Wine vs. Mead

[cmorrow05]

Can someone please settle a disagreement? Is Mead considered a wine, and why or why not? Thanks.

[mrdutton]

Why and why not I can not answer. But every article I've read so far on Mead says that it is one of the very first "wines" to have ever been fermented.

However it could be that the articles are slanted towards mead, I do not know. I am still trying to find the source of a Mead for someone else on this board. They are looking for Merrydown - it is supposedly a commercial brand.

[Jason]

Yes, mead is considered wine. It pushes the boundries because we usually associate wine with fruit.
It is wine because it is fermented, rather than brewed or distilled like spirits are.

[Drew]

I have to disagree with you. My sources tell me mead is "brewed" from 3 main ingredients....water, honey and yeast. Here's an old recipe:
An Englishman, Sir Kenelme Digbe (1669) came up with this nifty recipe: ..."As I made it weak for the Queen Mother: Take 18 quarts of spring-water, and one quart of honey; when the water is warm, put the honey into it. When it boileth up, skim it very well, and continue skimming it, as long as any scum will rise. Then put in one Race of Ginger (sliced in thin slices), four cloves, and a little sprig of green Rosemary. Let these boil in the Liquor so long, till in all it have boiled one hour. Then set it to cool, till it be blood-warm; and then put into it a spoonful of Ale-yest. When it is worked up, put it into a vessel of a fit size; after two or three days, bottle it up. You may drink it after six weeks, or two moneths. Thus was the Hydromel made that I gave the Queen, which was exceedingly liked by everbody."
I would call this a fermented beverage but neither wine, " the fermented juice of fresh grapes used as a beverage" or beer,"an alcoholic beverage usually made from malted cereal grain (as barley), flavored with hops, and brewed by slow fermentation." as definitions go.

Drew

[Bucko]

From the Encyclopedia of Wine:

Mead -- Honey wine, made by fermenting honey and water.

Wine -- As legally defined in most countries, a beverage made from the partial or complete fermentation of the juice of fresh grapes.

You choose.........

Bucko

[Thomas]

Ok, here is the purist view:

The word "wine" stems from a Phoenician word which is connected to the Semitic "yain." The Phoenicians used the word to identify the product that was produced after fermentation of grapes/juice--and only grapes.

eono, vino, vigna, vinho, vin, wein, wine--all from the same root word--yain.

The short of it: anything other than fermented grape/juice is something other than wine, and there is a technical reason for this attitude.

The grape is the only fruit that can reach ripeness with enough natural sugar and yeast that, when fermented, could yield from 7 to 12 percent alcohol by volume, without human intervention. Every other fermented product must be helped along to perform this feat.

Other fermentations took place before wine was discovered--barley beer, date palm brew and pomegranate brew, brews that used human spit to add yeast, but none are likely to have been as potent as wine, which is why early civilizations reserved wine for the ruling class and spiritual leaders. The Phoenicians built two separate societies on their wine trade--one in what is now called Lebanon, and one in what is now Tunisia (Carthage). And it was the Phoenicians who taught the Greeks about wine, and who gave Dionysius his Grandparents. Fermented grae/juice was all-important to them; it deserved its own word.

[Kcwhippet]

mrdutton,
If you're still looking for Merrydown Mead, go to www.merrydown.co.uk.

[mrdutton]

Kcwhippet - thanks for the web-site information. From the looks of things they don't make the mead anymore. However, I've sent them an inquiry via e-mail.

[Bucko]

Makers of hand-crafted meads...

http://www.whitewinter.com/
IMPORTANT: States we can ship our meads to include:
California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Minnesota (Residents must call to order, internet sales prohibited). Ohio (Residents must obtain permit).

Bucko

[Innkeeper]

For another source of old fashioned honey based Mead, contact the Weston Vinyards Winery, Weston, MO 64098; tel: 816-386-5200 or 816-640-5728. In regard to shipping, we have found (it may be MO law) that Missouri Wineries will ship anywhere if you pay the MO sales tax, and you accept responsibility for the shipment.