Wine?Wine?

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, typically made of fermented grape juice.

The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients.

Wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast consumers the sugar found in grapes and converts them into alcohol.

Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are used depending on the type of wine being produced.

Chemistry in Chemistry in winemakingwinemaking

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, the same scientist whose results on combining gas volumes were explained by Avogadro, discovered the overall reaction that converts glucose to alcohol and carbon dioxide:

C6H12O6 -->2 CO2+ 2C2H5OH

Chemistry in Chemistry in winemakingwinemaking

Pasteur realized that yeast was responsible for the conversion of glucose to alcohol. By adding yeast to a simple sugar solution, he showed that alcohol could be formed. He also revealed that the metabolism of yeast was pH -dependent; the acid-level played a role in determining wine's properties. One of grapes' two principal acids, tartaric acid (malic acid is the other), led to Pasteur’s discovery of enantiomers, molecules that are mirror images of one another.

Ingredients/MaterialsIngredients/Materials

.25 ounce package active dry yeast (7 grams)

4 cups sugar

12 ounces of frozen juice concentrate (any flavor except citrus)

3 1/2 quarts cold water (optional)

Sterile jug/container

Latex balloon

Rubber band

Procedure:Procedure:

Combine the yeast, sugar and juice concentrate in a gallon jug.

Fill the jug the rest of the way with cold water.

Rinse out a large balloon, and fit it over the opening of the jug.

Secure the balloon with a rubber band.

Procedure:Procedure:

Place jug in a cool dark place. Within a day you will notice the balloon starting to expand. As the sugar turns to alcohol the gasses released will fill up the balloon.

When the balloon is deflated back to size the wine is ready to drink. It takes about 6 weeks total.

Why our wine? Why our wine?

Delicious

Cheap

Easy to-do

Good for the environment (no machineries used)