{
    "id": 1070616,
    "title": "Do wine gums have wine in them?",
    "slug": "do-wine-gums-have-wine-in-them",
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    "url": "https://sweeties.net/wiki/do-wine-gums-have-wine-in-them/",
    "modified": "2026-09-26T06:23:27+01:00",
    "excerpt": "No. Wine gums usually contain no alcohol, though they are named after port, sherry and claret. Their inventor even had to convince his teetotal father.",
    "content_text": "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.\nWines on a sweet\nWine 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.\nDespite 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.\nThe teetotal father\nWine 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.\nMaynard 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.\nWhat wine gums are made of\nEvery 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?\nRed and black\nAccording 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.\nWhere they are eaten\nWine 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.",
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