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We can not prove that Egypt invented wine but the sculptural reliefs and paintings that adorn the tombs and temples, describe with precision the vine's work, the process and the conservation of the wine, according to the methods still in force today;
Harvest, crushing grapes by the foot and put in a jar.
Wine was a drink reserved for the King and the Egyptian nobility. It was also offered to God in order to achieve immortality.
The wine was stored in an amphora, closed by a cork made of tree bark and sealed with soft mud.
A seal ,on an amphora, was printed with a date and the origin of the wine
Ancient Greece
Wine in Ancient Greece took a very important place for over 4000 years.
But be aware, traces of wine were also found in Egypt, long before Greece, they had a great knowledge on the subject. Wine was a drink reserved for the king and nobles family. The wine was also offered to God in order to achieve immortality.
The Greek drank their knowledge of viticulture, wine making and storage when they began traded with them.
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Son of Zeus and Semili, Dyonisos was the god of wine, flower and festivity. He was loved by every Greeks.
A lot of festivities were made for him, one of it, was called “Antheria”, which was held for three days. This was a wine drinking festival, where they were celebrating the vintage from the previous year.
All this period, Greeks used to organize an intellectual meeting called “Symposia”, they were talking about serious discussion and philosophy, as they were drinking and eating wine. It was diluted with water and named Krasi diminutive of Kratiras ,name of the vase (amphora) at this time.
Still, the daily consummation was respected.
Greeks knew that wine had a second effect on them and they were using it to help themselves to have a clarity in there thought.
Evidences had been found, mosaics, sculpture, decorations
(amphora, wine cups and the oldest wine press in the world) and some writing at the ruins of Vathypetro.
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The wine had also a therapeutic virtue.
Hippocrates, the great physician of Antiquity (460-377BC), used to recommend wine as a part of a healthy diet, advocated its use as a disinfectant for wound. He also prescribed wine as a cure for lethargy during the childbirth.
Aside, you need to know that Hippocrates was the first physician to be able to say and prove, that diseases were coming from the nature, not given by God.
On the other hand, we had Plato, who considered that the wine had a cure for austerity of old age...
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On the commerce's theme, wine wasn't popular for the way it was made, but for the region it was coming from.
The most popular wines were coming from the Aegan Island with Limnos, Paros, Samos and Rhodes.
Later on, the Greeks realized the important ecosystem influence on the term of wines, so they created their own Appellation of Origins. Because of that, a lot of wines started to be traded and very popular.
Some of the famous wines with the Appellation of Origins were::
Arioussos Oinos from Chios
Thasos from Northen Greece
Mendeous Oinos from Menden of Chalkidiki
Around the 8th Century BC, Greece had some colonies in Italy and Sicily, they would introduced wine making techniques to them and later on in France and Spain.
As the Roman came into power , in the ancient world, the traded wines moved from the northen Aegan to the south and was concentrated on the island of Crete and Rhodes which was invaded by the Roman.
Aglianico, Greco di Tufo, Moscato are some of the grapes varieties that you could find in Italy but their origins are from Greece.
It was in the 1st Century, that the Cretan viticulture began..
Roman Empire or Republique
At the beginning of the 1rst Century BC, there were few cities in the world who knew a lot about wine, as Rome which grew from a collection of settlements, to a Kingdom and then a Republique.
The culture of Roman wine making was influenced by the knowledge of the regions that were conquered and became a part of the Roman Empire.
The Greeks' settlements of Southern Italy were completely under Roman control by 270BC. But the Greek's wine were the most highly priced, comparing to the domestics Roman wines which were far cheaper.
The Romans began a period, in the 2nd Century BC, called “Golden Age”where wine making and development of “Grand Cru” (first growth) started in the vineyards.
Romans have had a legendary vintage, which was 121BC. Lucius Opimius gave his own name to this wine, called Opimian.
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Gaius Plinius Secondus more known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author and natural's philosopher. He also wrote about different Grand Cru of Rome, such as:
*Falernum: Known as well under the name of Falernian. It was the most famous and most highly priced white wine. It was produced on the Southern Campaign, made from a grape variety called Aglianico (see below) which was a black grape with white juice.
Romans already predefined three zones or Crus; Caucinian on the hilltops, Faustian on the hill slopes (probably the region called Falciano) and Falernian proper at the edge of the plain.
*Caecuban: Came from a small village at Amyclae (Amykles). Same as Falernian the grape is black with a white juice and it was as well a white wine. Smoother than Falernian wine but fuller than Alban one. It was an intoxicating wine by its sweetness and its flavour, but also turned fire-coloured, when it has aged. In the 1rst Century AD, the vineyards were largely destroyed by the Emperor Nero when he wanted to dig a canal to link the bay of Naples with the Tiber.
Caecuban wine makes several appearances in the Odes, written by one of the great ancient Roman writer, Horace. In the Odes, he gave to Caecuban wine a greater prominence than the Falernian wine. He had the opportunity when he invited his friend Maecenas to drink with him this wine.
A part of Odes:
When O happy Maecenas, shall I,
Over joyed at Ceasar's being victorious
Drink with you under the stately done
The Caecuban reserved for festal entertainment
with the lyre plays a tune, accompanied with flutes..
*Alban: Used to grow in the Colli Albani (Albon Hills). It was a white wine too, but they were producing different variety of it. Very sweet, sweetish, rough and sharp. It was considered best to drink after ageing.
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Pompeii
One of the most important wine region of the Roman's world was Pompeii, located south of Naples.
The area was home to a vast expanse of vineyards and served as an important trading city with Romans provinces abroad. The trade has worked very well, as the wine was really famous in those provinces (e.g: bordeaux, narbonne and toulouse ). Where, archeologist found some ruins of emphoreas stamped with the emblems of Pompeian merchants and an uncommon wine press called Tarcularium (see page on blog).
But also, a price list on the wall of a bar establishment that notes.
For one “as” you can drink wine
For two you can drink the best
For four you can drink Falernian
In 79 AD, a terrible disaster happened
The eruption of the mount Vesuvius
It had a devastating effect on Roman wine industry.
Warehouses storing the wine (old and new vintages) and vineyards across the region were destroyed. The trading part was damaged, wine export and import were no longer possible.
According to the circumstances, the Romans decide to uproot grains and to put vines instead. But what they didn't think of, was the food shortage!
So, in 92 AD, Emperor Domitian made announcement of a new law : to ban the plantings of any new vineyards in Rome and to uproot half of the vineyards in Roman provinces.
That would reduce the trade but the Roman population had enough to drink.
Domitian's edict stayed 188 years until the Emperor Probus abolished the measure in 280AD.
We know that Romans had very good knowledge about wine and loved having a nice meal with it.
It is Apicius who wrote the first cook book in 25BC. The book is organized into 10 chapters that had recipes on such things as meat, beef, vegetables, beans and lentils, fowl and seafood.
And he explained and repeated several times, that, it was important to have a good wine to enjoy a good meal.
As we know, but it's always good to repeat it, in 27 BC, Roman Empire was one big region, called “provinces”. That's what I am going to write about now....