Wine is an alcohol-based beverage that is made of grapes. There are at most two distinct wine-related inventions according to how you think about grapes. China is the home of the oldest record of grapes used in recipes for wine using honey and fermented rice. It is believed to date back around 9000 years. The seeds of the European winemaking culture were planted in Asia about two thousand years after.
Archaeological Evidence
It is hard to locate archaeological evidence to show that winemaking was carried out at an archeological site. The presence of grape skins, grape seeds, or stalks, however, does not indicate that wine was made. Researchers accept two ways to determine winemaking the evidence of processing grapes and domesticated livestock.
Hermaphroditic plants are the primary change that took place during the domestication process of grapes. This means that the grapes that are grown in domestic settings are able to self-pollinate. Vintners are free to select the traits they prefer and so long as they maintain the grapes on the same hill they do not have to be concerned about cross-pollinating and changing the grapes for the following year.
It is believed that domestication could be confirmed through the discovery of specific areas of the plant in regions that are not its natural habitat. The wild ancestral ancestor of European wild grape Vitis vinifera Sylvestris was discovered in the western part of Eurasia in the region in the region between Mediterranean Sea and Caspian Seas. Thus, domestication is further proven by the existence of V. vinifera beyond its normal zone of distribution.
Chinese Wines
China is the place where the true wine history made from grapes starts. Radiocarbon residues discovered on shards of pottery from Jiahu’s Chinese Neolithic site between 7000 and 6600 BCE are believed to be the fermentation of a beverage that contained honey, rice and fruits.
Tartaric acid/tartrate residues that are found in the bottom of jars suggest the presence of fruit. These are known to wine drinkers who have consumed wine in corked bottles. Researchers have been unable to determine the tartrate of the species between longyan, grape, hawthorn, and cornelian cherry. Grape seeds and hawthorn were discovered in Jiahu. The Zhou Dynasty, circa 1046-221 BCE contains textual evidence that grapes were utilized.
The grapes used in wine recipes should be wild varieties of grapes that are indigenous to China and not imported from the Western part of Asia. There are between 40 and 50 varieties of wild grapes in China. China was first introduced to the European grape during the second century BCE together with the other Silk Road imports.
Western Asia Wines
The oldest record of winemaking in the western part of Asia originates from Hajji Firuz (Iran), which is a Neolithic period location. It was discovered between 5400 and 5000 BCE. A layer of sediment discovered in the bottom of an amphora was found to be a mix of tannin and tartrate crystals. Five additional jars were discovered on the same site, each containing around nine liters of liquid.
Sites that aren’t in the normal range of grapes, but exhibit evidence of processing grapes in western Asia includes Lake Zeriber in Iran. In this area, grape pollen was found in the soil core just prior to 4300 cal BC. Kurban Hoyuk, southeastern Turkey was found with pieces of charred skins of fruit from the end of the sixth millennium to early fifth millennia BCE.
In the beginning of the dynastic period in Egypt wine imports from the western part of Asia were discovered. The tomb of the Scorpion King, dating back to 3150 BCE included 700 jars believed to be filled with wines from the Levant and then transported to Egypt.
European Winemaking
Wild grape (Vitis Vinifera) Pips were discovered in Europe quite some time ago in Franchthi Cave, Greece (about 12,000 years ago) and Balma de l’Abeurador (about 10,000 years ago). The evidence for domesticated grapes is later than the evidence from East Asia however, it is comparable to evidence from the evidence for western Asia grapes.
Excavations conducted at Dikili Tash, a Greek site has exposed grape pips and empty skins. This is the oldest evidence of Aegean’s grape pips that date to the period of 4400-4000 BCE. The evidence of the process of fermentation at DikiliTash is discovered in a clay cup which includes grape juice and pressings of grapes. There were grapevines, and also wood.
A wine-making facility in Armenia was discovered in the Areni-1 Cave Complex. It is believed to be from approximately 4000 BCE. It has an area for crushing grapes as well as a method to move the liquid that was crushed to storage containers. It could also contain evidence of the process of fermentation of red wine.
Viniculture was an extremely valuable economic and cultural product. It grew rapidly throughout the Roman period, and possibly due to Roman expansion. It was a major commercial and speculative commodity by the time of the 1st century BCE.
The Long Road to New-World Wines
Leif Erikson, an Icelandic explorationist, first found North America around 1000 CE. He named the newly discovered region Vinland (alternately identified as Winland) due to the abundant wild grapevines that were cultivated in the area. It wasn’t unexpected that the New World’s potential for viticulture was apparent after 600 years when European colonists arrived.
Other than Vitis Rotundifolia, which was found mostly in the South the majority of indigenous grape varieties that colonists encountered weren’t suitable for the production of delicious or even drinkable wine. In order to make even small amounts of wine, it required several years and numerous attempts.
Thomas Pinney, Pomona College Emeritus, award-winning chef and writer wrote that the battle to make New World wine of the similar quality to Europe’s was initiated by the first colonists. Pinney also noted that the struggle was not lost over the subsequent generations. The attempt to cultivate European grape varieties to make wine was among the most difficult and sought-after endeavors of all time in American history. The production of wine in the eastern part of the country became feasible after it was realized that only native varieties of grapes could withstand the extreme climate and prevalent diseases that plagued North America.
Pinney states that American winemaking was not altered until the arrival of California in the mid-19th century. California’s climate was mild, which permitted European grapes to thrive and helped in the creation of an industry. He credits the success of hybrid grapesto trials and errors, and the growth of winemaking beyond California to a wide array of issues.
He states that “by the turn of the 20th century, the growing of wine and grapes in the United States was a well-established and significant economic activity.” After more than three centuries of trial and defeats, as well as renewed efforts, the dreams of the first colonists finally fulfilled.
Innovative Wine Technology to the 20th Century
Wines are made by fermentation by using yeast. Up until the mid 20th century, the process was built on natural yeasts. The fermentations could be inconsistent and could result in loss of quality due to their slow work time.
In the 1950s and 1960s, pure starter strains of the Mediterranean Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain were developed. This was a major advancement in the art of winemaking. The S. cerevisiae strains were used for commercial wine fermentations. There are a myriad of commercial yeast starters for wine available all over the world that allow the production of wine with consistent quality.
Another game-changing–and controversial–innovation that had a huge impact on 20th-century winemaking was the introduction of screw-cap tops and synthetic corks. The bottle stoppers challenged the natural cork’s traditional dominance that dates to the ancient Egyptian times.
Screw-top wine bottles first came into fashion in the 1950s. They were a part of “value-oriented wine jugs,” according to Allison Aubrey, a James Beard journalist on the broadcast circuit. It was hard to break the image of gallon bottles of cheap fruit-flavored wine and this picture. Corks, which are natural substances are not ideal. Corks that weren’t properly sealed might be leaking, dried out, and eventually crumble. Cork taint or cork taint are words used to describe wines that have been spoilt, regardless of the seal used to seal the bottle.
Australia is one of the largest wine-producing nations around the globe, began to rethink the cork in the late 1980s. Synthetic corks as well as the advancement of screw-top technology has helped improve the quality of the market for wines. While some wine enthusiasts still prefer cork but the majority of wine lovers are in favor of this new technology. The latest innovations include bags and boxed wines.
Fast facts: 21st Century U.S. Wine Statistics
In February of 2019, there were 10,043 wineries across the United States.
California is the state with the most production per state, with 4,425 wineries. The next state is Washington (776), Oregon (773), New York (396), Texas (333) and Virginia (280).
The proportion of Americans who drink alcohol is 40 percent. This is equivalent to 240 million people.
U.S. wine drinkers by gender 56% male, 44 percent female
U.S. wine drinkers by age group Aged (age 73)+ 5 percent and Baby Boomers (54-62) and 34 percent; GenX (42-53), 34 percent; Gen. Gen. (19 percent to 19 percent) and Generation Y (22-41) and 36 percent; I-Generation (21-24) 66 percent
Per capita consumption of wine Per capita: 11. Liters/person per year, or 2.94 Gallons
21st Century Wine Technology
One of the 21st Century winemaking’s most exciting breakthroughs is the micro-oxygenation process. This method, also called “mox” can reduce the chance of ageing red wines by using traditional methods, which have cork sealed containers.
The tiny pores of cork let enough oxygen in the wine as it ages. The process “softens” the natural tannins and lets the wine create its own unique taste profile, usually over a long period of time. Mox mimics natural aging by slowly increasing the oxygen content of wine while it is being created. The wines that result are typically more stable, smoother and have less unpleasant and sharp notes.
Another trend that has recently emerged is the use of DNA sequencing. Researchers can monitor the spread of S. cerevisiae in commercial wineries over the last 50 years. It also allows for comparison and contrast between various geographical regions, and according to research, offers the possibility of better wine in the near future.
