“Wine and spirits” is a broad term for two major categories of alcoholic beverages. Wine is made by fermenting fruit (usually grapes), while spirits are made by distilling a fermented liquid to concentrate its alcohol. You’ll see the phrase on store signs, restaurant menus, and liquor licenses because these two categories, along with beer, cover essentially all alcoholic drinks.
Wine: Fermented Fruit
Wine starts with fruit juice, most commonly from grapes. Yeast converts the natural sugars in that juice into alcohol and carbon dioxide through fermentation. The process happens in an oxygen-free environment, and the result is a drink that typically lands around 12% alcohol by volume. That’s it: no heating, no concentration, just fruit juice transformed by yeast.
While grapes dominate the category, wine can also be made from cherries, berries, and other fruits. The U.S. federal regulatory system even recognizes “agricultural wine,” which covers wine made from suitable agricultural products beyond standard fruits. Sparkling wines like Champagne get their bubbles from a secondary fermentation that traps carbon dioxide in the bottle, while fortified wines like Port and Sherry have grape spirits added to them, pushing their alcohol content up to 15 to 21%.
Spirits: Distilled and Concentrated
Spirits begin with fermentation too, but they add a second step: distillation. After a liquid (which could be fermented grain, fruit, sugarcane, or even potatoes) has finished fermenting, it gets heated. Alcohol vaporizes at a lower temperature than water, so the steam that rises first is rich in alcohol. That vapor is captured, cooled back into liquid form, and collected. The result is a drink with far more alcohol than wine or beer, typically around 40% ABV.
The base ingredient determines the type of spirit. Whiskey comes from grain like barley or rye and is aged in oak barrels. Vodka is usually made from grain or potatoes and distilled multiple times to strip out impurities. Rum starts with sugarcane. Tequila is made from the agave plant. Brandy is actually distilled from wine, making it a direct bridge between the two categories. Gin, rum, tequila, vodka, and whiskey all fall under the spirits umbrella.
Why Distilled Alcohol Is Called “Spirits”
The name goes back to early distillers in the Middle Ages. When they heated wine or beer and watched the alcohol rise as vapor, they saw it as the “spirit” of the liquid, its purest and most essential part escaping the body of the drink. This concentrated alcohol was called aqua vitae, Latin for “water of life,” and was prized as both a medicine and an intoxicant. Alchemists described the process as capturing the “soul” of the drink. Over centuries, “spirits” simply became the everyday word for any beverage produced through distillation.
The Key Differences at a Glance
- Production: Wine is fermented only. Spirits are fermented and then distilled.
- Alcohol content: Wine averages about 12% ABV. Spirits average about 40% ABV. Fortified wines sit in between at roughly 17%.
- Base ingredients: Wine is made primarily from grapes or other fruits. Spirits can be made from grains, fruits, sugarcane, potatoes, or agave.
- Standard serving size: A standard drink is 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of spirits, both containing roughly the same amount of pure alcohol.
- Shelf life after opening: Red wine lasts 3 to 5 days recorked in a cool, dark place. White wine and rosé last 2 to 3 days. Sparkling wine loses its fizz within hours, though a stopper can stretch it to about 3 days. Spirits, because of their high alcohol content, remain stable for months or even years after opening.
Fortified Wine: The Category in Between
Fortified wines blur the line between wine and spirits. They start as regular wine, but neutral grape spirits are added during or after fermentation to raise the alcohol level. Port, Sherry, Madeira, and Marsala are the most well-known examples. Their alcohol content ranges from about 15% to 21%, placing them squarely between table wine and full-strength spirits. Once opened, fortified wines last significantly longer than regular wine, typically 1 to 3 weeks, because that extra alcohol acts as a preservative.
How Stores and Laws Use the Term
When you see “Wine & Spirits” on a shop sign, it signals that the store sells both categories (and often beer as well). The phrase reflects how alcohol is regulated in the United States. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau classifies alcoholic beverages into distinct categories, each with its own labeling rules, tax rates, and production standards. Distilled spirits have their own detailed standards of identity that define what can legally be called whiskey, vodka, rum, and so on. Wine has a separate set of regulations covering everything from grape varieties to allowable additives like sugar and water used to balance acidity.
In many U.S. states, the licensing requirements for selling wine differ from those for selling spirits, which is why some stores can sell wine and beer but not hard liquor. States with government-run liquor stores often use the phrase directly in their branding, like Pennsylvania’s Fine Wine & Good Spirits retail chain.