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(1) Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grapes or other fruits. (Wikipedia)
(2) Tables were made of marble or wood and metal (typically bronze or silver alloys), sometimes with richly ornate legs. (Wikipedia)
Why is 'from' used in (1), whereas 'of' is used in (2)?
Is it a stylistic choice whether to use 'of' or 'from'? Or, in case of chemical changing, differently from changing in shape only, 'from' is preferable?
I agree with both existing answers (by FumbleFingers and Baz). But I think perhaps I can put the difference in my own words and illustrate it with some examples, so I'm going to post an answer anyway.
I think made of expresses composition, while made from expresses transformation. In many cases, the two express something roughly equivalent:
1. This book is made of paper. (Paper is the material or substance the book is composed of.)
2. This book is made from paper. (Someone took paper and turned it into a book.)
In this case, paper can be interpreted as a constituent material or a source material, so either preposition works. I believe this is true in many cases. In your table example, for instance, wood can be interpreted either way, so either preposition works.
But in other cases, only one or the other is appropriate:
3. *This wine is made of grapes. (Grapes are the material or substance the wine is composed of.)
4. This wine is made from grapes. (Someone took grapes and turned them into wine.)
I don't think example 3 works. I think that in wine form, the grapes have been consumed and are no longer grapes. As a result, there's no compositional relationship between grapes and wine to be expressed. We can express a transformational relationship, though: the grapes became wine.
The following idiom only works with the compositional sense:
5. Let's see what you're made of. (Idiom: let's see what substance you're figuratively composed of.)
6. #Let's see what you're made from. (Let's see what substance was transformed into you.)
I marked example 6 with a # to indicate that it fails to convey the same thing that example 5 conveys, but the sentence would be appropriate in other circumstances--for example, if you were talking to a robot before taking them apart to see what materials they were made from.
I'll present just one more example. The following is taken from COCA:
7. The sample population was made of all 55 female teachers at the two TQA pilot schools in Jerash, Jordan.
8. *The sample population was made from all 55 female teachers at the two TQA pilot schools in Jerash, Jordan.
In example 7, made of clearly indicates composition, not transformation. And when I replace it with made from in example 8, it no longer makes any sense; the teachers didn't undergo a transformation.
Hopefully these examples give you a good sense of the difference between the two.
wine made from and only 1 of wine made of; this last occurs in wine made of Chardonnay, which isn't a counterexample. Likewise BNC, which gives 4 and 0 results respectively. So far, published usage seems to back me up on this one.
Because grapes are no longer grapes when they become wine. The table is still made of wood.
This issue has been raised on ELU. Mostly, it's a stylistic choice whether to use of or from.
In some contexts, X is made of Y more strongly implies that Y is the only constituent (there are no other ingredients). But this doesn't apply to either of OP's examples.
In other contexts (including OP's first example) from may be preferred when the focus is on "ingredients" used in some kind of transformational process (a recipe, for example).
His watch is made of gold.
The precious metal used in making this watch wasn't silver or copper but gold.
I've got a beautiful dress made of pure silk
Silk was used to make the dress.
That table is made of solid oak wood
Only oak wood was used to make that table
The finished products are identifiable by their substances or materials; a gold watch, a silk dress and a wooden table.
Parmigiano Reggiano or Parmesan is made from cow's milk (plus whey and rennet)
However, when you see the finished product you don't identify it as being milk cheese but rather as being Parmesan cheese.
Talisker whisky is made from malted barley
Likewise although the main ingredients of a Scottish single malt whiskey are barley grain and spring water, one would never identify the finished product as being either barley whisky or water whisky.
Champagne [sparkling wine] is made from white Chardonnay grapes, red Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. Original text
The product undergoes a lengthy process and its main ingredients, the three different types of grapes, lose their original "identity" and become a different finished product. One would never call champagne a grape wine, not in front of a French man at least!
