Fruit wines are fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients (other than grapes); 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. For historical reasons, mead, cider, and perry are also excluded from the definition of fruit wine.

Fruit wines are usually referred to by their main ingredient (e.g., plum wine or elderberry wine) because the usual definition of wine states that it is made from fermented grape juice.

In the European Union, wine is legally defined as the fermented juice of grapes.

Fruit wine is commonly called country wine in Great Britain. But the term should not be conflated with the French term vin de pays. In British legislation, the term made-wine is used.

Fruit wine can be made from virtually any plant matter that can be fermented. However, some of these products do require the addition of sugar or honey to make them palatable. Two commonly produced varieties are elderberry wine and dandelion wine. (A wine made from elderberry flowers is called elder blow wine.)