Wine is an alcohol-based beverage that is made of grapes. There are at least two distinct ways to make wine according to the way you think about grapes. The oldest evidence for the use grapes as a component of a recipe for wine that included honey and rice fermented comes from China approximately 9000 years ago. The seeds of the European winemaking culture were planted in Asia 2500 years later.
Archaeological Evidence
The archaeological evidence for winemaking is a little difficult to find because the presence of grape seeds, fruit skins or stalks, stems, or stems at an archaeological site does not necessarily mean that the site is producing of wine. Researchers accept two ways to determine winemaking: evidence of grape processing and domesticated livestock.
Hermaphroditic plants were the main change that took place during the domestication of grapes. This means that grapes that are grown in domestic settings can self-pollinate. Vintners are free to select the traits they prefer and as long as they keep the grapes on the same hill they do not have to be concerned about cross-pollinating and changing the grapes for the following year.
The discovery of areas of the plant that are not within its native territory is also accepted evidence of domestication. The wild ancestor to the European wild grape (Vitis vinifera sylvestris) is native to western Eurasia in the region between Mediterranean and Caspian Seas; thus the presence of V. vinifera outside of its normal range is also thought to be proof of domestication.
Chinese Wines
The real story of wine made from grapes began in China. Radiocarbon residues found on pottery shards dating to 7000-6600 BCE from the Chinese early Neolithic site of Jiahu have been recognized as coming from a fermented beverage composed of rice, honey, and fruits.
The presence of tartrate and tartar residues at the bottom of the jars indicate the presence of fruit. These are known to wine drinkers who have ever consumed wine in corked bottles. Researchers could not narrow down the species tartrate between longyan, grape hawthorn and the cornelian cherry. Both hawthorn and grape seeds were discovered in Jiahu. Textual evidence for the use of grapes, although not specifically grape wine–dates to the Zhou Dynasty circa 1046-221 BCE.
Grapes used in wine recipes must come from wild varieties of grapes that are indigenous to China and not imported from the Western part of Asia. There are 40 to 50 wild grape varieties in China. China was first introduced to the European grape during the second century BCE along with other Silk Road imports.
Western Asia Wines
The oldest record of winemaking in western Asia is from Hajji Firuz (Iran), an Neolithic period location. It was discovered between 5400 and 5000 BCE. A layer of sediment discovered in the bottom of an amphora was discovered to be a mix of tartrate and tannin crystals. The site’s deposit included five additional jars that were identical to those with the sediment of tartrate and tannin each with an approximate capacity of nine liters of liquid.
Sites outside of the normal range for grapes that show early evidence of grapes and processing of grapes in western Asia includes Lake Zeriber, Iran, where grape pollen was discovered in the soil core about 4300 cal BCE. Kurban Hoyuk, southeastern Turkey, was discovered with fragments of burned fruit skins in the latter half of the sixth century to the early fifth millennia BCE.
In the early days of dynastic Egypt wine imports from the western part of Asia were discovered. A tomb belonging to the King of Scorpion (dated circa 3150 BCE) contained 700 jars that are believed to be made and filled with wine from the Levant and transported to Egypt.
European Winemaking
In Europe The wild grape (Vitis vinifera) pips have been found in some of the most ancient sites including Franchthi Cave, Greece (12,000 years ago) and Balma de l’Abeurador, France (about 10,000 years earlier). The evidence of domesticated grapes is later than those of East Asia, although similar to that of the west Asia grapes.
Excavations carried out at Dikili Tash, a Greek site, have revealed grape pipsas well as empty skins. This is the oldest example of Aegean’s grapes pips dating back to 4400-4000 BCE. Evidence of fermentation at Dikili Tash is discovered in a cup of clay that contains both grape juice as well as grape pressings. There are grapevines as well as also wood.
A wine-making facility in Armenia was discovered at the Areni-1 Cave Complex. It is believed to be dating back to around 4000 BCE. It includes a platform for crushing grapes, as well as a means to transfer the crushed liquid to storage containers. There may also be evidence of the fermentation process of red wine.
Viniculture was a high-value economic and cultural commodity. It spread rapidly during the Roman period and probably by Roman expansion. It was a significant commercial and speculative commodity at the time of the 1st century BCE.
The Long Road to New-World Wines
Leif Erikson, an Icelandic explorer, found North America around 1000 CE. He named the new territory Vinland (alternately called Winland) because of the abundant wild grapevines that grew there. It was not surprising that when European settlers began moving into the New World about 600 years afterward, the enormous possibilities for viticulture were evident.
Unfortunately and with the distinct exception of Vitis rotundifolia (known by its colloquial name muscadine grape or “Scuppernong” grape) which thrived mostly in the South The majority of native grapes settlers first encountered were not suitable to producing a delicious or even potable wine. It took a number of attempts, many years, and the use of more suitable grapes for colonists in order to achieve even modest winemaking success.
“The fight to create wine in the New World yield wine such as they had known in Europe was begun by the first settlers, and continued for a long time, only to end with defeat time and time,” writes award-winning culinary writer and professor of English Emeritus, Pomona College, Thomas Pinney. The venture to grow European grape varieties to make wine was one of the most difficult and eagerly awaited endeavors of all time in American wine history. Not until it was recognized that only native grape varieties could succeed against the prevalent diseases and the harsh conditions of North America did winemaking have a chance in the eastern portion of the nation.”
Pinney notes that American winemaking was not altered until California’s colonization in the mid-19th century. European grapes flourished in California’s mild climate which sparked an industry. He is able to attribute the success of hybrid grapesto trials and errors, and the development of winemaking beyond California to a wide variety of challenges.
He states that “by the beginning of 20th century, the cultivation of grapes and the production of wine in the United States was a well-established and significant economic activity.” After more than three centuries of trial of defeats, trials, and redoubled efforts, the hopes of the first settlers finally fulfilled.
20th-Century Wine Innovations of the 20th Century
Wines are fermented by using yeast. Until the middle of the 20th century, this method was dependent on the natural yeasts. The fermentations were often uneven results, and because they required a long time to complete, they were vulnerable to spoilage.
In the 1950s and 1960s pure starter strains of Mediterranean Saccharomyces cerevisiae were introduced. This was a significant advancement in the art of winemaking. Since then commercial wine fermentations have been incorporating these S. cerevisiae strains, and there are hundreds of commercially-favorable yeast starter cultures around the world, enabling the production of wine with a 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. These bottle stoppers challenge the natural cork’s dominant position, which dates back to prehistoric Egyptian times.
When they debuted in the 1950s screw-top wine bottles initially associated with “value-oriented jugs of wine,” reports Allison Aubrey who is a James Beard broadcast award-winning journalist. It was hard to break the stigma associated with gallon-sized bottles of cheap fruit-flavored wine and this picture. Corks, which are natural substances are not ideal. Incorrectly sealed corks sank dry out, and then shattered. Cork taint and cork taint refer to words used to describe wine that has been spoilt, regardless of the seal used to seal the bottle.
Australia, one the most important wine-producing countries around the world, began to rethink the cork in the late 1980s. The introduction of synthetic corks as well as new screw-top technologies helped to advance the high-end market for wines. Although some oenophiles are reluctant to take anything else other than cork, the majority of wine enthusiasts are now accepting the latest technology. The latest innovations include bags and boxed wine.
Fast facts: 21st Century U.S. Wine Statistics
In February of 2019, there were 10,043 wineries in the United States.
California is the state with the most production per state, with 4,425 wineries. It is followed by Washington (776), Oregon (773), New York (396), Texas (333) and Virginia (280).
The proportion of Americans who drink wine is 40%. This is equivalent to 240 million people.
U.S. wine drinkers by gender: 56% male, 44% female
U.S. wine drinkers by age group: Aged (age 73)+, 5%; Baby Boomers (54-62) and 34 percent GenX (42-53), 34 percent Gen. X (19 19% to 20%) and Millennials (22-41) and 36%; I-Generation (21-24) I-Generation (21-24), 6 percentage
Per capita consumption of wine: 11 liters per person in a year that’s 2.94 gallons
21st Century Wine Technology
One of the most fascinating developments that are being made in 21st Century winemaking is a process known as micro-oxygenation (known as “mox”) that reduces some of the dangers associated with aging wine through traditional methods that require red wines are cellared inside cork sealed bottles.
Small pores in cork allow the air in to permeate the wine as it ages. This process “softens” the natural tannins and allows the wine’s distinctive taste develop over a long period of time. Mox mimics natural aging through the gradual introduction of small amounts of oxygen to wine as it’s being made. The resulting wines are generally more stable, smoother and have less unpleasant and harsh notes.
Another recent trend is DNA sequencing. It allows researchers to monitor the spread of S. cerevisiae in commercial wines over the past 50 year. It also allows for comparison and contrast between different geographic regions and, according to research, offers the potential for better wines in the future.
