Wine has been around for quite some time, with experts dating it to about 6000 BC, with the country of origin being Israel. It is made by fermenting crushed grapes with different types of yeast. The yeast consumes the sugars in the grape juice and convert it into alcohol. The red colouring is given by leaving the skins in for a certain length of time. The longer they are left in, the darker the colour. If they are taken out right from the beginning of the process, white wine is the result.
Specific wines take their names from two sources; the name of the grape from which it was made eg Pinot Noir, or the name of the region where it was grown, eg Barossa Valley. Many blended wines are named for the region where the grapes were grown. Since the taste and keeping abilities of wine is much affected by the season - climatic conditions - in which the grapes grew, some wines are specified for certain years and they are called vintage wines. Vintage wine must contain 95% of grapes grown in the same year that it is labelled with.
Some rare wines sell for thousands of dollars per bottle. In this case wine is often purchased as an investment, rather than for drinking. This type of wine must take many years to mature and be drinkable. Those who don't know much about rare wines need to be aware that wine fraudsters will try to prey on their ignorance by selling wine that is not truly rare.
