The History of Wine
Did you know that Dom Perignon was a Benedictine monk? Throughout the history of wine, religion has been an important factor. Wine has been used for religious ceremonies, banned by various religions, grown and produced by various orders, and been used to celebrate both life and death.
Wine in many forms has been made and consumed by man for thousands of years. Recent archaeological finds in Macedonia have had the experts revise their views on how long wine has been around. At the moment, it would seem that wine has been in production for at least 6,500 years.
The regions which are now known as Persia (Iran), and Egypt appear to have been among the first to produce wines from grapes. There are cave drawings dating back to the Bronze Age which display grapes and the drinking of what is thought to be wine. Remains of wine goblets and vessels for making wine have been discovered throughout Egypt, Persia, and the Mediterranean.
The ancient Egyptians incorporated wines into their ceremonial lives. From as early as 3,000 BC the Egyptians were growing grapes and producing wine. Until recently it was believed that the Egyptians drank only red wine, but recent research has discovered traces of white wine in Tutankhamen's burial site. The ancient Egyptians grew their grapes in a very fertile region known as the Nile Delta. It is believed that the grapes were imported from Canaan.
The ancient Egyptians placed great emphasis on wine and incorporated it into their death and funeral rites. The loved ones of the ancient Egyptians were sent off to the after life with a menu of five different wines to accompany them.
It is assumed that the Phoenicians carried the knowledge of wine production from Persia and Egypt to other parts of the world including Greece and Italy.
The ancient Greeks loved their wine so much that they named a God for fun and wine, Dionysus or Bacchus, linking the imbibing of wine with pleasant past times. Wine was known as the "juice of the Gods". The Greeks exported their grapes and wine making knowledge further afield to such places as Spain, France, Sicily and Italy. Interestingly, the grapes that are still grown in Greece today are believed to be direct descendants from the grapes grown all those thousands of years ago.
The drinking and making of wine is mentioned in Greek mythology and by many famous and ancient Greek philosophers and authors including Homer, Aesop, Pliny the Elder, and Theophrastus. Greece is believed to be the first country in Europe to produce wine.
The Roman Empire took wine production seriously. Everybody, including the slaves, drank wine. During the Roman empire, wine was consumed with each meal. Since their wine had a high alcoholic content, the wine was diluted before drinking. The Romans were responsible for many of the facets of wine production still in use today. The Romans invented wooden barrels for fermenting and storing wines. They also invented the cork and came to realize that different grapes grown in different regions would produce different types of wines. The Romans were the first to implement the process of aging their wines for better tastes.
The Catholic Church took over and maintained the production of wine after the fall of the Roman empire in 500AD. The drinking of wine had become an important part of the religious ceremony and wine production had to be maintained. The Catholic Church had great influence over the Christian parts of Europe at this time. By this stage the Muslim parts of the world, ranging from North Africa through to southern Spain and Turkey had forbidden the drinking of wine. Wine production in these regions almost ground to a halt, although chemists in the Islam countries were allowed to produce wine for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.
Drinking wine did not really become a popular past time again, apart for religious reasons in the Catholic Mass, until the Renaissance.
The monks of the Catholic Church spread the growing of grapes and the production of wine through various other parts of Europe including Germany and France. The monks were excellent at documenting their research. The Benedictines,Cistercians, Carthusians, Carmelites, and the Templars , were all Catholic orders associated with the production of wine. Eventually the monks were producing enough wine to export to all parts of Europe for religious purposes.
By the times of the Middle Ages, Europeans were again drinking wine. In southern Europe where wine was plentiful, wine was a drink consumed by all. In northern Europe, wine was not available locally and had to be imported, making it more expensive, and hence only a drink for the wealthy. Wines were available in both reds and whites, and still contained high levels of alcohol. It was still common practice to dilute the wine with water.
In these times various ingredients were often added to the wine to change the taste. Honey was a popular ingredient, as was the drink mead. England became introduced to the concept of wine and became large consumers of wines, ports, and sherries.
Vineyards throughout Europe were decimated in the 1880's by a louse known as Phylloxera. In many regions the grape industry was totally wiped out. In some regions, survival was only of the fittest vines. This devastation brought huge changes to European wine making, and eventually led to the introduction of newer grape varieties and wine blends.
The discovery of the New World saw the introduction of both wines and grapes to the Americas. The Catholic missions were the first places where grapes were grown for the production of wines. Over time, settlers from wine producing regions of Europe brought their grapes with them and started the production of wines on the American continent.
Regions to be planted with grapes for wine production were Chile, Argentina and California. Many of the grapes grown in America are derived from Europe and the Mediterranean, known in the wine industry as the Old World. The French grapes Carmenere are grown in Chile while the Malbec is grown in Argentina. California is well known for the grape Zinfandel which originated from Croatia. Wines produced in the United States did not start to receive recognition around the globe until the late 1970's.
Along with the Americas, the countries of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa all produce wine, many of them award winning. In terms of viniculture, these countries along with the Americas are all considered to be part of the New World.
The appreciation of wine has been in existence for thousands of years. Over the years wine has been used for both ceremonial purposes and as an accompaniment with meals. The basics of wine making have not changed since the Roman Empire. Both red wine and white wine have been enjoyed by societies for literally thousands of years.
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