Few foods have enough natural sugar to support a satisfactory fermentation, so most country wines consist largely of table sugar (sucrose); sweet sap tapped from trees such as maple, birch, or palm; or honey. The other ingredients that give the wine its flavor and character can be fruits, flowers, herbs, etc. Examples are elderberry wine and dandelion wine. Usually if the flavoring ingredients are leaves or roots then the beverage is called a beer (for example, ginger beer). If the sugar source is honey then the beverage is usually called mead; if it is apple or pear juice then the beverage is called cider or perry, respectively.

There are two approaches when making country wines: to imitate the flavor and appearance of grape wines, or not to. Some country wines that resemble grape wines are:

• elderberry
• plum
• blackberry

• currant
• gooseberry
• raspberry
• rowan