The Origin of Wine Making

The Origin of Wine Making
The origins of winemaking (vinification) and grape growing for the production of wine (viticulture) have been subjects of close study by classical scholar.

The cultivation of vines for making wine occurred between 6000 and 4000 BC on the border of the modern states of Iraq and Iran.

It is possible that the first wine was discovered by accident from storing grape juice made from wild grapes, and this discovery may have occurred as early as 10,000 BC.

However, such guesswork, common to the attribution of ancient inventions, cannot be substantiated. Much more is known about the spread and distribution of winemaking and grape growing than about the first invention of the concept.

Classicists derive their knowledge of the spread if viticulture and viniculture from a variety of sources, including inscriptions and stone reliefs, writings such as the books of the bible and the history of Herodotus (about 440 BC), the Code of Hammurabi (about 1790 BC) and the Epic of Gilgamesh (about 2100 BC).

By the time of the Sumerian culture in what is now southern Iraq, in about 3000 BC, there were vineyards in the region, although the most common alcoholic beverages were beer made from barley and wine made from dates.

Evidence from the 7th century BC suggest that Armenian had become a major wine-exporting region by that period.

The ancient Egyptians made wine from dates and other fruits but also apparently had wine from grapes as early as 2600 BC Egyptian tombs paintings, statues, and papyrus records provide quite certain evidence grape growing and wine consumption.

Details of the methods of winemaking with winepresses, sealing in jars, transporting in amphorae by maritime commerce and some information about consumption can all be derived from such sources.

In addition to local vineyards and wine making, the Egyptians imported wine from Greece and the eastern Mediterranean.

Records indicate that by about 1000 BC the cities of Phoenicia (in what is now Israel, Palestine and Lebanon) exported wine throughout the Mediterranean, and by 100 BC as far as Arabia, East Africa and India.

One indication that mead, a beer or wine made from honey, had penetrated trade routes to westerns Europe in the appearance, as early as 2800 BC in a whole area from Scotland to Sicily, of what is called the Bell Beaker phenomenon.

This term refers to the discovery of large, bell shaped drinking vessels, often found in graves with adult males.

Although there is no proof that the beakers were used exclusively to drink alcoholic beverages, the fact that they were often found associated with weapons in the graves of adult males and associated with certain other artifacts, such as leather jerkins, and belts and flint, copper or bronze daggers, has suggested the rise of a warrior culture with values associated with drinking and combat.

Although it is difficult to infer cultural values from graves, circumstantial evidence supports the idea of a wide change in attitudes glorifying the individual, the warrior and the ostentation of wealth though personal ornamentation.

Apparently wine was extensively used in religious ceremonies and in some ancient cultures it was officially restricted to such use, while beer remained a drink for the common populace. However, in Egypt, it is known from inscriptions that wine was consumed at feasts and banquets.
The Origin of Wine Making