In 1880,  80% or more of the Italian population relied on the booming wine industry for a living. 
3. In the Middle Ages, churches and monasteries produced the bulk of wines available. 
4. “Toasting” started in ancient Rome when the Romans continued the Greek tradition but started dropping a piece of toasted bread into each wine glass to temper undesirable tastes or excessive acidity.
5. Early Roman women were forbidden to drink wine, and a husband who found his wife drinking was at liberty to kill her.
6. The world’s leading cork producer is Portugal.
7. The first corkscrew was invented in the mid-1800s.
8. The country of Georgia is known as the “birthplace of wine.”
9. The first wines were bottled in the 17th century when there was new glassmaking technology. 
10. There is a winery in every state in the USA.
11. To quench their thirst, people drank wine instead of water centuries ago. During that time, water wasn't clean all the time, and natural fermentation, when the wine is made, could kill germs caused by typhi (salmonella) and cholera.
12. In ancient Greece, the host of dinner would take the first sip of wine to assure that the wine served to guests wasn't poisoned. The act of courtesy was where the phrase "drinking to one's health" originated.
13. The world’s oldest bottle of wine was found near the town of Speyer, Germany. It dates before to A.D. 325 and is on display at the town’s historical museum.
14. The oldest known wine cellar is on the Titanic. When divers went down to the wreckage, surprisingly most of the bottles were still in tact.
15. The Most Expensive Bottle of Wine Ever Sold for $558,000
16. The bible has mentioned overconsumption of wine multiple times.
17. There is a Greek God of wine called Dionysus. 
18. The Romans once used lead to mix with their wine.
19. Screw caps on wine bottles were popularised in Australia and New Zealand.
20. In 2016, white wine outsold red wine in the United Kingdom.

Facts About How Wine Is Made

1. Red wine can only be made from blue or purple-skinned grapes. White wine can also come from these darker grapes, but only if the juice is separated from the skins.
2. The colour of a wine is determined by the contact that the grape juice has with grape skins.
3. There are a known 10,000 grape varieties throughout the world.
4. Grapes are the most important commercially grown fruit in the world. 
5. Grape skins contain the bitter tannins, which provide structure to a wine and help to preserve it.
6. One grape cluster equals one glass of wine.
7. On average, there are about 75 grapes in each cluster.
8. Champagne bottles are made from thicker glass to resist the pressure created by carbonation.
9. There are approximately 400 species of oak, but only 20 of them are used in making oak barrels.
10. There are usually 12 bottles in a case of wine. 
11. Grapes are the most planted fruit all over the world.
12. Wine is made with grapes, but not with the typical table grapes that can be bought at the supermarket.
13. Bottles with animal symbols on the label are known as "critter wine."
14. Wine produced in warmer climates are generally sweeter.
15. Wine production uses yeast in its fermentation.
16. There is a stamp that certifies that the wine is biodynamic.
17. Champagne bubbles are formed in the bottle.
18. Organic and natural wines come from un-intervened vineyards.
19. The most commonly planted grape variety is the Cabernet Sauvignon.
20. Horizontal storage is best for wine bottles.

Interesting Facts About Wine

1.  Assessing the colour and opacity is the first step in the tasting process.
2. You actually smell the wine more than you taste it.
3. 'Corked' wine smells and tastes like wet cardboard and mould. 
4. Apparently, some people have a "fear of wine," and it's called oenophobia.
5. A glass of good wine has a lengthy, more lingering aftertaste.
6. Wine meeting the air quickly spoils it.
7. You need to drink 7 glasses of orange juice or 20 glasses of apple juice in order to get the same amount of antioxidants in wine.
8. The sweetness of wine is reduced when you chill it. Red wine, however, loses its fruity flavour if it becomes too warm.
9. Women are more inclined to the effects of wine than men. This is partly because they have less enzymes in the stomach lining that are needed to break down alcohol simply.
10. A glass of red wine after dinner every night can reduce the risk of heart disease.