History of Wine- a thumbnail sketch   by Darryl Beeson In reality, wine is older than recorded history  * Began in Caucasia or Mesopotamia, at around 6,000 B.C.  * Egypt and Phonecia embrace wine around 3,000 B.C.  * Greece advances wine in big ways starting around 2,000 B.C .* Around 1,000 B.C., the Greeks introduce refined wine cultivation to Sicily, northern Africa, and to the southern mainland of Italy. The Etruscans to the north and the Romans later learned through trade. * In the next five hundred years, Spain, Portugal, the south of France, and the south of Russia came on line.  * Closer to 0 B.C., the Romans took wine knowledge into northern Europe, including Germany and even to Britain.  The geographical movement followed large river valleys and the Mediterranean Sea  * Movement of the wine over navigable water routes for trade purposes.  * Large bodies of water tend to moderate the climate of the nearby vineyards.  The Dark Ages, following the fall of the Roman Empire  * The Church was the safe keeper of manner of civilized knowledge, continuing to fine tune the knowledge of wine making and vineyard development in a very scientific manner.  * Illumination of the medieval period brings Emperor Charlemagne, legislating further rules resulting in improved wine.  * Monasteries expanded time proven vineyards by clearing hillsides, building walls around them ("clos").  * More land is bequeathed to the Church, increasing the Church's dominance of the best vineyards for wine production.  * The Benedictines from their roots in Italy's Monte Cassino and Cluny in Burgundy, France, rose to the occasion of controlling the world's greatest vineyards.  * In 1112, the young Saint Bernard split of to found the ascetic order of the Cistercians, named for their new abbey of Citeaux, within walking distance of Burgundy's "Cotes d'Or".  * Cistercians successfully found Clos de Vougeot vineyard in Burgundy,the Steinberg vineyard in the Rhinegau (Germany), growing all over Europe including Portugal.  * Don't visualize the simple, humble monk for this scenario; These fellows were gluttons for great wine and food.  More dough, Bordeaux  * At the same time, Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast of France developed into greatness motivated by commerce from their port, not the Church.  * 1152 till 1453, the great Duchy of Aquitaine, that being most of western France, was united with England through royal marriage.  * Big commercial demand for "hogshead" barrels of light "claret" red that the Brits did love.  Devine vines entwined at this time/ Few things were regulated in medieval times  * The important varieties were identified. Those grapes that we know today came into established being.  * Trade items fetching greatest demand were wine and wool products/cloth.  * Fortunes were made, especially in Flanders, the flat areas near Champagne, France, and within trade roots of the Alps.  * No region became more obsessed than Germany, where huge barrels known as "tuns" retained the finer vintages. The Heidelberg "tun" held the equal of 19,000 dozen bottles.  The battle of the blends in 1224  * Though the wines of the time lacked great complexity, the king of France held an international competition.  * There were 70 entries from Spain, Germany, France and Cyprus.  * The judge, an English Priest, selected a wine from Cyprus as the winner.  Forward from the 1600's  * Before this time, wine was the only wholesome, storable beverage available.  * Water was unsafe near cities.  * Ale was not yet stable, needing hops for that.  * There were no spirits or coffee beans with oh-so-lovely caffeine  * In the 1600's, all bets were off. There was coffee, tea via trade roots from China, Dutch distillation of spirits, CHOCOLATE, and safer water being piped into cities in a manner not known since the Romans.  Technology rescues wine  * Glass wine bottle are invented. They became stronger and more economical to produce.  * Invention of the cork and the corkscrew saved the day.  For more great wine suggestions, click here Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions? Email: jwdineline@aol.com Copyright © 1998 Inter Active Media Solutions. All Rights Reserved. The interactive components of this site require that you use a current browser version of Explorer; be sure to maximize your window out so you can see the entire page. This page was created by Inter Active Media Solutions.