Last week, I wrote about Piero Antinori, the scion of an Italian
family that has been producing wine in that country for 500 years
or so.
That got me to wondering about the history of winemaking in
general: how long it’s been made, who first made it and where.
Last week, I wrote about Piero Antinori, the scion of an Italian family that has been producing wine in that country for 500 years or so.
That got me to wondering about the history of winemaking in general: how long it’s been made, who first made it and where. As can be imagined, there has been a lot of research done on the subject.
I mean, what oenologist wouldn’t jump at the chance to travel to the old country and spend a few months traipsing around looking for evidence of ancient winemaking?
There have probably been quite a few grant recipients doing just that. I can image a researcher getting his or her eager hands on one of Matthew Lesko’s books (“How to Write and Get a Grant!” or “Free Money to Quit Your Job!”) and following his advice on how to scoop up some of that pile of free government money he says is just laying around.
You know who Lesko is. He’s that hyperactive guy on TV ads, dressed up in a suit covered with question marks like some kind of crusading Riddler. The man seems incapable of uttering a phrase that doesn’t end in an exclamation point. Maybe he grew up in a bad neighborhood and was deprived of punctuation marks as a child. So he overcompensates.
At any rate, it seems that there are as many theories as to how the first wine was made as there are wineries in Napa Valley.
Many experts agree that it was probably an accident. Someone, somewhere – probably in what we now know as the Middle East – left some crushed grapes laying around, came back later, drank the now fermented juice and was pleasantly surprised by the beverage. And they got a little buzz. “Eureka!” (Or, more likely, in the language of the time, “Ugh!”) And so, wine was born.
“A Short History of Wine,” a book by Canadian history professor Rod Phillips, is a very readable account of how the cultivation of wine spread across the Western world.
According to Phillips, the earliest evidence of winemaking dates to the Neolithic period. Among the Zagros Mountains in what is now Iran, archaeologists found the village of Haiji Firuz Tepe. There, six jars were found buried in the floor of a mud hut. The nine-liter jars contained residues of grape juice, stems and seeds, but more importantly, they also held traces of a resin from the terebinth tree, a resin that was widely used in ancient times as a wine preservative.
To this day, tree resin is used in the Greek wine retsina. The pine resin used in that wine lends it its distinctive flavor, but originally, it was there to prevent the growth of bacteria. Retsina is definitely an acquired taste. A good friend of mine says it tastes just like Mr. Clean, but I’m not sure how he knows what Mr. Clean tastes like. Frankly, I’m afraid to ask.
Professor Phillips’ book is a great read for anyone who is interested in the impact that wine has had on Western civilization. Very few commodities have had such a profound effect on our culture, although these days, oil is giving it a run for its money in terms of controversy. And make no mistake: wine has definitely been controversial.
My late, beloved paternal grandmother, Alice Chatfield of McArthur, Ohio, is proof of that. As I have written in the past, Grandma Alice was a card-carrying member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), formed during the infancy of the women’s suffrage movement of the late 19th century. The WCTU is one example of the numerous groups that have formed over the years to point out the evils that await those who participate in the consumption of alcohol. Well, technically, not the consumption, but the overindulgence.
That’s one of the intriguing things about wine: its duplicity. On the one hand, it is a great social tool, one that helps to draw people closer together through a shared experience. French culture is a great example. The moderate consumption of wine breaks down inhibitions and fosters the formation of relationships.
The other side of the wine coin is the darker one. City streets across the United States are filled with men and women whose lives have been destroyed by the fruit of the grape – or more precisely, the disease known as alcoholism. The dual nature of wine – blessing and curse – is one aspect that makes this beverage such a fascinating part of the human experience.
Winemaker Dinner
And speaking of experiences, some tickets are still available for the San Benito County Winegrower’s Association’s Winemaker Dinner next Friday, April 22.
Held at San Juan Oaks, the seven-course dinner includes wines from Calera, Enz, DeRose, Donati, Flint, Pessagno, Pietra Santa and Summerayne. Chefs from Main Street Bistro, San Juan Oaks, Don Ciccio’s, Paine’s and the Hilton Monterey will be preparing the food.
There will be a silent auction and live music, and some of the proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity. For reservations call Sue Marsh at (831) 801-3775.
