Wine: benefits, harm, recipes

Many people know that there are a lot of alcohol in the world, different types, varieties, names. One of these is wine. They began to make it a long time ago. The variety of types of this drink amazes the human imagination. It is believed that it first appeared in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. But different historians believe in their own way, so there are many myths about wine. The most important wine producing countries are Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Russia, Georgia and Abkhazia.

The benefits of wine

Many people argue about whether drinking wine is beneficial. Well, there are so many people here and there are so many versions. Some consider wine a panacea for all sorts of diseases, while others think that it is extremely harmful, supposedly alcohol consumption destroys brain cells and a person collapses as a person. So what's the truth? The truth is that drinking wine in moderation can be beneficial for your organism, getting rid of harmful microbes, toxins and even helps to cure and prevent some diseases. For example, wine helps to improve metabolism.

This natural wine does not contain alcohol, dyes or flavors. These drinks contain many useful vitamins (vitamins C and B) and microelements (iodine, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus). Thanks to such an excellent composition, wine helps to lower high blood pressure and tone the body. Anthocyanins (substances that color the drink) are antibiotics of a kind.

Wine also lowers cholesterol levels, improves arteries, helps prevent cardiovascular disease and rejuvenates. For the elderly, this wonderful drink also has its advantages - their blood pressure improves, and the tone in the body increases. In the treatment of influenza, pneumonia and bronchial diseases, they help heated red wines... Also provides anti-stress, bactericidal and antiallergic effect on the human body. Helps with vitamin deficiency, tuberculosis, indigestion, loss of energy, anemia and atherosclerosis.

It is believed that each wine is useful in its own way. The red drink contains rubidium, titanium, iodine, magnesium and vitamins C and B. Moderate consumption of red wine helps to rid a person of tooth decay, since, thanks to the unique composition, bacteria do not linger on the tooth enamel. It has a great effect on blood vessels and blood pressure. But the use of white wine when eating, helps to improve the absorption of food and vitamins and elements necessary for the body. Caffeine the acid contained in the white drink helps to recover faster from bronchitis and other colds diseases, increasing the action of the immune system. Dry wine, as the lowest in calories, prevents the occurrence of many diseases, including obesity.

Wine therapy is gaining popularity in modern cosmetology. The use goes not only inside the body, but also external use. Wine is used for treatment and recovery, and for massages, peeling, baths, masks and wraps use grape butter, fresh bunches of grapes, leaves and even seeds. By the way, wine is added to some masks and trays. Such procedures cleanse contaminated skin, nourish it, make it smooth, elastic, and increase blood circulation. For dry skin, it is recommended to take semi-sweet varieties, and for oily skin - dry and semi-dry wine.

The harm of wine

As you have already seen, the benefits of wine are colossal, but no less harm. Probably the greatest harm is alcoholism and alcohol dependence, with excessive consumption of wine. Some wine manufacturers add alcohol to the drink, which has an extremely adverse effect on the human body, because the harm from such drinking is much greater than the benefit.

Red wine is harmful because when consumed in large quantities, headache and drowsiness occur (if you drink white, then such effects are not observed). Also, excessive use threatens weight gain because the red drink is the most high-calorie of all. Excessive passion for white wine negatively affects teeth... It has a rather large amount of sugar and acids. Therefore, it also negatively affects the functioning of the kidneys, digestive tract, liver, and also leads to mental disorders. Dry wine has a very low sugar content, so it is not recommended to use it for various chronic diseases, including liver and kidney diseases, for people who suffer from gout and diabetics.

Wine composition

The wine contains such substances as:

• carbohydrates(there are much more of them in white wine than in red);
• proteins (in fact, there are very few of them in wine than, for example, in grape juice);
• fibers (there is a minimum amount of them in wine);
• water;
• alcohol (per liter of drink - from 80 to 165 g);
• salts (most of all potassium, as well as magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium);
• useful trace elements (iron, copper, zinc, manganese);
• vitamins (group B, vitamin C in wine is negligible);
• polyphenols (found in the bones and skin, remain in the drink due to alcohol, because of them wine is recommended for people with Alzheimer's disease, cancer);
• mineral acids (malic, tartaric, salicylic).

There is also a small amount of aldehydes in wine, but there are also substances that are unfavorable for the human body - tyramine, serotonin, sulfites, but in extremely small quantities. But the fats in the drink are completely absent.

Contraindications

As with all products, wines also have contraindications. It is not recommended to drink wine for alcoholism, hypertension, depression, pancreatitis, ischemic heart disease and with an increased level of triglycerides in the blood.

Wine consumption is contraindicated for children and adolescents under 18 years of age, pregnant and lactating women, people suffering from allergic reactions to wine or the products contained in it, as well as people who have diseases of the liver, kidneys, nervous system and various digestive organs.

Types of wine

The wine is quite varied. It differs in color and composition. There are three main colors of wines: white, pink and red. For a red drink, black grapes are used, it is outlived along with the skin, it is because of it that such a rich shade is obtained. For white, they also take black grapes, less often they use light ones, and peel them, so the wine turns out to be white in appearance. In order to make rosé wine, grapes are crumpled by direct pressing, when the juice is very quickly colored. Also, the types of wines differ in the amount of sugar contained in the drink. These wines are divided into four types: still, sparkling, fortified and flavored.

Table drinks are divided into three groups:

• dry, sugar in them is only 0.3%;
• semi-dry, sugar content from 5 to 30 g per liter;
• semi-sweet, containing sugar from 30 to 80 g per liter.

Fortified wines contain five subgroups:

• strong, sugar - 30-120 g per liter, alcohol - 17-21%;
• sweet, sugar - 150 g per liter, alcohol - 14-20%;
• semi-dessert, 50-120 g of sugar per liter, alcohol - 14-16%;
• dessert, 160-200 g of sugar per liter, alcohol - 15-17%;
• liqueur, 210-300 g of sugar per liter, alcohol - 12-16% by volume.

Sparkling and flavored drinks do not contain a large number of subspecies. The aging period of wines is also different, there are aged drinks (the shelf life of these is more than six months), branded (stored in large containers for at least a couple of years) and collection (such wines are of the highest quality, their aging is more than 3 years). They can also be divided by quality into ordinary (young wine without aging) and high quality (these are made from the best grape varieties, according to all the rules). There are also still and sparkling wines, still are simple drinks that do not contain carbon dioxide, and sparkling wines are mostly champagne.

What wines are made of

It would seem that wine is made from grapes, but this is not entirely true. In addition to grapes, wines are made from a variety of products and ingredients. Grapes, of course, are made from grape juice. For fruit, it is best to take apples, pears, or pomegranates. For berry drinks - forest and garden berries: strawberries, wild strawberries, plums, mulberries, raspberries, gooseberries, apricots, cherries. Vegetables are obtained from the sap of birch or maple, melon, watermelon, dandelions, and even from rose petals. Raisin wines are made from raisins. There are also multi-grade wines, for which different types of grapes are mixed or, for example, apples and cherries.

How to make homemade wine

In order to make wine at home, you need to remember and observe some factors. Firstly, never use metal containers, oak barrels, glass bottles or jars, enamel buckets will do. The dishes should be prepared in advance by washing with cold and then hot water with food soda.

Secondly, the ingredients for the drink must be ripe and fresh. They must be crushed using a juicer or a meat grinder. If you are using currants or grapes, then it is better to use a press to get more raw materials. Various juices may require additional processing because they contain a lot of acid, not sugar. For quality wine, acidity needs to be removed by increasing sugar. To do this, the juice can be diluted with soft water, mixed with pure chalk (a precipitate is formed that removes acidity), or you can combine non-acidic juice with acidic.

Now let's consider the fermentation process - if it has not started after 7 days, then yeast (baking, beer) must be poured into the juice. Pour the juice into the prepared container, preferably with a narrow neck, close it tightly with a stopper or lid so that air does not enter the container. Make a hole in the lid, place a tube with a hose in it, define the other end in a jar of water. This will release carbon dioxide. Well, at the very last moment, you need to remove the sediment in time. After the wine has finished fermenting, it must be drained and poured into bottles.

Homemade cherry wine recipe. What you need: a bucket of ripe cherries, a couple of kilograms of granulated sugar and a couple of liters of water. It is necessary to wash the berries, throw out the seeds and fill with water, removing for a day. After that, squeeze the juice, add a little water. Pour into a container, leave to ferment for 10-15 days. After fermentation, filter and bottle.

How to make apple wine

Apple wine: recipe 1

What you need: 7 kg of ripe, not rotten apples, a couple of spoons of raisins, 2.5 kg of granulated sugar, 11 tablespoons of vodka.

1. Wash the fruits thoroughly, cut, remove the seeds.
2. Scroll the pieces through a meat grinder.
3. Cover with granulated sugar, mix thoroughly.
4. Pour in raisins, the resulting mixture should be put in a glass container with a narrow neck. Put on a rubber glove tightly on top, put it in a dark, cool place for a couple of weeks.
5. After that, the mass should be drained and squeezed out, filled with a glass of sugar, put back into the vessel, adding 4 tablespoons of vodka.
6. Keep it for another week, then repeat the operation. As a result, the wine should stand for about four weeks. After the expiration date, strain the resulting drink and bottle.

Apple wine: recipe 2

Ingredients: 8 liters of apple juice, a couple of kg of granulated sugar, a liter of water.

1. It is best to squeeze the juice from sour apple varieties, pour water and a kilo of sugar into it.
2. Pour into a fermentation container, leave for 7 days.
3. After a week, add the rest of the sugar, and leave for a month, keeping at room temperature.
4. You will get a light drink and a sediment at the bottom, which should be filtered.
5. Pour the refined wine to the brim into a vessel and keep for another month. Then it is bottled and closed tightly.

Apple wine: recipe 3

Ingredients: 10 kg of apples, 3 kg of granulated sugar, 10 liters of water, cinnamon.

1. Wash the apples thoroughly, cut, put in a saucepan, flood with water.
2. Add cinnamon and boil the apples until soft. Rub the fruits through a sieve, put the resulting mass in a vessel and leave for a couple of days.
3. After strain, add sugar and leave for a week.
4. Filter the resulting drink, pouring into bottles.

How to make plum wine

What you need: a kilogram of plums, a liter of water and 300 g of granulated sugar.

1. It is better to take homemade plum, you do not need to wash it. Put it in a huge bowl and insist for a couple of days so that it withers.
2. Mash the plums, remove the seeds, put in a container, fill with water. Stir thoroughly and cover with gauze, leaving to wander for a couple of days.
3. When the mass begins to ferment, it is necessary to filter it and cover it with sugar. Pour into a glass vessel, close the lid, insert the hose.
4. Keep in a warm place for a little more than a month. Then carefully strain the drink and bottle it.

Ingredients: a kilogram of plums and 200 g of granulated sugar.

For this recipe, you can use slightly overripe plums because they have more juice. Wash them, divide them into two, removing the seeds. Fold the halves in a glass container, cover with granulated sugar, cover with a glove on top. Leave in a warm, dark place for a couple of months. After that, the resulting wine must be filtered and poured into bottles.

How to make wine from grapes

Red grape wine

Ingredients: 5 kg of grapes, 70 g of cloves, 100 g of ground cinnamon, 10 g of nutmeg, 10 g of ginger, 10 g of hot peppers.

1. Rinse red ripe grapes, squeeze until juice is obtained.
2. Pour the liquid and cake into a wooden barrel. A canvas bag containing ground spices should be placed on the bottom.
3. Place the container in a cool, dark place and ferment for a month.
4. Strain the resulting wine, pour into vessels.

White grape wine

Ingredients: 10 kg of grapes, 3 kg of granulated sugar.

1. Wash the grapes and squeeze until juiced, put in a warm place for 6 days, stirring occasionally.
2. Then strain the juice through cheesecloth, pour into a glass bottle and cover with granulated sugar. Seal with a lid with a hose, leaving to ferment for a month at room temperature.
3. After a month, the wine should be filtered and poured into bottles.

Dry grape wine

You only need 10 kg of grapes.

1. Wash and squeeze the grapes thoroughly.
2. Pour the liquid into a large bottle and place in a warm place for a couple of days. Then you need to strain the juice and pour it back into the bottle, plugging it with a lid with a hose.
3. When the juice becomes transparent, the drink is ready. It needs to be filtered and poured into small bottles. If the wine is too dry, you can add a little granulated sugar to it.