Written by | Wei Shuihua
Headstamp | pixabay
In most people's minds Chinese, fruit wine is roughly equivalent to soft drinks. Its drinking value and economic value are completely incomparable with grain wine.
The only exception is wine.
What causes this stereotype of fruit wine? How does wine break through stereotypes?
No.1 壹
Wine, yeast "domesticated" the most important by-product of human beings.
In pursuit of the excitement of alcohol, the first people to achieve a surplus diet offered excess food to yeast to create this chemical that does not provide calories and only stimulates nerves. Grain starch, fructose, lactose... All sugars can be used as feed for yeast.
From gathering and hunting, to farming and animal husbandry, yeast has made people greedy for food other than enough to eat, and has also boosted the development of social structure and productivity from the side.
The food residue that the yeast cannot use has become part of the delicious taste of wine, which is a sign of the division of wine types and the most fundamental cornerstone of wine culture around the world.
In essence, under the conditions of ancient technology, grapes are indeed the most direct and simple source of sugar.
The juicy berries are easy to cultivate and produce high yields; in addition to water, the main ingredients are glucose and fructose, two yeast favorite monosaccharides; at the same time, the grapes have a very low protein content. Proteins that cannot be decomposed and utilized by yeast, but can attract a large number of bacteria pollution, and even form flocculent floating matter, are the enemies of the wine fermentation process.
More importantly, most of the grape skins will bring their own yeast. This is actually a kind of instinct that plants have evolved on their own: the white frost on the surface of the grapes is a sugar alcohol secreted by plants, which can attract yeast in the air to accumulate and form a colony advantage, so as to avoid the exclusion of bacteria and prevent fragile berries from being contaminated by bacteria before they mature.
Humans took advantage of these characteristics of grapes, broke it and soaked it into the skin to make fine wine, and soon became the common world drink of all mankind. Jesus said at the Last Supper, "Bread is my flesh, wine is my blood," leaving aside the mystique of religion, a testament to the personal eating preferences of the biblical writers and the place of wine in the European world at that time.
At the same time, in China, Zhang Qian, Ban Gu and others were tirelessly expanding the territory of the Han Empire to the west, and they introduced a variety of products from the West, including grapes. More than a hundred years after Jesus' crucifixion, in the history books of the Han Dynasty, there is already a story of Meng Tuo bribing the eunuch Zhang Rang with a bucket of wine to buy the official title of Liangzhou Assassin.
At least 2,000 years ago, the level of winemaking in the East and the West was basically at the same starting line.
No.2 贰
The biggest difference between fruit wine and grain wine comes from the raw materials for fermentation: starch in grains and fructose and glucose in fruits. The chemical structure of fructose and glucose is simple and can be directly used by yeast; the chemical structure of starch is more complex, and yeast cannot be decomposed, only to decompose it into monosaccharides first, and then leave it to yeast for processing.
A paradox is that fruit cultivation is often more troublesome than grain, requiring a lot of manpower to fertilize and remove insects, and the solids that can eventually be used for winemaking fermentation are far inferior to cereals, so in the history of winemaking, humans have been looking for ways to turn the starch in grains into simple sugars that can be used by yeast.
In fact, in the process of germination of plants, the germ itself will secrete glycosylases, and enrich the mold in the air that can decompose starch, and eventually decompose the starch into simple sugars for the germ to absorb.
The East and the West invariably think of making wine after artificially promoting the activation and germination of grains by spraying water. But the problem is that the activated grain is extremely unstable, easy to attract a large number of bacteria, each time brewed wine, the taste is different. It is also very likely that it will stink, squawk, or sour due to mildew, or even get a bunch of sweet and very low alcohol "sweet wine", or grain vinegar with a sour taste.
But the Orientals had a unique way of inventing something called "wine song".
"Koji" originally means moldy and long-sprouted wheat. Chinese found that after the germinated wheat was broken and dried into clumps, the mold and yeast flora would be stable in the form of spores. Through repeated attempts, the one with the best wine taste is selected and added to more broken wheat for breeding and replication.
This is perhaps the earliest process by which humans domesticated microbes. Finally, a large number of stable mixed clumps of mold, yeast and wheat are produced and put into the grain, allowing the mold to break down the starch and the yeast to produce alcohol.
This is the world-famous bilateral winemaking method. Chinese said that "qu is the bone of wine", it is to describe this process of building a framework for fermentation.
With the maturity of koji-making technology, Chinese, as well as the Japanese, Koreans, and Vietnamese in the Han cultural circle, the status of grain wine has steadily improved, surpassing fruit wine. The verse "Grape Wine Luminous Glass" was never born again. In its place, it is replaced by countless praises of Chinese liquor, rice wine, Korean shochu, and Japanese sake.
But in the West, koji has never been able to be made. The so-called "single malt whisky" essentially requires the same malt, the same manufacturer's same environment to brew, in order to ensure the taste of the wine.
This harsh brewing technology restriction is doomed to the spectrum of Western wine, the market share of fruit wine, the depth of research, are far more than grain wine. This is a "precious heritage" of the backwardness of winemaking technology in history. People go all the way to black on the road of cider, and even use other fruits besides grapes to make many good wines.
No.3 叁
Comparing many fruits horizontally, why do only grapes stand out? In addition to being easy to obtain and convenient, acidity is the primary reason.
The so-called acidity here is not that it tastes sour or not sour, but that the pH of grapes is usually only about 3. For the ancient era when there was no large-scale refrigeration, freezing, and pasteurization technology, low pH was similar to that of salted candy foods, which inhibited microbial growth by osmotic pressure to preserve food and drinks.
This is to take advantage of simple attribute suppression. Generally speaking, the PH difference is 1, the hydrogen ion concentration is 10 times worse, which is why the brewery needs to pay more attention to cleanliness than the winery when managing, because the pH value of beer is usually above 4, so there are more microorganisms that can survive. In the PH3-3.5 range, except for a few guys such as acetic acid bacteria, the number of microorganisms that can survive is much smaller, which makes the wine into grape vinegar the biggest risk in the brewing process - and that's it.
Drinks that cannot be preserved are naturally not to spread drinking culture.
Of course, among the many fruits in the West, it is not only wine that has such a low pH value, and the answer is of course not. But why haven't they gone mainstream? Some are too low in acidity, such as lemons, the acidity is low enough for yeast to survive; some are not enough sugar, such as plums, not enough to provide sugar that satisfies yeast; some are too low in juice, such as peaches, apricots, plums, PH values are not very low, nor high, and sugar is enough, but because it is not easy to squeeze juice, the yield is very limited.
Without quantitative guarantees, there can be no scale effect, let alone the formation of culture.
However, in the process of excellence in grape winemaking, Westerners are becoming more and more familiar with the laws of fruit fermentation, and at the same time, the achievements of natural sciences such as physics, chemistry and biology have advanced by leaps and bounds. With the invention of pasteurization, the maturity of low-temperature refrigeration technology, and the improvement of juicing efficiency, more and more fruits have been included in the cider family.
For example, cider.
In fact, cider has a long history in the West, especially in some areas with higher latitudes where hot and cold-loving grapes are not adapted: such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and so on.
As early as in England during the Norman Conquest, there are records of apple winemaking. But at the time, apple juicing was extremely troublesome, often a ton of apples could only produce a few hundred kilograms of apple juice: a large amount of pomace was wasted and discarded, which was an unforgivable waste for civilians.
Therefore, although the British apple was popular enough to hit Newton's head, the only people who could really drink cider were the royal family and the clergy in the church. In the records of the Sussex Seminary in England in 1367 AD, there is a historical record of 3 tons of cider selling for 55 shillings. During the reign of Henry II, the wineries of Kent were also famous for the production of fragrant ciders, favored by the nobility.
Compared with wine, cider is relatively easier to make dry wine with less residual sugar because of its lower sugar content. In addition, the apple pulp contains more aromatic alcohols that provide a pleasant smell, and has a large amount of gum arabic, which makes the wine gourmets indulge in its rich, sweet taste.
After the First Industrial Revolution, juicing no longer relied on manpower, and more efficient machines replaced the job. At the same time, mechanization has also affected apple farming, and production has increased by leaps and bounds. Today, the Annual Production of Cider in the UK exceeds 500,000 tonnes, while France, where the climate is more suitable for growing grapes, also exceeds 300,000 tonnes.
Blueberry wine is another fruit wine that has taken advantage of the era and technology dividends.
In fact, this kind of berry winemaking was an impossible mission in ancient times. Because the blueberries originating from North America, the introduction conditions are harsh and not suitable for artificial cultivation; at the same time, its maturity cycle is very short, and it is difficult to harvest a large number of blueberries of stable quality and quantity in the process of Indian field collection; in addition, the high latitude of wild blueberries is not conducive to the increased activity of yeast.
But in 1906, the American Kauvle began the breeding of wild blueberries, and after more than 30 years of selective breeding, in 1937 he selected 15 blueberry varieties for the first time commercial cultivation. By the end of the 1980s, the blueberry cultivation area in the United States had reached nearly 200,000 hectares, forming a huge blueberry industry integrating blueberry cultivation, fruit storage and processing, and marketing.
Winemaking, of course, is also reasonable.
Compared to grapes, blueberries have similar pH and sugar content, and the surface of the fruit also has a "white frost" that attracts yeast: sugar alcohols. Most importantly, it is rich in pectin that greatly exceeds that of grapes. Carefully brewed, the taste of today's finest blueberry wine is already on top of the wine.
In addition, there are Australian pear wine, Belgian cherry wine raspberry wine, New Zealand kiwi fruit wine, Argentina strawberry wine, all of which are echoed in this era. They are closely related to the fruit production area, but also closely related to the local people's pursuit of fruit taste sublimation.
But all in all, the historical background, cultural endorsement and research and development level of other fruit wines cannot be compared with wines. This is the essential reason why Chinese, who have always pursued the "take-ism" in Western culture, does not understand Western-style fruit wines other than wine.
No.4 肆
It was not until the 11th century, when the Crusades brought back the distillation technology invented by the Arabs, that the malted barley and oats in Western society really had a place to play: distillation avoided various impurities in grain wine and obtained a stable quality grain wine.
For fruit wine, distillation also means a bigger revolution: it breaks through the limitations of yeast in environments where the alcohol content exceeds 20% or so, and there is a more surging spirit.
France, which is rich in wine, was the first to try to use distillation techniques for wine.
As a result of distillation, brandy was obtained. Although the taste is spicy, it is soon discovered that brandy after years of aging in oak barrels acquires a unique smoky taste, which is a more advanced taste that distinguishes it from ordinary wines.
In the 16th century, the emerging maritime powers of Britain and the Netherlands began colonizing the South Asian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Because of the long distance, the fresh water stored on the ship will stink after a long time and cannot be accessed. The crew found that the highly antiseptic properties of the distilled liquor were very good and could be used as a diuretic for life extension. To make distilled spirits easier to eat, brewers have added a blueberry-like berry "juniper nut" to the production process, combined with various spices such as orange peel, cardamom, licorice, coriander, etc.
This is today's gin.
In the 17th century, with the expansion of Europeans into the Americas, the Caribbean became the world's largest and highest quality sugarcane cultivation area. In the process of using sugarcane to purify and make sucrose crystals, the colonists found that some of the sugarcane juice could not crystallize, but could only become a high viscosity, and a little bitter syrup, this kind of thing, at that time, was called molasses.
Although the taste is not good, molasses, like starch, can be fermented to make wine. The distilled molasses is today's rum.
This wave of fruit wine brought about by the great voyage also affected the Orient in reverse: after learning Chinese "Ome Boiled Wine" for hundreds of years, the Japanese found that directly soaking plums into distilled grain wine could obtain a new type of wine with both the thickness of grain wine and the fresh taste of fruit, Ome wine, which was born.
Later, Chinese soaked the endless bayberry into the "stinky wine" liquor distilled from sour rice wine, and even "wasted" to obtain today's bayberry wine.
These world-renowned drinks are, in essence, a step forward in making wine from fruit. On the map of the cider world, they are all dazzling stars created by technology and times.
-END-
Is wine delicious? Not bad, it contains alcohol, residual sugar from grape pulp and aromatic substances from various grapes.
On top of that, the cultural add-on that comes with its natural convenience.
But if you re-examine the cider with a dynamic eye, you will find that technology and technology are sharper weapons to satisfy human desire to explore and enjoy.
In order to add a little taste, it is better to spend time, energy, and money in grapes than to look at the worldview of a variety of ciders around the world.