teas.co.uk
Tea and coffee from the brands you know
Do wine gums have wine in them?
Port, sherry, claret and burgundy, stamped on a fruit gum. Wine gums sound grown up, but there is no wine in them, and their inventor had to convince his teetotal father of it.
In this article
Citable formats
For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Wine gums are named after wines, and each one is usually stamped with the name of a drink. But there is no wine in them. They are firm, chewy fruit gums, and they usually contain no alcohol at all.
Wines on a sweet
Wine gums usually come in five shapes: kidney, crown, rhombus, circle and oblong. Each is usually labelled with the name of a wine. Maynards, the firm that invented them, uses port, sherry, burgundy and claret. Other makers pick different names, such as rioja or merlot, and some even use other drinks altogether, such as rum.
Despite the names, wine gums usually contain no alcohol. Depending on local laws or the maker's own practice, some packs carry a statement that the sweets contain no wine.
The teetotal father
Wine gums were invented in 1909 by Charles Gordon Maynard, the son of Charles Riley Maynard, who had started making sweets in a kitchen in Stamford Hill, London, in 1880 with his brother Tom, while his wife Sarah Ann served the customers.
Maynard senior was a strict Methodist and a teetotaller, and a sweet named after wine needed some explaining. It took his son some time to persuade him that the sweets did not contain any. In the end the father accepted, and the sweets were marketed as an alternative to alcohol.
What wine gums are made of
Every brand has its own recipe, with various sweeteners, flavourings and colourings. Like most gums, many wine gums contain gelatine, which comes from animals. That matters for vegetarians and for people who follow halal or kosher diets: see are wine gums vegan? and are wine gums halal?
Red and black
According to Cadbury, which once owned Maynards, the most popular colours are red and black. The red ones are traditionally red berry, strawberry, cherry or raspberry flavoured, and the black ones blackcurrant.
Where they are eaten
Wine gums are popular in the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, South Africa and other Commonwealth countries, and in several European countries. Well known brands include Maynards, Bassett's, Haribo and Lion. We sell fruit gums in our pick and mix; for the wine gum itself, see wine gums.
Citable formats
For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
Do wine gums have alcohol in them?
No. Despite the name, wine gums usually contain no alcohol, and some packs carry a statement that they contain no wine.
Why are they called wine gums?
They are labelled with the names of wines, such as port, sherry, burgundy and claret, and were marketed as an alternative to alcohol. The name is about the idea, not the ingredients.
Who invented wine gums?
Charles Gordon Maynard, of the Maynards sweet company, in 1909. He had to persuade his strict Methodist, teetotal father that the sweets did not contain wine.
Sources
Keep reading
- Questions people askAre wine gums vegan?Traditional wine gums are not vegan or vegetarian, because they are usually made with gelatine from animals. What else to check for, and how to find vegan gums.
- Questions people askAre wine gums halal?Wine gums contain no alcohol, but they usually contain gelatine, which may come from pigs. What that means for halal diets, and the 2016 Mondelez change.
- Questions people askAre wine gums gluten free?Wine gums contain no wheat flour, but one brand's product record lists gluten as a possible trace, so they cannot be called gluten free. What that means.
- How it is madeHow are wine gums made?Wine gums are firm, chewy gums of glucose syrup, sugar, starch and gelatine, moulded in five shapes stamped with wine names. Despite the names, no wine.
- Questions people askWhy is chewing gum so hard to get off pavements?Gum bonds to pavements and shoe soles because they are made of similar polymers. Removing it needs steam and scrapers, and costs cities a fortune.
- Questions people askWhat happens if you swallow chewing gum?Swallowed gum is not digested, but it does not stay inside you either. It passes through in a day or two. Here is what happens, and when to worry.