The origin of wine culture
Wine was already mentioned in a Babylonian article 4,000 years ago. In the Bible, Noah was the first to grow grapes, who was the first farmer. "He planted vines and cited wine." The emergence of grape planting The development of wine history is a history of the development of grape vines from wild to planting. This probably dates back to 7000 BC. The vine appeared in the Caucasus Mountains and Mesopotamia in 7000 BC. It was also cultivated by people in Western Asia (Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian).
It began to be cultivated in Egypt and Phoenicia from 3000 BC. Due to the promotion by the Greeks and Romans, vine cultivation spread rapidly in the Mediterranean Basin, which also made the Mediterranean Basin the cradle of wine civilization. Before vines were planted in central continental Europe, vines first appeared in Sicily and southern Italy, followed by southern France and Spain.
After Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, wine entered the new world. After the vine spread in this new world, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand also have its shadow.
The emergence of French viticulture The earliest city in France to plant vines is what is now Marseille, about 600 BC. The vines were brought to France by the Phosians, but it was true that the Romans planted the vines in Gaul, and even in Great Britain. In the 1st century AD, vines were widely planted in the Rhone Valley.
Vines were planted in Brittany and Bordeaux in the 2nd century AD, in the Loire Valley in the 3rd century AD, and in the Champagne and Moselle valleys in the 4th century AD. The Paris region has long been a major producer of vines in France. According to ancient Greco-Roman scholars, it was the Greeks who introduced the vine to Gaul when the city of Marseille was established in 600 BC: a writer named Justin in the 1st century BC wrote in The History of Pompeii "The book wrote that the introduction of the vine was related to the establishment of the city of Marseille. But, as far as we know, in the 1st century BC, the Romans held an absolute monopoly on imported wine from Gaul: it prohibited the cultivation of vines in Trans-Gaul. The Gauls contributed to the history of wine in France by improving winemaking techniques such as ageing in oak barrels. The development of viticulture in Gaul.
Since the establishment of the Provincia in 125 BC, the vine has spread throughout the South. Then after the conquest, vine cultivation extended to the Rhone Valley. However, in Cicero's day, the cultivation of vines in the provinces was still prohibited: "We, the just people, cannot tolerate the cultivation of these plants by those on the other side of the Alps in order to increase the value of our wines and olives." It appears that this ban has not been fully followed. But the crisis of the 1st century prompted Emperor Domitian to amend the prohibition in AD 92, prohibiting Roman imports of Gallic wines. But this did not hinder the development of viticulture, because among the Gauls, wine was still in great demand. Probus introduced the official prohibition in the third century. Ancient wine growing in Gaul was in Gaillac, Rosenia and the Rhone Valley. Pliny the Great pointed out the grape varieties developed by the Arrobrox people.
Humans are named after them. Next, from the 3rd century onwards, the vines began to develop in Brittany and Bordeaux, in the 3rd century in the Loire, Champagne, Moselle and in the 4th century in the Seine. But wine as we know it today came into existence in the Middle Ages (in ancient Roman and Greek times, wine was a mixture of herbs, honey, spices, etc.). Christianity also contributed to the development of vines and wine in France by encouraging bishops and monks to plant vines. In the Middle Ages, France was the largest exporter of wine. Wine and Religion Bacchus was the Roman god of wine and was often inscribed on sarcophagi during the Roman Empire. When the Christians rejected their old god, Bacchus was replaced by another, Jesus.
During the Middle Ages, the church expanded the cultivation of vines. The monasteries, in particular, made viticulture a major part of their agricultural activity. Therefore, the whole European region gradually indulged in the cultivation of vines. This also raises the question of overproduction of grapes. Today, the world's production of wine reaches 260 million hectoliters. Italy topped the list with 58 million hectoliters, followed by France (57), Spain (38) and the United States (24).