wine vs. cider? difference?

I'm new to cider making and you'll probably see a lot more posts from me in the near future so beware! ok...to my question. i've been successful making various wines from the small orchard at my new house. very excited about that when i moved in. however, i've just now attempted to make cider. talking to the neighbor over the fence who brews his own beer (from kits) and told him that i was making the move from wine to cider. then he asked me a very simple question i could not answer..........What is the difference between wine and cider? i could not answer this intelligently. anybody know what the defining difference is between wine and cider? is it the carbonation? alcohol content? apples vs every other fruit/berry? combination? thanks guys! although this is my first post, i've already learned a lot by just reading comments everybody has made about other topics!

jason

This is based only on my own nubbie research, but from recipes alone I'd say alcohol content.

There are all apple ciders and wines. And both can have other fruits added. And you can have both sparkling and still cider as well as wine. So, as of yet, the only difference I have seen is alcohol content, and perhaps the addition of controlling tannins, acidity ect for wines.

But this forum's favorite, EdWort's Apfelwein is basically the same recipe as several other viders I have seen, with higher sugar content leading to a greater ABV.

thanks for the feedback. to make what i'm calling cider, i'm using some leftover wine yeast which can tolerate 12.5%. one batch of my cider should be 6.25% when its done, the other 9.25%. i plan on making both batches sparkling. i'll probably add some splenda to half of each batch to see if i like it sweetened up a little bit.

Mainly alcohol content, but wines also tend to be fermented on the fruit initially and are racked to a secondary to complete the process.