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Given that it is one of the oldest beverages in the world, wine has a long history full of interesting, and sometimes strange, facts. Some of them you may already know, but in this article, we will present the twenty-five that we found most interesting.

1. A “Cork-teaser” is the term for that person in the group who always promises to open the wine and treat everyone, but it never happens. This usually comes after the teaser boasts about receiving an expensive and high-quality wine as a gift, but it often remains a mystery.
2. All those who have visited a wine cellar at least once may have noticed that some wine bottles stand upright, while others are laid down. You might have thought it was an aesthetic preference, but the key is actually in the material of the bottle cork. Namely, if the cork is made of cork, which is a natural material, and not plastic, then the bottle should be laid down so that the cork does not dry out. When the bottle is laid down, the cork does not dry out because it comes into contact with the wine, so it will not happen that a part of the cork breaks off and ends up in the wine.
3. In ancient and patriarchal Roman society, women were prohibited from consuming wine. Men believed that the female body was not strong enough to tolerate alcohol and that it could lead to inappropriate behavior. One legend associated with this belief tells of a young Roman woman who stole the keys to the wine cellar and got drunk. According to the laws of ancient Rome at the time, she was punished with the death penalty. With the transition from the republic to the empire, Roman society gradually liberalized, and women were allowed to drink wine instead of grape juice.
4. It is believed that the wine cellar found in the wreckage of the Titanic is one of the oldest known in the world. Despite its ordeal, a large part of the bottles remains intact and is still located at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. One bottle of Champagne, specifically the 1907 Heidsieck & Co. Monopole, was sold for $11,000 to a luxury hotel in Hong Kong, where it was served to elite guests in 2012.
5. On the list of bizarre phobias is “oenophobia,” a fear of wine. While many do not consider this fear of wine a legitimate phobia, those who suffer from it would likely disagree. Individuals with oenophobia exhibit symptoms of anxiety attacks when in contact with wine, possibly due to a previous negative experience with wine or fear of future consequences of consumption, such as nausea and vomiting, or stomach poisoning due to lack of control.
6. For those on a diet or choosing to follow one, wine can be part of the menu because it contains no fat or cholesterol. However, this does not mean that it should be consumed in excessive amounts, but a glass or two a day will not harm you, on the contrary!
7. A wine glass is not held by the stem solely for aesthetic reasons but also to prevent the wine from unnecessarily warming up.
8. Hammurabi’s Code from the 18th century BCE prescribes the punishment of being thrown into the river for wine merchants who were fraudsters.
9. “Le donne del vino” or “Women of Wine” is an Italian association founded in 1988 with the aim of empowering women entrepreneurship in winemaking. The association is still active today and counts around 890 members across Italy. In Croatia, there is also the association of wine enthusiasts “WoW – Women on Wine,” a very active and charming group of women who gather around the topic of wine and emphasize the presence of women in the wine world.
10. It is acceptable to spit out wine at wine tasting events. At such events, it is acceptable to sip wine and hold it in the mouth for a few seconds to test the aroma, and then spit out the wine instead of swallowing it. This allows guests to taste more wine without the increased alcohol content affecting their ability to judge.
11. In addition to white, red, and rosé wine, there is also orange wine. It is considered the fourth wine category and is produced by applying the winemaking technique used for red wines to white wines, with longer maceration and minimal intervention in the wine.
12. A bottle of Domaine Romanee-Conti Burgundy 1945, aged 73 years, became the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold at auction in 2018. A collector paid $558,000 for a 750ml bottle.
13. Eating artichokes while consuming wine changes its taste. They contain the chemical compound cynarin, which alters flavors, making the wine taste sweeter.
14. The stereotype that women tolerate alcohol, and therefore wine, worse than men is medically justified. Even if a woman and a man of the same body weight consume the same amount of alcohol at the same time, her body will still be more intoxicated. This happens for several reasons. The first is that the female body has less water than the male body, so alcohol is broken down to a greater extent in men, while it remains in the body in greater quantities in women. This is also compounded by the fact that women have a higher percentage of body fat, which slows down alcohol digestion. In addition, differences in hormones and the menstrual cycle in women affect alcohol digestion.
15. An average of 720 bottles of wine can be filled from one ton of grapes.
16. The three leading countries in wine production worldwide are France, Spain, and Italy, and it is only a matter of time before China, which is making significant progress in increasing production, enters the top 3 in the world.
17. You have to drink 7 glasses of orange juice or 20 glasses of apple juice to get the same amount of antioxidants as in wine.
18. Due to the large number of organic compounds, wine is considered to have a more complex composition than blood serum.
19. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, often used wine in his treatments. He used it as an antiseptic and to reduce fever. This tradition has survived to this day as one of the alternative methods of treatment.
20. Not all wines are vegan because some use animal by-products such as gelatin for stabilization through the segmentation of small particles that bind to the gelatin.
21. Although women have a lower tolerance for wine, they are better at tasting it because they have a more acute sense of smell than men.
22. The notion that wine gets better with age is not accurate. In principle, 90% of wine should be consumed within the first few years of its production.
23. In the Abruzzo region of Italy, a wine fountain was opened in 2016 that operates 24 hours a day. You can get free red wine by pressing a button, and it is not the only fountain of its kind in Italy.
24. It is believed that there are over 10,000 grape varieties in the world. The six noble grape varieties are considered to be: Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.
25. Ancient Romans used to put a piece of toasted or fried bread into wine to reduce acidity.