A large section of the Provisioner's Notes is seemingly devoted to this topic, annotated with ornate images of grapes, vines and chalices along the margins of the pages. Despite the breadth of the section, specific excerpts and comments of interest seem to beckon to the reader. 

 • Viticulture and Winemaking

Viticulture is the discipline of agriculture that focuses primarily on the cultivation of grapevines, and is intimately related to winemaking, a vocation that - as its name suggests - relates to the production of fine wine. Viticulture and winemaking are fairly diverse throughout the settlements of the elves, with variations in philosophy and methodology from vineyard to vineyard.

• The Storage of Wine

The storage of wine is of the highest concern to a provisioner, as the longevity of one's supply is a merit of frugality and a symbol of one's proficiency of vocation. A tainted wine during a long journey is both a detriment to the nourishment of the company, but also a blow to the morale of those eager for the respite that the beverage offers.

Wine is to be kept cool to the best of one's ability, stored in the appropriate containers that shield the wine from the elements. Heat will accelerate teh fermentation in an undesired and uncontrolled fashion  even 'cooking' the wine, compromising its taste and aromas. Excessively frigid temperatures (such as that of Fading or Winter) could compromise the taste equally, drawing moisture from the cork.

For similar reasons, wine bottles are to be stored on their side, as the cork that preserves the beverage may dry if stored for prolonged periods of time in an upright position. Should the cork dry, air may seep into the bottle and taint the wine.

The opaqueness of a vessel for wine is a deliberate trait. A wine that is struck excessively by the light of dawn produces a foul odor. The light - slowly over time - seems to cleave the liquid, creating a scent that is both unpleasant and unpalatable. With this in consideration, wine is bottled in darkened glass, whose hues depend upon the manner of wine produced. 

For older wines, disturbing the bottle with excessive agitation may bring years of arduous labor to waste. The sediment that deposits at the bottom of the bottle may be disturbed - granting the wine an unwarranted grittiness when tasted - an unfavorable quality on all accounts. There should be very little reason to treat such fine drink in such a ruthless manner.

• Varieties of Wine

Wine, like many things, comes in varieties that are sculpted and determined by its journey. The production of wine takes a myriad of factors into consideration that culminate into the final product.

Firstly, the color of the wine is the most indicative of its variety, and often gives a substantial amount of insight as to its origins as well as its quality. A visual inspection is almost always the first means of experiencing a wine. The color of the wine is typically determined by the pigmentation of the grape, where the intensity is determined by a variety of factors in the early stages of winemaking. A white wine is produced if the liquid of freshly pressed grapes (known as must) only comes into contact with the solid skin and seed of the pressed grapes (known as pomace) for a very short duration. the inverse is true, where longer contact time between the must and the pomace produces more vibrant colors. Altering the composition of the pomace also may alter the path of coloration, as orange-colored wine may arise from pomace comprised of skin alone. A variety of other factors influences the color - such as the wood of the barrel during the aging process, or the aging of more acidic wine converting red hues into brownish tawny colors.

The less obvious variation between wines comes from its taste - specifically the astringency. Astringent tastes are often related to the 'dryness' of a wine, and are a direct product of the aforementioned contact between the must and and the pomace. The source of this astringency originates from the primary of the pomace: the skin, the seed, and the stem. Astringency can also come from the wood of the barrel by which the wine was aged. This is the reason that typically, whiter wines have a less astringent taste than red ones. It is the variation of this dry-taste when comparing two wines of the same color that produces the key variations of wine within these color categories. An astringent taste in a white wine is likely an indication that the wine has been aged in a wooden barrel for quite some time (though the astringent taste of wine typically reduces with aging for redder wines). Astringency may also arise from certain breeds of grape, soil conditions, and other factors during the aging process.

Acerbity (or the acidity) is another component to taste that differentiates the individual types of wine. The acerbity of a wine is meant to balance with its sweetness (not in equal parts, but more aptly, in suitable levels depending on the type of wine), and the harmony of this balance is an often an indication of its quality within its class. The acerbity of the wine is determined by a variety of factors. Acerbic wines typically have their grapes harvested at the precipice of ripening, Ripening increases the sweetness of the grape, and decreases its acerbity. Wine from cooler regions such as those grown in Ered Luin have an innate acerbity, due to the breed of the grape - that is either emphasized or mitigated, depending on the variant of wine. 

Sweetness is yet another a key factor, and like the others, is balanced intricately. As mentioned before, sweetness is often a product of the ripeness of the grape upon harvest. However, fermentation also plays an important role in this sweetness. Fermentation converts the sweetness of the wine into that familiar spirituous content by way of yeast. In wine, the sweetness and the 'ease by which it brings inebriation' can potentially provide clue as to the duration of the fermentation process.

Uniqueness in taste is what is granted to wines of a higher caliber. Subtlety and complexity imparted by the type of wood used in aging (such as oak providing flavors vanilla or cloves) for example, or strong variations int he breed of the grape as mentioned before, can provide identity to the wine of a vineyard. 

Conclusively, the variety of wine that one experiences - the subtleties and complexities of the flavor and aroma - are an anecdote to the months or years it has spent on its journey from vineyard to glass.