Wine

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This article deals with Wine as it relates to NationStates. For more general information, see the Wikipedia article on this subject. Work in progress

Wine is an alcoholic beverage resulting from the fermentation of grapes and/or grape juice. The word wine comes from the Latin root word vinum. Wine-like beverages can also be made from fruits, flowers, grains or honey.

Wine is an important beverage that accompanies and enhances a wide range of cuisines, most usually European, Pacitalian and Mediterranean. Cuisines can be simple, homestyle and traditional, or complex and sophisticated; either type matches up well with at least one type of the many different varieties of wines. As an agricultural product it reflects, more than any other, the variety of the land, the local yeast cultures and the climate and conditions under which grapes are grown. Therefore, as said, there is an enormous variety in the types of grape wines produced.

On top of wine having a forceful representation in cuisine, it is also of great historical importance, with the use of wine being recorded in such religious doctrines as the Bible and further past.

Vintages and varieties

Grape wines have four main categories: red, white, blush (rosé) and sparkling.

Red wines

Red wines tend to have a fuller flavour, but that is due mostly to the grape used, and not the fermentation process. The colour, however, is due to the fermentation process, as the skin of the black and red grapes from which this variety is made are left in for a majority of this process. Red wines have, for many centuries, been the most popular of the four major wine varieties.

White wines

White wines are not necessarily less intense when it comes to flavour, but their texture and weight are significantly of a more delicate type than reds. Most white wines are, because of this light, and as red wine enthusiasts assert, "weak" texture, not meant to be cellared for long periods of time. As the opposite of reds in colour, texture and flavour, it would be apt to note that white wine is also the opposite of red wine, in that the former should be consumed soon after its final fermentation and bottling is complete.

Blush (rosé) wines

Blush wines come in the middle, but most of these wines are simply whites which have had the skin of red grapes left in for a short time during the fermentation process to give the output product a varying shade of pink, hence the formal name rosé. Therefore, blush wines have mainly the same delicate texture as whites, but there is, on occasion, a marked difference in flavour intensity.

Sparkling wines

Sparkling wines such as champagne are those with carbon dioxide, either from fermentation or added later. They vary from just a slight bubbliness to the classic Champagne. Wines that gain their carbonation from the traditional method of bottle fermentation are sometimes called Méthode Traditionnelle wines.

Important note

It is prudent to state, however, that the level of alcohol in bottles of wine varies mostly on the wine variety, and not necessarily on the length of fermentation. This is one of the most common misconceptions of the wine world.

Major wine producing countries

Many countries are able to produce wines, thanks to their location or climate. A list of these countries and their corresponding varieties comes below in this section. However, there are a few substantial producers that outstrip the rest by large amounts in production, land devotion, distribution and sale of their wine products.

Pacitalia

Pacitalia, located right along the ideal 25-30°N parallels, is arguably the world's largest producer of wine, by far, producing some 52.4 trillion metric litres of the beverage every year. The country's red wines are extremely popular outside the country now as experience with wine consumption and knowledge of international varieties becomes common on the international scene. Pacitalia produces many major wines, along with numerous other smaller vintages and limited releases. Fortified wines like Marsala and Port are also produced here.

Of Pacitalia's major varieties, Foraninum Cazo has become a phenomenon worldwide for its bold taste, which counteracts the strength of the alcohol in the texture (but, of course, does not decrease the content) and produces a sweeter, less intense wine. As well, Sangiovese, Pacitalia's best-known wine, has been a highly popular type of wine for at least two centuries.

Pacitalian varieties

Red wines (7)

  • Aubergano
  • Foraninum Cazo
  • Mentano Siro
  • Pinotto Nero
  • Rossigiura
  • Sangiovese
  • Ungamenti

White wines (5)

  • Cantugali
  • Pantomimo Verdi
  • Pinotto Blanco
  • Semolintana
  • Sumaria Bella

Blush wines (3)

  • Aguarosa
  • Mephistuna
  • Zimanocentura

Sparkling wines (2)

  • Asti Spumante
  • Carobunta

Fortified wines (4)

  • Marsala
  • Port (Pengunita, Zegnuno)
  • Sherry (Vino Seco)


Pacitalian growing regions

The largest wine growing region in Pacitalia is the Beracanto region east of Mandragora, encompassing some 140,000 sq.km. of hot, hilly, near-desert lands in the rainshadow of the Sierra Pacitalia. Here, the Sangiovese, Cantugali, Pinotto Blanco and Pinotto Nero varieties are grown. The next largest area is the 117,000 sq.km. Norteste region, where the cult hit Foraninum Cazo is exclusively produced, along with the Sumaria Bella and Zimanocentura. The Positano region, at the southern end of the Bay of Amita, is 78,000 sq. km. and grows the Mentano Siro, Aubergano and Semolintana varieties. Just to the west near Nortopalazzo is the Ventonare region, half the size of the Positano region. It grows the Rossigiura, Ungamenti and Aguarosa. Finally, the exclusive San Giranto Valley is the smallest major growing region. It only produces one wine: the white Pantomimo Verdi. These five growing regions account for 88% of Pacitalia's wine output and are simultaneously largely responsible for the production of the fortified wines as well.

Asti Spumante and Carobunta, the sparkling wines, are grown mostly east of the Norteste region and between the Ventonare and Positano regions.

United Island Empires

The United Island Empires has long been famous for it's wine region of Garomenia. For many it is white wines are finest in the world. Especially famous for the Wökhatlïnspilwïn, a single bottle of the original 1874 wine costing over $10,000. However, the United Island Empires' wine industry has come under scrutiny because of the use of slave labour.

United Island Empires' varieties

Red wines (2)

  • Indigen Rit
  • Uderschlatendoften

White wines (11)

  • Attamenitengen
  • Aentigen
  • Cit und Engen
  • Garmonian Wiß
  • Indigen Wiß
  • Litoßcenterschaf
  • Porjungen
  • Tere Gatus
  • Tungintin
  • Wökhatlïnspilwïn
  • Zitungonet

Blush wines (3)

  • Gitlossfalen
  • Katungkal
  • Pitkakinatek

Sparkling wines (1)

  • Sparkengungten

Fortified wines (2)

  • Port (Zibket)
  • Sherry (Nonetafenspiele)


United Island Empires' Growning Regions

Nearly all of the United Island Empires' wines are made in Garomenia. The large vineyards at the foot of the Garomenian Mountains is the largest area of its type in the region. The area is perfect for wine country because of the arid, Mediterranean climate.

(your nation)

(your nation's varieties)

(your nation's growing regions)