Raise a Glass to History

A Brief History of Wine

• The oldest fossil proto-wines without grapes were found in China in 7000 BC.

• Evidence of ancient wine production was found in Georgia and Armenia in c. 6000 BC, West Azerbaijan province of Iran from c. 5000 BC, and Sicily from c. 4000 BC.

• The earliest evidence of a grape and rice mixed based fermented drink sometimes compared to wine was found in ancient China (c. 7000 BC).

• The altered consciousness produced by wine has been considered religious since its origin.

• Wine production and consumption increased, burgeoning from the 15th century onwards as part of European expansion.

• The oldest-known winery was discovered in the "Areni-1" cave in Vayots Dzor, Armenia, dated to c. 4100 BC.

• Wine played an important role in ancient Egyptian ceremonial life, and a thriving royal winemaking industry was established in the Nile Delta following the introduction of grape cultivation from the Levant to Egypt c. 3000 BC.

• The Phoenicians were instrumental in distributing wine, wine grapes, and winemaking technology throughout the Mediterranean region through their extensive trade network.

• Much of modern wine culture derives from the practices of the ancient Greeks.

• The Greeks embraced the production aspect of wine as a way to expand and create economic growth throughout the region.

• The fame of Persian wine has been well known in ancient times.

• The emphasis of viticulture in Greece increased with economic demand, and Greek wine was widely known and exported throughout the Mediterranean.A Brief History of Wine

• Ancient Greeks and Thracians had a love for winemaking and consumption dating back 6000 years.

• The Roman Empire was integral in the development of viticulture and oenology, with wine being an integral part of the Roman diet.

• During the Roman Empire, social norms began to shift as the production of alcohol increased, leading to widespread drunkenness and alcoholism.

• Viniculture expanded so much that by AD c. 92 the emperor Domitian was forced to pass the first wine laws on record, banning the planting of any new vineyards in Italy and uprooting half of the vineyards in the provinces in order to increase the production of grain.

• Medieval Europe saw wine as the common drink for all social classes in the south, while beer and ale were more common in the north and east.

• Wine was necessary for the celebration of the Catholic Mass, so assuring a supply was crucial and the Benedictine and Cistercian monks became some of the largest wine producers in Europe.

• In the late 19th century, the phylloxera louse brought widespread destruction to grapevines, wine production, and those whose livelihoods depended on them.

• The devastation led to the positive transformation of Europe's wine industry, including the standardization of cuvées and the uprooting of bad vineyards.

• Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and other countries without a wine tradition are considered New World producers, with wine production beginning in the Cape Province of South Africa in the 1680s.

• The first modern wine industry in East Asia was Japanese wine, developed in 1874 after grapevines were brought back from Europe.

• Wine is often associated with Argentina, California, and Chile, with Old World grape varieties being the most common.

• The oldest surviving bottle still containing liquid wine, the Speyer wine bottle, belonged to a Roman nobleman and is dated at 325 or 350 AD.