History of Winemaking

The art of winemaking has been around since as early as 7000 BC. Over the years the process spread throughout the world.

Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of grape juice. The chemical reaction involves yeast, converting the sugar of the grapes into ethanol, an alcohol. Winemaking is an art as there are countless different types of grapes to use, as well as different types of yeasts. A vintner, a person who makes wine, is able to control how their grapes develop, using selective breeding techniques to control which traits will carry on and which traits will die, ultimately creating their own unique grape strain which gives their a wine a unique taste.

The earliest evidence of wine in the world was found in Georgia from 6000 BC. An earlier 7000 BC find from China was very similar to Wine, it was a Grape based fermented drink. Wine was also found in Iran from 5000 BC and in Sicily from 4000 BC. The earliest evidence of a steady production of Wine is found to be from 4100 BC in Armenia where the earliest winery was found. Vintners used their feet to crush Grapes and collect their juice in a vat where it would ferment. The discovery of a winery is important because it is evidence that Grapes have been domesticated in order to allow this large scale production.

In many ancient legends wine has a place. The following is an example of a Persian legend which discovered wine. In summary, a woman that was a member of the King's harem was banished and in her sorrow she contemplated suicide. In order to do this she drank from a barrel of grapes that was deemed poison due to their fermentation. Instead she experienced intoxication from drinking wine, and she informed the King of this. He became so enamored from this drink that he decreed all grapes be devoted to making wine.

It is without a doubt the major spread of wine was due to massive trade of the commodity throughout the world, people could not resist the drink. In Egypt for example, wine is said to have spread there around 3000 BC likely as a result of trade between Egypt and Canaan in the Levant.

The Phoenicians were a civilization instrumental to the spread of wine, winemaking technology, and grapes. Their extensive trade network through the Mediterranean and into the East no doubt is what led to Roman and Greek wine development. Ancient Phoenician shipwrecks that were found with their cargo of wine still intact is how we can confirm this. They stored wine in Amphoras, a ceramic jug with two handles and a pointed base, which many cultures adopted.

Many modern wine practices derive from Ancient Greece. It also contributed to the growth of the Greek economy as the demand for alcohol increased. In Rome, wine was an integral part for their culture. Most of the major wine producing areas in Western Europe today were established during the Roman era. It was during this time period where barrels were invented and glass bottles for the purpose of storing the wine. Even once the Roman empire fell, the Catholic Church preserved winemaking technology and grape growing due to it being essential for mass

For much of Rome's history, ideal wines were from Greece with domestic vintages yielding a lower cost. It was not until around 100 BC where the Roman wine Golden Age began with the famous Opimium Vintage. Named after a consul, this vintage was known for being very high quality and the harvest had a high yield. Wines from this year (121 BC) was still being enjoyed generations later. Romans even had a God of wine, Bacchus, and they prayed almost everyday to him considering the average Roman consumed a bottle of wine a day. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius had devastating effects on Roman wine considering Pompeii was one of the most important Roman wine centers.

The art of winemaking had spread throughout the world, and today is dominated by America and Western European countries. Many of these countries have specific types of grapes which make specific wines. This is governed by a system called the Apellation system which centralizes this system for categorizing wine. New world Wine from the Americas was generally seen as a poorer quality to Old World wines until a tasting in 1976 where American wine gained respect among the land of wine's origins. The process for making wine is still very much the same, nowadays it is more precise, and done at a larger scale with better technology. Grapes used in making wine are descendents of the grapes used to make ancient wines, carefully bred to create the perfect fruit.

Wine has been a major commodity in the world economy since ancient times, promoting trade between countries which also helps spread culture, ideas, and many other things other than wine. Many lessons were learned through making wine from an agricultural perspective and from a alcohol making perspective. Its influence cannot be understated, and the drunkenness that resulted from drinking this sweet liquid no doubt had major effects on historical events throughout the years.