Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of grapes.^[1] Wine is defined as the product by fermentation of unmodified grape juice; their natural chemical balance is such that grapes ferment completely without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients.^[2] Although other fruits such as apples, berries and blackcurrants are also fermented, their wines are normally named after the fruit (for example, "apple wine" or "elderberry wine") and are generically known as fruit wine or country wine. Others, such as barley wine and rice wine (sake) are made from starch-based materials and bear more resemblance to beers, while Ginger wine is fortified with brandy. In these cases, the use of the term 'wine' is a reference to the higher alcohol content, rather than production process.^[3] The commercial use of the English word wine (and its equivalent in other languages) is protected by law in many jurisdictions.

The word wine derives from the Proto-Germanic *winam, an early borrowing from the Latin vinum, "wine" or "(grape) vine", itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European stem *win-o- (cf. Ancient Greek οῖνος oînos).^[4] Similar words for wine or grape are found in the Semitic languages (cf. Arabic ﻭﻳﻦ wayn) and in Georgian (gvino), and the term is considered an ancient wanderwort.^[5]