Red wine is a type of wine made from the European or dark-coloured grapes’ variety. The skin of the grapes is kept in close contact with the grape juice during the fermentation process, allowing the dispersion of both colour and tannins.
Common red wine varieties include cherry, plum, strawberry, raspberry, gooseberry, boysenberry, raisin, coffee, fig, currant, mocha, violet and even tobacco.
Each of these differs in characteristics such as the grape variety, colour, flavour, mouth feel and ageing potential. Read on to know multiple ways of using wine:
- Red wine can be used as a fruit cleaner. The alcohol and resveratrol, a phytochemical in red wine, can kill off bacteria that cause food-borne illness such as salmonella and E. coli. Just run a little wine over your fruit after rinsing it off with water, dry it off and enjoy!
- Flies are attracted to rotting things, and since wine is fermented, the flies smell it and are automatically attracted to it. Simply pour red wine in a small bowl or glass and place it in the problem area, such as near a kitchen window.
- It’s believed that the powerful antioxidants in the fermented grapes may firm and increase your skin’s elasticity. Pour one glass of wine straight into your bath one to two times a week and soak for 30 minutes to get the anti-aging and skin-smoothing benefits you desire.
- Wine can be used for an amazing at-home facial! Apply it to your skin for a DIY facial mask to get the same skin-firming results as with the bath. You may even add it in any of your DIY face mask.
- Wine can also be used as a cooking substitute! Swapping red wine for heavy sauces or oil is a healthy, lighter alternative. A half a cup of oil has 950 calories, but the same amount of red wine only has 98 calories–saving you more than 850 calories!
- Red wine can be used to make a compost or fertilizer. Pour leftover red wine into a compost bin to activate the bacteria that’ll turn the compost into fertilizer for your garden.
- Resveratrol, the natural compound in wine, might better your bones. A recent study cited the phytochemical as a potential treatment for osteoporosis, by helping stimulate bone-forming cells within the body.
- Wine can be used in steaming mussels. Simply steam the shells in your preferred vino (red wine) with a mix of herbs!
- Treat your tootsies to something soothing, like a wine footbath. The polyphenols that come from the skin and seeds of red wine grapes can be beneficial to your skin.
- A burgundy wine brings you a rich red hue or adds body to brunettes and darker-haired ladies. To create a temporary colour, mix wine with cocoa powder until it achieves a paste. Using care (it will stain skin), apply and leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse well and shampoo and condition as normal.
- For clear, smooth, and soft skin swap spirits for your standard toner. Soak cotton balls in red wine or decant wine into a mini spray bottle and spritz onto your skin. Massage the vintage in with your fingertips to rejuvenate your skin.
- White wine can be used to remove stains and grease. Just flood the stain with white wine and keep it that way for 5 minutes before cleaning it off.
There are unlimited uses of wine! Apart from consuming, wine can be used in one or more of the above ways!