Who invented wine?
“Wine is one of the oldest and most fascinating drinks in human history. When we think of a glass of wine, we think of culture, tradition, conviviality. But an intriguing question continues to intrigue enthusiasts: who invented wine? The answer is not so simple, because wine is not born from a single human gesture or from a precise invention, but from a natural process observed and then perfected over the millennia.
Many scholars believe that the discovery of wine occurred almost by chance. Primitive man, picking bunches of grapes, will probably have noticed that the fruit forgotten in a container tended to ferment spontaneously, transforming into a drink with a particular flavor and intoxicating effects. This natural phenomenon, due to the action of the yeasts present on the skin of the grapes, would have pushed the first civilizations to reproduce and control this process, giving rise to what we now call wine.
Even if we cannot attribute the credit to a single individual or a specific population, the first documented traces of wine production take us to a very specific area of the ancient world.
Where and when was wine born?
Archaeologists have found the first signs of wine production in the southern Caucasus, between present-day Georgia, Armenia and Iran. Precisely in these fertile lands, about 8,000 years ago, our ancestors began cultivating vines and producing wine. In Georgia, in particular, fragments of clay amphorae containing residues of tartaric acid have been discovered, one of the strongest chemical evidences of wine production.
The practice of winemaking subsequently spread over the millennia, reaching Mesopotamia, Egypt and then Greece, Rome and the rest of Europe. Each culture, in its own way, has perfected fermentation and aging techniques, transforming wine from a simple ritual drink to a symbol of civilization, art and religion.
The Egyptians used wine in sacred rites, so much so that many Pharaonic tombs contained amphorae full of wine destined for the afterlife. The Greeks, however, attributed philosophical and cultural importance to it: wine was a gift from Dionysus, the god of ecstasy. Finally, the Romans contributed significantly to the spread of viticulture throughout Europe, refining cultivation techniques and improving wine conservation and transport systems.
What is the oldest wine in the world?
Discovering the oldest wine in the world is like leafing through a history book written with time, the land and human passion. Among the oldest testimonies, the cellar found in the archaeological site of Areni-1, in Armenia, stands out. Here, in a cave dating back to around 4,100 BC, archaeologists discovered a real winemaking plant, complete with grape presses and fermentation containers.
Despite the distance in time, in some cases, ancient wine has reached us in liquid form. This is the case of the “”Speyer wine bottle””, found in 1867 in a Roman tomb near Speyer, Germany. Dating back to the 4th century AD, this sealed glass bottle is considered the oldest wine still existing in liquid form, although its contents are certainly no longer suitable for consumption.
It is exciting to think that behind every sip of wine that we savor today, thousands of years of history, of attempts, of intuitions are hidden. Wine is not just a drink: it is a living memory that connects us directly to our ancestors.
Which came first, wine or beer?
If wine has such deep roots, there is another drink that can boast an even older history: beer. In fact, archaeological data indicates that beer precedes wine production by a few millennia. The first traces of cereal fermentation, which we can consider a primitive form of beer, date back to around 10,000 years ago, in Mesopotamia, as part of the agricultural revolution.
The Sumerians, one of the first Mesopotamian civilizations, left written traces of their brewing art, such as the hymn to the goddess Ninkasi, which celebrates the preparation of beer. Originally, beer was probably a fermented mixture of cereals that provided nourishment and quenched the thirst of ancient populations.
Although beer is older, wine has managed to gain a special place in the collective imagination, above all thanks to its association with spirituality, art and conviviality. While beer was more linked to everyday life, wine was often reserved for the elite, religious ceremonies and banquets.
Asking yourself who invented wine is like asking yourself about the origins of civilization itself. Wine is the fruit of nature, but also of the ingenuity and passion of men who, millennium after millennium, have refined their knowledge of the vine and fermentation. Born in an area between Georgia, Armenia and Iran, wine has followed the paths of man, becoming an integral part of the greatest cultures in history.
Even today, each bottle contains an ancient history, made of lands, skilled hands, rites and dreams. And knowing that wine shares its path with beer, its older sister, makes the toast that has accompanied our lives for thousands of years even more fascinating.
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