In Vino Veritas - The History of Wine by Christopher Fray

In Vino Veritas - The History of Wine by Christopher Fray

From the earliest grape cultivation to the modern global wine industry, viticulture has evolved alongside human societies, reflecting not only technological advancements but also broader economic, social, and cultural shifts. The history of wine offers a unique lens through which we can explore these changes, tracing how civilisations have created, consumed, and traded wine through time. The estimated value of the global wine trade is over 330 million US dollars, and it shows no sign of slowing down. But why do we value wine so much, and what did wine mean to our ancestors? Due to modern DNA analysis and radio-carbon dating, we know that the earliest found traces of wine was produced in the Neolithic period, roughly around 6000 BC. The earliest wine vessels date to 5000 BC and were found in Northwest Iran. At a similar time, viticulture was growing around the world. Wine was being exported out of the ancient cities of Mesopotamia, Ur and Babylon to Egypt, Persia, Georgia and Greece, all of which soon started cultivating their own vines and producing wine. Wine is a simple enough substance to produce, in its rawest form. Grapes which are left to ferment, producing alcohol and eventually, if left long enough, wine. It appears that early wine production was originally medicinal. Egyptian papyri exist which list wine as a treatment for various ailments from epilepsy to jaundice. In Homer’s epic The Iliad, two wounded soldiers are treated with Pramnian wine, goat’s cheese and white barley. After the soldiers drink this, they ‘quenched their parching thirst and were enjoying the pleasure of their conversation:’ the perfect cure. Hippocrates, the famous physician of the Classical Greek period often prescribed various wine for both long-term and acute illnesses. It is clear, however that wine was predominantly consumed for pleasure throughout ancient history. The burial murals of Ancient Egypt from the era of the New Kingdom give us some excellent reproductions of the process of viticulture from the era, including the grape picking and storage process. Wine was produced in large volumes to be enjoyed by the living as well as for the dead. Traces of hundreds of litres of wine have been found in tombs all over Egypt for the Pharoah in the Afterlife. The grapes being mixed with figs, dates, pomegranates and flowers meant that ancient Egyptian wine would have most likely tasted nothing like our modern equivalent. Wine was the predominant drink of choice of the Ancient Greeks. Greek wine was made in three forms; black, white and amber. The Greeks would store their wine in large clay amphorae, which could hold up to 35 litres. The Amphorae were then sealed with resign which would preserve the wine. The wine would be drunk from a round, flat-bottomed kylix, with two handles. It was always taken watered down and occasionally mixed with herbs and honey and in some cases even sea water. Drinking undiluted wine, without water was seen as barbaric, something which a respectable Greek would never do, proving that there have always been ‘wine snobs.’ Our best sources for Greek wine consumption comes from the Symposium. These were social gatherings of elite men who discussed philosophy, politics. Music and sex would also play important roles in a successful Symposium, but the crucial element was wine. Members of the Symposium drank and talked until the last man standing. Dionysus, the God of wine played a prominent role in the wine drinking of the Ancient Greeks. He embodied madness, excess and wildness. Drunkenness was considered ‘divine madness,’ inspired by Dionysus himself, who caused the drinker to lose all control, entering a state of passion and frenzy. The religious connection with wine was beginning to take hold. The intoxicating qualities of the drink lent itself to the reveling spirit, encouraged by the followers of Dionysus. The process of altering one’s mind with wine was key to the religious experience. When you drink the wine, you are drinking Dionysus himself, giving you a direct and personal connection with the divine. In the Roman period, wine production was dramatically increased. Many more vintages and varieties of wine became available due to the industrialisation of vineyards throughout Italy and Roman territories. Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century AD, counted 80 different types of wine available to Romans, two thirds of which were from Italy. Pliny, among many other Naturalist writers in the Roman Empire were experts on viticulture and led many of the agricultural leaps forward in wine making and vine cultivation. The more territory Rome took in the Mediterranean, the more vines were grown and the larger the Roman wine industry became. New grape cultivation techniques were being invented which would dramatically increase the grape yield per year and for the first time, wooden barrels began to be used allowing much more wine to be stored and transported than before. Over 500,000 amphorae were shipped from Italy to the province of Gaul (modern day France) in a single year, showing the sheer scale of trade. Vines were pruned and grapes picked by hand, as they still are in most Italian vineyards today. The grapes were then trodden and crushed for their juice and this juice fermented in the open air, or else clay dolia, partially buried in the earth, depending on how rich the grower intended the wine to be. The city of Pompeii is an excellent window into Roman wine culture. After the explosion of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, the entire city was covered in ash and volcanic pumice, effectively freezing the city in time. When archaeologists came to unearth the city, they discovered the a working Roman city trapped in time. Workstations and kitchens had been abandoned, with tables of food left and preserved under the volcanic fall-out. This gives us an opportunity to see the Roman way of life, like nowhere else. There are many bars in Pompeii and they remain exactly as they were when the volcano erupted. Uncovered adverts show the various wines on offer, at different prices and qualities with the traces of wine still present in the amphorae and pouring jugs. It shows how integral wine was to the Romans, not only in economic terms but culturally.

In Western Europe, vineyards were predominantly cultivated by monks and were located within Monastery grounds. Although it was still drunk for pleasure, wine in Medieval Europe also contained an important religious significance. It was required for Mass and Communion as the Eucharist. For the Faithful, the wine used during Mass becomes the blood of Jesus Christ, with the bread becoming his body. This process, transubstantiation, is still essential to Catholic doctrine today. Numerous Medieval manuscripts depict Jesus crushing grapes with his own feet. The Book of Revelations (19:15) explains, ‘He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty,’ intrinsically linking wine with Christianity. Afterall Jesus Christ’s first miracle at a wedding in Cana, Galilee involved him turning six pots of water into wine. Although the drunken reveling of Dionysus and the teachings of Jesus Christ have little in common, they do both share the idea of reverence and religious experience through the medium of wine. In fact, the link between blood and wine can be traced back long before Christianity. Wine had long been associated with sacrifice and religion throughout the ancient world, with libations of wine poured instead of, or with blood of an animal sacrifice. The necessity for wine in religious activity meant that an enormous number of vineyards were planted and cultivated in Monastic communities all over Europe. Viticulture technology increased through the Middle Ages, as agricultural expertise improved with time. It was not long before wines, still in production today were being grown. Appellations in Bordeaux and Burgundy were producing wines which could be identified as having distinctives properties and tastes. Drinking fine wine set a nobleman apart from the lower orders. It became ubiquitous with power and status. For the first time, due to increased worldwide trade, it was possible to obtain and collect wine from a vast area. Exotic wines imported from distant kingdoms reflected the owner’s presence, influence and friendships abroad. Wine was increasingly seen as a political instrument in the courts of Europe. The introduction of Sulphur, as a preservative to wine around the 14th century and much larger barrels meant that the monks could produce better wines with much longer ageing times. The larger the barrel, the slower the wine aged and the better the overall quality. An influx of money from wealthy patrons, such as the royal families of Europe, the nobility and the Popes in 11th and 12th centuries also increased quality production and highlighted specific regions for viticulture. Drinking and intoxication had always been a central part of life for every social class. However the production of beer and mead (made from honey, water and yeast) had always been much cheaper to produce and produced on a local level. Although fine-wine drinking among the upper-classes did not cease after the 15th century, on the other side of the social spectrum and for the first time, wine was being consumed more and more. Expansion of viticulture and increased local production meant that in the Early-Modern period wine could be afforded by ordinary people. Of course, the drinking of wine by lower classes was demonised by the wealthy for spreading drunkenness and disorder through the streets. But a revolution of wine had occurred, and the world would never look back. Before the 17th century, pottery jugs or leather had been used to pour wine. Glassmaking technology improved so that glass bottles were stronger and cheaper to produce. Glass bottles became the preferred vessel of choice, and shortly afterwards the cork stopper was also introduced.

It was in 1863 when modern chemistry and wine collided. The result would mean an explosion in worldwide wine trade. Before the 19th century wine makers were still relatively unaware of the chemistry of fermentation. Much wine was wasted due to the way it was stored and would spoil before it even made it into the bottle. On the request of Napoleon III, a French scientist called Louis Pasteur set about discovering the secret to spoiled wine. He discovered that it was the yeast which causes grapes to ferment and understood that the preservation of wine was intrinsically linked to oxygen in the atmosphere. Microbes in the wine eventually grow in number, mixing with the air and turn good wine into vinegar. As Pasteur discovered, if you remove the air, the wine stays good and can last for a long time. And if this is impossible, heating the bottle kills the microbes, saving the wine. This process took his name, Pasteurisation. The story of North American wine starts considerably later than Europe and the Mediterranean, although the knowledge and technology was brought to the New World by Europeans. Franciscan monks set up monasteries in California, planting the first vines but it wasn’t until the gold rush in the 19th century and the influx of wealth which this brought California, that the real story of American viticulture began. Prohibition (as you could imagine) put a stop to American wine production. But after it was lifted in 1933, areas in California such as the Napa and Sonoma valleys were back with a vengeance. Cutting of vines were brought over from France and Italy and adapted to a new style of viticulture, producing a unique style of Pacific wine. The 80 or so years between 1863 and 1945 were some of the darkest in wine history. In the years following 1863, wine production all over Europe, which had been thriving since Roman expansion was in crisis due to the phylloxera epidemic. Vines were withering and grapes dying before they could be picked, on an enormous scale. Many towns and villages depended on the wine trade and people were forced to abandon their homes to look for other work. The destruction was caused by tiny mites, brought over to Europe on ships from North America. The European vines lacked resistance to the mites, unlike the vines in North America. It was eventually discovered that grafting North American roots on top of the European vine roots made the European vines equally resistant. This however had to be repeated on every vine, in every vineyard in Europe. The devastation lasted for over 30 years, dramatically reducing Europe’s wine production and devastating centuries old vineyards. The First World War (1914-1919) had a negative effect on European vineyards due to men and horses being drafted to serve on the front lines, reducing the ability for a vineyard to function. In the trenches however, wine was more important than ever. Wine was quickly realised to be essential for morale and so the French government made sure French soldiers had a decent wine ration, which was called Pinard. The volume varied depending on how much pressure the troops were under and could reach up to 1 litre a day. Pinard became a symbol of the French soldier's experience in the war and became emblematic of the resilience and toughness of the soldiers. During the Second World War, the situations for the vineyards and Chateaux of France was more dire. From 1940 until liberation in 1944, the Northern half of France, and the Western coastline including Bordeaux was occupied by the Nazis. From 1942, the rest of France was invaded, with Italy pushing into Provence from the South-East. This meant that the entirety of France’s wine production was now in foreign hands. Many of the Chateaux were abandoned in the wake of the invasion and wine consumed and shared out by German soldiers. Some of the vineyards were converted into field hospitals, military bases and shooting ranges. Nevertheless, wine production continued albeit at a much reduced rate, in order to provide wine for the incumbent German army. In some cases, the Nazi government brought in their own German winemakers to run many of the vineyards of France. The French winemakers called these men the ‘Wein-Fuhrers.’ Production of famous French wine helped finance the German war effort and as a display of domination of symbolic and cultural French heritage. In places such as Champagne, the techniques were so specialised, the original winemakers could not be replaced. The story of French wine during the Second World War is filled with acts of resistance by wine makers. Many winemakers buried their wines or walled up their most precious bottles among many ingenious ways to save it from the invading Germans. The long and detailed history of wine serves as a testament to its enduring significance in human society. It is clear that wine is far more than a drink; it is a cultural vessel which reflects the priorities, struggles, and innovations of each era. Whether enjoyed as a symbol of luxury, used in religious ceremonies, or traded as a commercial good, wine has consistently mirrored the evolving economic, social, and political landscapes of the world. By tracing our history back through the vines, we can gain valuable insights into the shifts in trade, technology, class, and culture, making wine not just a reflection of the past but a key element in the ongoing story of humanity and civilisation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - 
Christopher Fray is a London based historian who holds an undergraduate degree in Classics from the University of Manchester and a master’s in history from Birkbeck College, University of London. He writes for a number of online history magazines and enjoys covering a wide range of topics in his writing, from antiquity to modern history.
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