Elven Wine

Throughout the world, the finest wines are those produced by Elves. Some vintages from some areas can fetch the equivalent of hundreds, or even thousands, golden coins. In the human world, it is rumored that the elves produce the wine using magic, but in truth the Elves pride themselves as needing no magic to produce the beverage.
All Elves make their own wine, but all connoisseurs agree that the Forests of Lacq and Elvendell are the finest. Here there are hills that face the perfect direction to the rain and sun, and terroir that nurtures grapes to a perfect flavor upon ripeness. At the same time, other Elven areas produce excellent wine as well.
In any case, Elves trade many casks of the beverage, up and down rivers and across many lands. The Lacq Forest elves float casks down the Feywash River to the great Salidorian cirty of Teharre, from where it is charged a duty and shipped throughout the world. Middle-sellers make a great deal of money here... The red wines ot Elvendell are not so easily transported, and thus they are the most expensive wines in Summer's Tale, needing to be shipped far south to the Kingdom Bountiful if they are to be sent off over the sea.
A rich Elven red is both intoxicating and invigorating, inducing a thrilling drunk that fades within hours to a comfortable sleepiness. It brings a enveloping, pleasant warmth to body.
The WIne should be aged a few or more years, most enjoyably in oaken barrels.
Makers of wine, should they revere the Elven pantheon, will invoke The Saladar, Lady and Spirit of Wine and Peaceful Slumbers, to bless their grapes and the fermenting and crafting process. The Saladar, to the Wood Elves, is not unlike a nature spirit of the vines.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Red Elven wine is a smooth liquid, not too syrupy, not too thin, that drinks (dangerously!) easy.  Before you know it, you've quaffed several mugs, and you're on your way to "Elven-Glow," as they call the intoxicated state.  An entire tavern-full of wine drinkers becomes a chatty and merry place that in several more hours is a crowd of blissful drinkers fast asleep, heads down, on the tables.

Geology & Geography

Elven Grapes are a special breed, no readily shared with others.  They grow just right in hills that face east, with a combination of water, sunlight, and terroir.  Often the grapes are produced in semi-forested land.  In fact, Wine production is one of the only reasons the Elves might clear forest away.  Elven grapes make the best wine when the grapes--especially Cabernet and Merlot--are grown facing east into the day's warmth and the night's cool.

Origin & Source

They say the Wood Elves were the first to cultivate wild grapes, and the secret has been passed to other Elven groups.  Again for the Wood Elves, the grape has its own spirit and desire to be grown in just such a way.  The Spirit of the Grape is the Wood Elven society of wine-makers, revering the plant and its produce.

Links to the Finest Elven Wine Regions:
Lacq Forest Elves, Wood Elf and High Elf 
Lacq Forest 
Forest of Elvendell

Type

Organic

Odor

The smell of Elven wine is of subtle fruit and spice, stronger in the more expensive wines.

Taste

The taste of is often of rich, spicy cherries and raspberries.

Color

Rarely the Elves (especiallly in Centuria and Dwellion, where the art has been accomplished well) produce a crisp-apple colored wine, but most Elven wine is rich, dark purple-red.

Note on Elven Beverages:

Elven Beer is not generally desirable to the human population as wine is.  Made from a grain-like forest grass, it is bitter-sweet and off-green--an acquired taste drunk locally and rarely traded. 

Elven whiskey is better, made from the same plant but distilled to a high potency (and deep green), and those who have tried it attest to a mild-hallucinogenic effect.  Very pleasant, they say.  The whiskey is produced primarily by the High Elves of the Lacq Forest and is not traded widely.  The taverns of Bair to the north will buy as much as they can when it's available however, as it sells very well in their establishments.

In many parts of Summer's Tale, the possession and sharing of Elven whiskey is a sign of opulence and high-society.  If you are served this drink, you are given a high honor by your host.