History of wine from ancient times

History of wine from ancient times goes back to the years 8000 to 5000 A.C. It is said that at that time between Georgia and Iran the first wines were produced.
The first crops are known in the Bronze Age in the East region, in Egypt.
Subsequently, the vine also reaches Asia and specifically China.

 

History of wine from ancient times

Egypt

In the so-called New Moon, the Egyptians drank wine and pomegranate juice, to celebrate the arrival of the new life, so did the arrival of the Full Moon.

Wine was considered a luxury reserved for the priests and the nobles.  Nevertheless in periods of celebrations it was allowed to drink it to the lower classes.

In the tomb of Tutankhamen wine amphoras were found. The oldest were found in the tomb of Abydos (3,100 BC).

This indicates that the wine was used as embalming material. Some amphora found is known to contain wine with more than 200 years at the time of being deposited in the tombs, which indicates that already knew methods to conserve the wine.

Greece. History of wine

Surely from Egypt and Phenicia, the wine passed to Greece, entering Crete. From there he passed to Sicily and Lebanon in North Africa.
The Greeks mingled the wine with water to drink it, and they only took it pure in the offerings. At this time wine was used as an offense to the gods.

Roman empire

In the year 200 a.C comes the wine to the Italian peninsula, entered by the south. Following the Greek tradition, the Romans also stored the wine in amphorae.
The Romans quickly replace the wine, by other alcoholic drinks, and popularize it among its troops, to which they supply it before each combat.

Due to the expansion of the Roman army throughout Europe, the wine very soon becomes popular where it arrives the Roman army.

In contrast to what is now being done, the wine left aging in amphorae located in the upper part of the house next to the chimneys, which left a certain smoky aroma that was very appreciated at the time.

Generally the preferred wine they drank was white. The red wine, mixed it to make it disappear the color. The proportion and mixture was 2 parts of water and one of wine.
With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Visigoths are the heirs of the cultivation of the vine.

The property of the vine passes to the power of the kings, and monasteries who are the ones who cultivate the wine.
The Vikings took her to North America, in the year 1000 D.C.

Spain

It is the Phoenicians who take him to Spain. One of the samples is found in the tomb of a person in La Joya (Huelva), where wine amphorae are found.

Another one of the sample and the presence of the wine, is detected in the Mediterranean in the zone of Denia.
Between the 9th and 12th centuries, we have many samples of wine productions, especially in the area of ​​Galicia.
During the Reconquest, vine is planted in the area around the Way of Santiago. Appearing the areas of Ribera del Duero and Rioja.
After the 12th century, the wines arrive in the area of ​​Catalonia.

Medieval age

It is precisely the religious who, after the fall of the Roman Empire, are responsible for spreading the vis for all the territories of Europe, given the need for its use in religious celebrations.
During this time, wine is used in the kitchen.

Modern time

From the seventeenth century, wine begins to have the appearance it has today. Sulfur dioxide is being used in the barrels to increase its life, and in this way the consumption begins to become generalized.
At this time the sparkling wines appear, and thus in 1872, the first cavas are made.
In 1927 the IWO (International Wine Office) was founded by several producing countries to regulate the winemaking practices.
In the mid-twentieth century, it seems the new concept of fermentation called carbonic maceration.
At the end of the twentieth century the processes of mechanization of the grape harvesting, as well as the mechanization of bottling appear.

New systems of stabilization of the wines are discovered and the controls of the same are increased.
Over the years the vine has traveled all over the world, acclimatizing itself to the terrains and climates of each area.