The History of Wine
By V. Laherty Adams
Winemaking, viticulture, and ceremonial wine drinking have been linked to civilization in the Caucasus as far back as 6000 BCE. An earlier version of grapes mixed with rice as a fermented drink has been found in China dating back to 7000 BC. Archeological evidence is found for winemaking dated to 4500 BCE in Greece, 4000 BCE in Sicily. The word wine is derived from the Greek word, oinos for wine.
“The oldest-known winery was discovered in the “Areni-1” cave in Vayots Dzor, Armenia. Dated to c. 4100 BC, the site contained a wine press, fermentation vats, jars, and cups.[37][38][39][40] Archaeologists also found V. vinifera seeds and vines. Commenting on the importance of the find, McGovern said, “The fact that winemaking was already so well developed in 4000 BC suggests that the technology probably goes back much earlier.”
The seeds were from Vitis vinifera, a grape still used to make wine. The cave remains date to about 4000 BC. This is 900 years before the earliest comparable wine remains, found in Egyptian tombs.[42][43]
The fame of Persian wine has been well known in ancient times. The carvings on the Audience Hall, known as Apadana Palace, in Persepolis, shows soldiers bringing gifts to the Persian king.
The Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 3100-1100 BCE had a lively wine culture. “The history of wine in Crete is as old as its culture. In Minoan Crete of the mid-second millennium BC, the wine was produced and stored in the palaces. Archaeological excavations brought to light numerous life-size pithos with traces of wine in them. Minoan wine was exported worldwide together with Cretan Olive Oil. In the ritual life of the Minoans, the wine was used for their sacred libations and the sacred bull of Crete was linked with the offerings in the form of the horn-shaped libation cups called ‘rhyta’.” ( Elissos)
Wine was widely celebrated in the Mycenaean era in ancient Greece, 1600 BCE to 1100 BCE. Dionysus is said to have brought vines to Sicily, along with olive trees. Wine was thought to have great health benefits, and was heavily enjoyed by the Greek Philosophers. Greece colonized areas in what is now Italy and France. Phonecians had a vast shipping and merchant economy, as well as the Greeks, and distributed viticulture throughout the Mediterranean. Caananites and Phonecians moved grapes into Egypt.
Etruscans, a civilization that spanned a thousand years in Italy from 1200 BCE to 200 BCE, loved wine and wine culture. They made wine and traded it widely. Greeks did not arrive in what is now Italy until the 8th Century BCE, but Etruscans had been there for centuries before. Rome was Etruscan before it was Roman. The neighborhood of Trastevere, an ancient section of Rome, had Etruscan origins. In terms of winemaking today in Italy,”…the Etruscan spirit in favor of diversity, uniqueness, spontaneity, and simplicity is flourishing among Italian artisan winegrowers making wine with natural methods” Eleanor Shannon, Uncorked in Italy Italian Natural Wine
The Etruscans were known to love wine. The wine was so important to them that they had a god of wine: Liber Pater. The wine was used in religious ceremonies and was known as a symbol of wealth and status. The Etruscans believed that wine could bring them closer to the gods.
While the Phonecians and the Greeks distributed vines throughout the Mediterranean, it was the Romans who distributed vines throughout Europe. From there, Europeans brought vines to the New World.
The French, before France was ever formed into a country, had a vast, temperate land and favorable climate in which to grow viticulture.
How did the varietals originate? One wine historian described the process as wine mutating into different varietals. This is not entirely accurate. According to Decanter magazine, grape varieties are genealogically categorized from four different processes: crosses, clones, mutations, and hybrids. The majority of wine grapes are crosses.
The Greeks colonized what we now know as France and introduced wine, but the Romans brought it to another level. They actually licensed growers to grow tier vineyards. In the fifth century, the church took over the winemaking processes – the vineyards, the storage in cellars, the bottling and distribution. We know the story of DomPerignon. The Benedictine monk, Dom Pierre Perignon, arrived at the Abbey of Hautvillers in 1668. He s credited with several quality advancements in winemaking processes. However, it is probably only a myth that he ‘invented’ sparkling wine.
“Nowadays, nearly every region of France produces wine with the exception of the far northern regions. Alsace, Beaujolais, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, the Loire Valley, and the Rhone Valley are amongst the top areas.
French wine Appellation classification
In 1855, emperor Napoleon III suggested the development of a classification system to identify the best wines in Bordeaux. The so-called first through fifth crus (growths) was highly subjective, but is still in place today with very few changes.
In the 1930s appellation d’origine côntrollee (AOC) ws introduced in France. Based on the idea that wine and food that comes from a certain region needs to be defined and as such, the distinctive characteristics of each region’s produce are protected and able to maintain their quality and prevent fraud. For instance Champagne can only be called Champagne, if it’s grown in the region of Champagne. Strict rules govern wine classification to this day. “
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https://www.grapesandgrains.org/2017/06/french-wine-regions-and-history.htm