The Caribbean is the geographical region that surrounds the Caribbean Sea, between South America and North America. Although not known for its wines (grape vines do not thrive here), the region is the undisputed home of rum. The few wines currently made in the region have been in production for just a few years. They come from Cuba, and are produced from such well-known varieties as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
The Caribbean climate is definitively tropical; the sea is located between the Tropic of Cancer and the equator. Grapes and grain crops do not thrive in such warm, humid, mildew-prone climates. Even if they did, storage would remain an issue; neither beer nor wine stores well in hot conditions. As a result, Caribbean vineyards are rare, and those that do exist rarely produce wine of high quality.
When the European powers (particularly France, Spain, Holland and England) tussled for dominance of the Atlantic Ocean in the 16th and 17th Centuries, one of the primary motivations was access to (and control of) the Caribbean islands. A major attraction of the region was its potential to generate profitable crops of tobacco, coffee, cocoa, spices and sugar. The latter of these is of particular interest here.
Sugarcane is not native to the Caribbean; it was introduced by European settlers, and first cultivated there by the Spanish in the early 16th Century. Sugar was virtually unknown in Europe before 1600, but as it became more readily available from the Caribbean, demand boomed. Sugarcane plantations grew up all over the region, and sugar-refining techniques developed rapidly.
The primary by-product of table-sugar production is molasses, a thick, black, sweet syrup which results from repeatedly boiling sugarcane juice in order to extract sugar crystals. Even after the refining process has run its course, the resulting molasses still contains about 25% sucrose and 20% glucose and fructose. The European settlers would have been accustomed to beer, cider and, to a lesser extent, wine. To arrive in a place without a reliable supply of cereals, apples or grapes created a significant challenge for them; alcoholic beverages were not only enjoyable but also safer to drink than unpurified water. They soon worked out that sugary molasses could be distilled into the high-strength spirit we now know as rum. The art of distillation was in its infancy in 16th-Century Europe, but had naturally spread to the Caribbean colonies.
Not all rums are made from molasses, however. Some, most obviously Brazilian cachaça and Rhum Agricole from the French West Indies, are distilled directly from cane juice. For a complete description of all rum styles, and how rum is made, see Rum.
