The debate of when and where the first wine was produced rages on, with archaeological evidence from far and wide revealing some fascinating facts. From as far as Georgia and Armenia, to the Asian part of Iran, it is believed that wine could have been brewed as early as 8000 BCE. We’ve also heard reports that Macedonia and Ancient China could also have been among the oldest wine producers in the world.
The first wine was produced from wild grapes. However, that was long before humans took grape farming seriously and domesticated grapevines in Egypt, approximately around 3000 BCE. The most recent research announced in January 2011 that the world’s oldest winery had been discovered somewhere in Armenia. The researchers found old wine jugs, grape pressers, glasses, and grape sticks dating back 6,100 years.
Stories from China
The relationship between grapes and wine is linked to the Chinese where residues taken from pottery shards carbon-dated to between 7000 – 6600 BCE were proven to be taken from a beverage made from rice, fruit, and honey. That was taken from a Chinese Neolithic site known as Jiahu. The tartrate acid remnants found at the bottom of the jar confirmed the presence of fruit in the beverage, but the researchers could not immediately establish that it was indeed grapes. Hawthorn and Grape seeds were found in Jiahu, so whether both or only one of them was used remains a subject of debate.
Stories from Western Asia
The most concrete evidence for wine making in West Asia dates between 5400 – 5000 BCE, in the Neolithic site of Hajji Firuz in Iran. A preserved sediment deposit discovered at the base of an amphora was confirmed to be a mix of tartrate crystals and tannin. Five more jars with an estimated capacity of 9 liters were found alongside the jar with the tartrate/tannin concentrate.
700 jars were found in Scorpion King’s tomb in Egypt, and it is believed that they were filled with Wine from Asia and shipped to Egypt.
Other sites with evidence of grape processing in wineries in Western Asia were Lake Zeriber, (Iran), where grape pollen was discovered in a core of soil around 4300 BCE, and KurbanHoyuk in Turkey between 6200 and 5800 BCE.
Stories from Europe
In Europe, pips from Vitisvinifera (wild grape) have been found in more ancient backgrounds, the oldest being Franchthi Cave in Greece discovered 12,000 years ago. The other one is Balma de l’Abeurador in France, discovered more than 10,000 years ago. However, evidence shows that the domestication of grapes in these parts of Europe was later than East Asia, and happening at the same time as in Western Asia.
During excavations at a Greek site known as Dikili Tash, dry grape skins and pips dated to between 4400 – 4000 BCE were discovered. A cup made from clay was also found containing grape pressings and juice, which represented evidence that fermentation indeed took place in Dikili.
Other parts of the world, such as the United States, did not embrace the wine industry until not more than a century ago, largely because at that time, wine was limited for church use. South Africa started producing its wine in the 1600s, and Australia began the formal cultivation of grapevines in the late 1800s.
