Wine is an alcoholic drink. People have been making wine for about 5000 years. The word wine usually used describes drinks made from the juice of grapes, although people sometimes call alcoholic drinks made from the juice of other fruits – such as apples, cherries, plums or blackberries – wine.

Wine is a popular drink in many countries. The countries that drink the most wine are: France, Italy, USA, Germany, Spain, Argentina, United Kingdom, China, Russia and Romania. However, if you make a list of countries where the average person drinks the most wine, the list is different: Luxembourg, France, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, Switzerland, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Slovenia. Wine is made in many countries. The countries that make the most wine are: France, Italy, Spain, USA, Argentina, South Africa, Portugal and Chile.

WINES EXPLAINED

What is wine?
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice.

How is wine made?
Wine is made by crushing the grapes, and then the juice that comes from them has yeast added to it. That yeast kick-starts a fermentation process where the sugars within the juice is turned into alcohol, producing wine.

How is white wine made?
White wine is made using the pressed juice of both red and white grapes. It picks up no colour at all from the skins because it has no contact with them.

How is red wine made?
Red wine is made using the pressed juice of red grapes, and that juice is then left in contact with the skins of the grape, which leaks the colour into the final product – red wine.

How is rosé made?
Rosé wine is made in two different ways. One is that the pressed juice is left in contact with the red skins for a small amount of time just to give a light tint. The other is to have a small amount of still red wine added to the white wine to give it a small amount of colour and create Rosé.

Where is wine made?
Wine is made all over the world, from very traditional countries such as France, Germany and Spain; to New World countries such as America and Australia, and even places such as Great Britain and China.

Where was wine first made?
That’s very debatable, but there’re a number of sources that pin point countries such as Armenia and Georgia as the first countries that produced wine.

When was wine first made?
There is a lot of debate as to when wine was first made, but there are a lot of historical sources that pinpoint wine being made as far back as 1750 B.C.

Fölfelé megy borban a gyöngy, jól teszi.
Tőle senki e jogát el nem veszi.
Törjön is mind ég felé az, ami gyöngy,
Hadd maradjon gyáva földön a göröngy.

És ürítsük a hazáért e pohárt:
Egy pohár bor a hazáért meg nem árt!
Testet éleszt és táplál a lakoma,
De ami a lelket adja, az bora!

(Vörösmarty Mihály: Fóti dal)

Fröccs, a.k.a the Spritzer is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in Hungary. It is actually wine (mostly white wine) mixed with soda water.  And most importantly, not with mineral water as is often the case nowadays, but with good old fashioned soda water. (You probably remember those Soda Streams we used to have in the 80s!)

The origins of the drink

Both Hungarians and Austrians lay claim to the origin of the fröccs, but since soda water, one of its key ingredients, and the soda bottle was invented in Hungary, we can definitely say that fröccs is a Hungarian drink.

Different types of fröccs

So, here is a guide to all the different fröccs available on a typical Hungarian menu:

The Cheapskate(in Hungarian: Sóher): 900 ml of soda water to 100 ml of wine
The Tenant (in Hungarian: Kisházmester): 400 ml of soda water to 100 ml of wine
The Long Stride (in Hungarian: Hosszúlépés): 200 ml of soda water to 100 ml of wine
The Jerk or Big Spritzer (in Hungarian: Nagyfröccs): 100 ml of soda water to 200 ml of wine
The Concierge (in Hungarian: Házmester): 200 ml of soda water to 300 ml of wine
The Landlord (in Hungarian: Háziúr): 100 ml of soda water to 400 ml of wine
The Blockhead (in Hungarian: Mafla): ½ l of soda water to ½ l of wine
The Mayor (in Hungarian: Polgármester): 400 ml of soda water to 600 ml of wine
The Krúdy (in Hungarian: Krúdy fröccs) 100 ml of soda water to 900 ml of wine
The Bailer (in Hungarian: Csattos): ½ l of soda water to 1 l of wine
The Illuminator or Lamplighter (in Hungarian: Lámpás)

EGY KIS ETIMOLÓGIA

A fröccs szó eredete

Vörösmarty 1842. október 5-én írta meg híres versét, amelyből megtudhatjuk, hogy “Fölfelé megy a borban a gyöngy”. Igen ám, de a borban csak akkor megy fölfelé a gyöngy, ha szódavizet adunk hozzá! A jelzett napon Fáy András, aki a kor szelllemi-irodalmi és bankéletének is központja volt, néhány barátját szüretre hívta. A barátok között ott volt Czuczor Gergely, a nem kevésbé kitűnő költő, aki magával hozta Jedlik Ányost, aki nemcsak az elektromosság nagy tudósa volt, hanem a szódásüveg magyar feltalálója is. (A szódavizet magát egyébként nem Jedlik Ányos találta fel, hanem az angol lelkész Joseph Priestley 1767-ben.) Jedlik a szüretre is elvitte a világ legelső szódásüvegét, ahol a házigazda és a vendégek elképedésére elkészítette a Fáy-birtokon a legelső fröccsöt. Ő azonban – németesen – spriccernek nevezte. Vörösmartynak ez a szó nem tetszett és helyette találta ki a fröccs szót.

A unique collection of wine based on miniature bottles made for an historic Queen’s doll house was today released – costing 30,000 pounds. The fine wine merchant which supplies The Queen has launched the new collection, which is inspired by Queen Mary’s Doll’s House. Berry Bros & Rudd sourced miniature bottles for the world’s largest and most famous dolls’ house when it was made for Queen Mary in 1924.

The 1ft to 1ins scale model was an incredibly detailed replica of a Neo-Classical home, furnished by the nation’s leading craftsmen. It included a fully stocked cellar with 1,200 miniature bottles – filled with genuine samples of the best wine, beer and spirits of the day.

Now Berry Bros & Rudd have compiled "The Dolls House Collection", which comprises 12 bottles of more recent vintages featured in the model.

The 30,000 pounds package is on sale at the merchant’s St James’s Street shop in central London, where they have been based since 1698. It contains two bottles of Champagne, one demi-sec Champagne, four red wines, one white wine, one sweet wine, a port, and a whiskey. Among them is a 2009 Romanee-Conti, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti – a fine red Burgundy which sells individually for 17,300 pounds. A 2009 Le Montrachet – a white wine from the same domain, which usually has a price tag 3,602.40 pounds – is also included. The oldest bottle is an 1855 Taylor port with a retail price of 2,195 pounds.

The exclusive collection has been launched by the world’s oldest wine merchant to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation. And it marks almost 90 years since leading architect Sir Edwin Lutyens made the house for the wife of King George V.

Francis Berry, from Berry Bros. & Rudd, was tasked with selecting the wines for the dolls’ house cellar. Grandson Simon Berry, who is now the company’s chairman and Clerk of the Royal Cellars, said the collection shows Queen Mary had "only the finest". He said: "It was a great honour for my grandfather to be asked to select and prepare The Queen Mary Dolls House cellar. Today’s collection brings together more recent vintages of 12 of the wines and spirits originally included. We have created a one-off case that will demonstrate how only the finest was selected for Queen Mary."

Berry Bros. & Rudd holds two warrants for The Queen and Prince Charles and continues to supply the Royal Family as they have for 300 years. The Royal Collection describes Queen Mary’s Doll’s House as the "largest, most beautiful, and most famous dolls’ house in the world".

It was built by Sir Edwin between 1921 and 1924, and includes contributions from 1,500 of the finest artists, craftsmen and manufacturers. The library contains miniature works by the top literary names of the day, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, J. M. Barrie, Thomas Hardy, and Rudyard Kipling. The house – which even has electricity, running water, a working lift, and flushing toilet – now sits on display at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, Berks.

source: Solent News

merchant – kereskedő
to launch – beindítani, forgalomba hozni, piacra dobni
incredibly – hihetetlenül
detailed – részletes, részletezett, aprólékos
to furnish – berendezni, bebútorozni
stocked – felszerelt, nagy készlettel rendelkező
cellar – pince
genuine – eredeti, hiteles
sample – minta, kóstoló
spirits – szeszes italok
to comprise – tartalmazni, magába foglalni
individually – egyénileg
domain – terület, birtok
price tag – árcédula
retail – kiskereskedelem
leading – vezető, fő
to task – feladattal megbízni
honour – megtiszteltetés
to demonstrate – szemléltetni
warrant – megbízás, jogosultság, oklevél
flushing – lehúzható (öblíthető)
display – kiállítás

Match the words with their definitions.

1)         merchant         a)         authentic

2)         genuine           b)         show

3)         comprise         c)         separately

4)         individually     d)         consist of

5)         demonstrate    e)         vendor

Answers: 1) e, 2) a, 3) d, 4) c, 5) b

ALL ABOUT WINE

Wine is an alcoholic drink. People have been making wine for about 5000 years. The word wine usually used describes drinks made from the juice of grapes, although people sometimes call alcoholic drinks made from the juice of other fruits – such as apples, cherries, plums or blackberries – wine.

Wine is a popular drink in many countries. The countries that drink the most wine are: France, Italy, USA, Germany, Spain, Argentina, United Kingdom, China, Russia and Romania. However, if you make a list of countries where the average person drinks the most wine, the list is different: Luxembourg, France, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, Switzerland, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Slovenia. Wine is made in many countries. The countries that make the most wine are: France, Italy, Spain, USA, Argentina, South Africa, Portugal and Chile.

WINES EXPLAINED

What is wine?
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice.

How is wine made?
Wine is made by crushing the grapes, and then the juice that comes from them has yeast added to it. That yeast kick-starts a fermentation process where the sugars within the juice is turned into alcohol, producing wine.

How is white wine made?
White wine is made using the pressed juice of both red and white grapes. It picks up no colour at all from the skins because it has no contact with them.

How is red wine made?
Red wine is made using the pressed juice of red grapes, and that juice is then left in contact with the skins of the grape, which leaks the colour into the final product – red wine.

How is rosé made?
Rosé wine is made in two different ways. One is that the pressed juice is left in contact with the red skins for a small amount of time just to give a light tint. The other is to have a small amount of still red wine added to the white wine to give it a small amount of colour and create Rosé.

Where is wine made?
Wine is made all over the world, from very traditional countries such as France, Germany and Spain; to New World countries such as America and Australia, and even places such as Great Britain and China.

Where was wine first made?
That’s very debatable, but there’re a number of sources that pin point countries such as Armenia and Georgia as the first countries that produced wine.

When was wine first made?
There is a lot of debate as to when wine was first made, but there are a lot of historical sources that pinpoint wine being made as far back as 1750 B.C.

alcoholic – alkoholos
to describe – leírni, körülírni
although – bár, habár
average person – áltag ember
fermented – erjesztett
yeast – élesztő
to add to – hozzáadni
to kick-start – hirtelen elindítani
fermentation – erjesztés, erjedés
process – folyamat
to pick up – felszedni
to leak – szivárogni
light tint – enyhe szín/árnyalat
amount – összeg, mennyiség
debatable – vitatható, vita tárgya
source – forrás
to pinpoint – leszögezni, pontosan meghatározni
debate – vita
historical – történelmi
B.C.  – időszámításunk előtt