> Wine is the oldest alcoholic beverage ever produced.

Is that true? I thought it was mead, and a brief search suggests mead does still have a greater claim to that title.

Some references call mead 'honey wine', but to me that feels like like calling vodka 'potato whiskey'.

I accept the same yeasts can be used for wine and mead, but a) we don't know what yeasts they were using millenia ago, and anyway, b) yeasts will certainly influence the flavours, but generally don't determine the name of, the end product.

For example, some historically champagne-only yeasts are a relatively recent favourite for beer makers.