History of Wine

The history of wine dates back to the Old Testament (Genesis 9:20) when said by Noah. In ancient Greece, wine was taken with water (take it without mixing was frowned upon); Teocrito described as venerable wines when they turned 4 years old. At that time it was stored in drums, containers made of goat fur amphorae waterproofed with oils and oily rags, so the air was in contact with the wine at all times. The Romans deomstraron better care, better wine through Falernianos wines a year of introducing aging containers. Although anyway not arrive until maturation when introduced wine bottle with cork.


The wine kept in wooden not reach maturity until after three years, maintained as long as he could not improve but deteriorate. The barrels were kept until 20 years until the end of the 18th century, when they were improved, but the habit was abandoned and connoisseurs find it a topic for discussion.

The Romans planted vineyards in all places where the grapes stand the climate (North Africa, Spain , Gaul, Britain, and Illyria). The cultures were kept for local consumption, especially for Holy Communion, which happened to be caring concern of the church.
The reappearance of wine as a beverage, and the famous wineries, invariably resulted from the efforts of monks and monarchs distinguished by their devotion to the church.

Most of the local wines were of poor quality, especially in areas currently considered high latitude. The Vin de Suresnes in the outskirts of Paris was transformed into something fine. In England there are records of Sparkling Wines Welsh variety dating from the 19th century occurred on the outskirts of Cardiff

While the most important plantations are attributed to Charlemagne, it was not until the 12th century found that large plantations and large market place. Due to difficulties in transporting goods at the time, most of the vineyards that survived were those who were on the banks of major rivers. Such is the case of vineyards along the Rhine in Germany , Garonne and Loire. Others were produced in the area controlled by Venice in Greece where they are produced varieties of Madeira , about 1420.

Bottles and corks
The use of bottles and corks appeared by the end of the 17th century, and its creation is attributed to Dom Pierre Perignon of Hautvillers, father of the market in Champagne . Another discovery, which has been reached, but by mistake, was to obtain sweet wines and bouquet, which are produced by letting the grapes enter some yeast still in the vineyards and vines, in 1775 in the Rheingau. This pourriture noble (noble rot) was caused by the presence of some special microdermia made possible some Sauternes and some wines from Hungary known to affect certain casks.

Also during the 17th century was when the producers of Madeira , sherry and port began to fortify their wines by adding brandy during processing.

The disappearance of many important vineyards occurred after 1863, when he accidentally carried a variety of louse called Phylloxera that attacked the roots of plants. Because of this, areas totaled 2.5 million acres were devastated by the plague, leaving the French farmers to the brink of bankruptcy and producers of Madeira and the Canary completely out of production. The devastation was controlled after importing that lice resistant plants from California . Pre-Phylloxera Wines are now virtually unobtainable.

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