drakar2007 wrote:My brother claims that the term "wine" specifically implies that it is a white wine made with grapes [think of the etymology of the word "wine" after all], and has honey added for flavor. Of course the honey they add for flavor is 100% pure, so the snippet you've quoted (with its almost-suspiciously vague wording) doesn't exactly prove to me that my brother is wrong. Somewhat stronger evidence is the fact that the celltracker listing for this stuff makes no mention of grapes.
I still wish I could find some absolute clarification on the issue, as I'm a big fan of regular Chaucer's and my annoying brother always hits me in the face with the whole "well it's not REAL mead since it's just honey-flavored wine..." bit. Anyone?
Your brother is wrong. First, "wine" is a fairly generic term referring to any fermented beverage made from fruit. In fact, it is even used for non-fruit fermentations (think "rice wine" (sake)). It's true that in modern times, grape wine has come to dominate the market, but that doesn't reserve the word for just grape wine.
To my knowledge, Chaucer's doesn't make any grape wines. They make wine using honey (mead), or using other fruits (such as raspberries). Sometimes, they'll combine the two results, as in the raspberry mead here. All are made from fermented fruit juice (or honey water), none include grapes or grape juice.
They have a phone number on their website, and I'm sure they'd be happy to answer your questions if you called them.
Also, side note, stop worrying what your brother thinks, and drink whatever tastes good. ;-)
