Hawaii wine refers to wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 made from the U.S. state

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 of Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. The island of Maui

Maui

The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...

 is where the bulk of the state's wine is produced though there is some production on the island of Hawaii

Hawaii (island)

The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...

. The state mainly produces fruit wine

Fruit wine

Fruit wines are fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients ; they may also have additional flavours taken from fruits, flowers, and herbs. This definition is sometimes broadened to include any fermented alcoholic beverage except beer...

 such as a pineapple

Pineapple

Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...

 sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, either in a bottle, as with the méthode champenoise, in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved , or as a result of carbon dioxide...

.

Grapes and wines

The Symphony grape is the principal grape

Vitis

Vitis is a genus of about 60 species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, both for direct consumption of the fruit and for fermentation to produce...

 wine made in the state and produces an off-dry

Sweetness of wine

The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine to be sure, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Briefly: sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness; acids and bitter tannins counteract it...

, fruity white wine. Viticulture

Viticulture

Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...

 in Hawaii is made possible by the higher elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....

 of the area's volcanic mountains and ridges.

Recent legislation

While typically available only to state residents, a new law passed in 2001 and signed by Governor Ben Cayetano

Ben Cayetano

Benjamin Jerome "Ben" Cayetano served as the fifth Governor of the State of Hawaii from 1994 to 2002. He is the first Filipino American to serve as a state governor in the United States.- Early years :...

 opened up the Hawaiian wine industry to more domestic trading within the mainland United States. The new law allows the state to enter into reciprocal trade agreements with other states, enabling residents of Hawaii to purchase wine directly from wineries in those states in exchange for those states allowing Hawaiian wineries to sell wine in those states without having to go through a wholesaler in the typical three-tier

Three-tier (alcohol distribution)

The three-tier system of alcohol distribution is the system for distributing alcoholic beverages set up in the United States after the repeal of Prohibition. The three tiers are producers, distributors, and retailers. The basic premise of the system is that producers must sell only to...

 distribution system.

Wineries

Three main wineries operate in Hawaii:

• Tedeschi Vineyards (on Maui
  Maui
  The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
  
  )
• Volcano Winery
  Volcano Winery
  Volcano Winery is one of three commercial wineries in the U.S. state of Hawaii, and the first winery founded on the Big Island of Hawaii in the town of Volcano, Hawaii, near the summit of the active shield volcano Kīlauea. It is the southernmost winery in the United States...
  
   (on Hawaii Island
  Hawaii (island)
  The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...
  
  )
• Diamond Head Winery (on Oahu
  Oahu
  Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
  
  )