https://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wineen-USTelligent Community 13https://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wineTue, 06 Jan 2026 22:48:25 GMT8277e151-5ba9-4335-93f0-6f497ffb8dc4:5d71663e-8dc5-4ab2-b4ee-1ec4b9bb6f29Stacy Ladenburgerhttps://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wine#commentsCurrent Revision posted to Expert Guides by Stacy Ladenburger on 1/6/2026 10:48:25 PM<br /> <div class="paywall-restricted"><p><a name="top"></a></p> <div class="box1_home4">&quot;The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learnt to cultivate the olive and the vine.&quot;<span class="box1_h4_a">- Thucydides, 460-400 BCE</span></div> <div class="style_box"> Contents <ol> <li>The Earliest Wines</li> <li>Middle Ages: 500-1500</li> <li>Early Modern Period: 1500-1800</li> <li>18th Century</li> <li>Early 19th Century</li> <li>Reflecting on History</li> <li>Bibliography</li> </ol> </div> <div class="content-justified"> <p>Any attempt at documenting the history of a subject so expansive as wine involves selection. This general history, which traces wine from its earliest origins through the mid-19th century, focuses on such important topics as the spread of production, patterns of consumption, the emergence of recognized wine regions, the wine trade, and regulations. While a wide geographical area is discussed, most of the text relates to Europe; for the most part, non-European winemaking regions did not become significant until the 1800s or 1900s.</p> <p><a name="01"></a></p> The Earliest Wines <p>We will never know who made the first wine, any more than we will ever know who baked the first loaf of bread or poached the first egg. These events took place perhaps tens of thousands of years before the written word, and although there are cave drawings that depict humans hunting and other scenes of daily prehistoric life, none yet discovered show figures treading grapes or drinking what might have been wine. Knowledge of the earliest wines comes instead from the research of archaeologists, chemists, linguists, and other specialists, who have discovered the remains of wine in the form of grape material and residues that point to wine: tartaric acid, which is concentrated in grapes, and malvidin, an anthocyanin that occurs in dark-skinned grapes and only a few other berries and flowers.</p> <p>The earliest evidence of this kind has been unearthed in northern China and in the region of Western Asia now occupied by Georgia, eastern Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, and Iran. In some cases, the evidence takes the form of vessels containing botanical and chemical evidence of wine. In both China and Western Asia, such vessels have often been</p></div></div><script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function(){ jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.subscribe('paywall.ready', function (data) { jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.publish('paywall.restricted', { contentId: '5d71663e-8dc5-4ab2-b4ee-1ec4b9bb6f29' }); }); }); </script><script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function(){ jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.subscribe('paywall.ready', function (data) { jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.publish('paywall.displayPopup', { }); }); }); </script><div style="clear:both;"></div> <div style="font-size: 90%;">Tags: Preview</div> https://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wine/revision/4Tue, 18 Jun 2024 15:21:02 GMT8277e151-5ba9-4335-93f0-6f497ffb8dc4:5d71663e-8dc5-4ab2-b4ee-1ec4b9bb6f29GuildSomm Adminhttps://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wine#commentsRevision 4 posted to Expert Guides by GuildSomm Admin on 6/18/2024 3:21:02 PM<br /> <div class="paywall-restricted"><p><a name="top"></a></p> <div class="box1_home4">&quot;The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learnt to cultivate the olive and the vine.&quot;<span class="box1_h4_a">- Thucydides, 460-400 BCE</span></div> <div class="style_box"> Contents <ol> <li>The Earliest Wines</li> <li>Middle Ages: 500-1500</li> <li>Early Modern Period: 1500-1800</li> <li>18th Century</li> <li>Early 19th Century</li> <li>Reflecting on History</li> <li>Bibliography</li> </ol> </div> <div class="content-justified"> <p>Any attempt at documenting the history of a subject so expansive as wine involves selection. This general history, which traces wine from its earliest origins through the mid-19th century, focuses on such important topics as the spread of production, patterns of consumption, the emergence of recognized wine regions, the wine trade, and regulations. While a wide geographical area is discussed, most of the text relates to Europe; for the most part, non-European winemaking regions did not become significant until the 1800s or 1900s.</p> <p><a name="01"></a></p> The Earliest Wines <p>We will never know who made the first wine, any more than we will ever know who baked the first loaf of bread or poached the first egg. These events took place perhaps tens of thousands of years before the written word, and although there are cave drawings that depict humans hunting and other scenes of daily prehistoric life, none yet discovered show figures treading grapes or drinking what might have been wine. Knowledge of the earliest wines comes instead from the research of archaeologists, chemists, linguists, and other specialists, who have discovered the remains of wine in the form of grape material and residues that point to wine: tartaric acid, which is concentrated in grapes, and malvidin, an anthocyanin that occurs in dark-skinned grapes and only a few other berries and flowers.</p> <p>The earliest evidence of this kind has been unearthed in northern China and in the region of Western Asia now occupied by Georgia, eastern Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, and Iran. In some cases, the evidence takes the form of vessels containing botanical and chemical evidence of wine. In both China and Western Asia, such vessels have often been</p></div></div><script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function(){ jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.subscribe('paywall.ready', function (data) { jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.publish('paywall.restricted', { contentId: '5d71663e-8dc5-4ab2-b4ee-1ec4b9bb6f29' }); }); }); </script><script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function(){ jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.subscribe('paywall.ready', function (data) { jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.publish('paywall.displayPopup', { }); }); }); </script><div style="clear:both;"></div> https://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wine/revision/3Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:18:35 GMT8277e151-5ba9-4335-93f0-6f497ffb8dc4:5d71663e-8dc5-4ab2-b4ee-1ec4b9bb6f29GuildSomm Adminhttps://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wine#commentsRevision 3 posted to Expert Guides by GuildSomm Admin on 4/18/2024 3:18:35 PM<br /> <div class="paywall-restricted"><p><a name="top"></a></p> <div class="box1_home4">&quot;The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learnt to cultivate the olive and the vine.&quot;<span class="box1_h4_a">- Thucydides, 460-400 BCE</span></div> <div class="style_box"> Contents <ol> <li>The Earliest Wines</li> <li>Middle Ages: 500-1500</li> <li>Early Modern Period: 1500-1800</li> <li>18th Century</li> <li>Early 19th Century</li> <li>Reflecting on History</li> <li>Bibliography</li> </ol> </div> <div class="content-justified"> <p>Any attempt at documenting the history of a subject so expansive as wine involves selection. This general history, which traces wine from its earliest origins through the mid-19th century, focuses on such important topics as the spread of production, patterns of consumption, the emergence of recognized wine regions, the wine trade, and regulations. While a wide geographical area is discussed, most of the text relates to Europe; for the most part, non-European winemaking regions did not become significant until the 1800s or 1900s.</p> <p><a name="01"></a></p> The Earliest Wines <p>We will never know who made the first wine, any more than we will ever know who baked the first loaf of bread or poached the first egg. These events took place perhaps tens of thousands of years before the written word, and although there are cave drawings that depict humans hunting and other scenes of daily prehistoric life, none yet discovered show figures treading grapes or drinking what might have been wine. Knowledge of the earliest wines comes instead from the research of archaeologists, chemists, linguists, and other specialists, who have discovered the remains of wine in the form of grape material and residues that point to wine: tartaric acid, which is concentrated in grapes, and malvidin, an anthocyanin that occurs in dark-skinned grapes and only a few other berries and flowers.</p> <p>The earliest evidence of this kind has been unearthed in northern China and in the region of Western Asia now occupied by Georgia, eastern Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, and Iran. In some cases, the evidence takes the form of vessels containing botanical and chemical evidence of wine. In both China and Western Asia, such vessels have often been</p></div></div><script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function(){ jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.subscribe('paywall.ready', function (data) { jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.publish('paywall.restricted', { contentId: '5d71663e-8dc5-4ab2-b4ee-1ec4b9bb6f29' }); }); }); </script><script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function(){ jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.subscribe('paywall.ready', function (data) { jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.publish('paywall.displayPopup', { }); }); }); </script><div style="clear:both;"></div> https://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wine/revision/2Wed, 08 Sep 2021 15:12:39 GMT8277e151-5ba9-4335-93f0-6f497ffb8dc4:5d71663e-8dc5-4ab2-b4ee-1ec4b9bb6f29Jennifer Angelosantehttps://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wine#commentsRevision 2 posted to Expert Guides by Jennifer Angelosante on 9/8/2021 3:12:39 PM<br /> <div class="paywall-restricted"><p><a name="top"></a></p> <div class="box1_home4">&quot;The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learnt to cultivate the olive and the vine.&quot;<span class="box1_h4_a">- Thucydides, 460-400 BCE</span></div> <div class="style_box"> Contents <ol> <li>The Earliest Wines</li> <li>Middle Ages: 500-1500</li> <li>Early Modern Period: 1500-1800</li> <li>18th Century</li> <li>Early 19th Century</li> <li>Reflecting on History</li> <li>Bibliography</li> </ol> </div> <div class="content-justified"> <p>Any attempt at documenting the history of a subject so expansive as wine involves selection. This general history, which traces wine from its earliest origins through the mid-19th century, focuses on such important topics as the spread of production, patterns of consumption, the emergence of recognized wine regions, the wine trade, and regulations. While a wide geographical area is discussed, most of the text relates to Europe; for the most part, non-European winemaking regions did not become significant until the 1800s or 1900s.</p> <p><a name="01"></a></p> The Earliest Wines <p>We will never know who made the first wine, any more than we will ever know who baked the first loaf of bread or poached the first egg. These events took place perhaps tens of thousands of years before the written word, and although there are cave drawings that depict humans hunting and other scenes of daily prehistoric life, none yet discovered show figures treading grapes or drinking what might have been wine. Knowledge of the earliest wines comes instead from the research of archaeologists, chemists, linguists, and other specialists, who have discovered the remains of wine in the form of grape material and residues that point to wine: tartaric acid, which is concentrated in grapes, and malvidin, an anthocyanin that occurs in dark-skinned grapes and only a few other berries and flowers.</p> <p>The earliest evidence of this kind has been unearthed in northern China and in the region of Western Asia now occupied by Georgia, eastern Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, and Iran. In some cases, the evidence takes the form of vessels containing botanical and chemical evidence of wine. In both China and Western Asia, such vessels have often been</p></div></div><script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function(){ jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.subscribe('paywall.ready', function (data) { jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.publish('paywall.restricted', { contentId: '5d71663e-8dc5-4ab2-b4ee-1ec4b9bb6f29' }); }); }); </script><script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function(){ jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.subscribe('paywall.ready', function (data) { jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.publish('paywall.displayPopup', { }); }); }); </script><div style="clear:both;"></div> https://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wine/revision/1Tue, 07 Jul 2020 15:06:29 GMT8277e151-5ba9-4335-93f0-6f497ffb8dc4:5d71663e-8dc5-4ab2-b4ee-1ec4b9bb6f29GuildSomm Adminhttps://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2432/history-of-wine#commentsRevision 1 posted to Expert Guides by GuildSomm Admin on 7/7/2020 3:06:29 PM<br /> <div class="paywall-restricted"><p><a name="top"></a></p> <div class="box1_home4">&quot;The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learnt to cultivate the olive and the vine.&quot;<span class="box1_h4_a">- Thucydides, 460-400 BCE</span></div> <div class="style_box"> Contents <ol> <li>The Earliest Wines</li> <li>Middle Ages: 500-1500</li> <li>Early Modern Period: 1500-1800</li> <li>18th Century</li> <li>Early 19th Century</li> <li>Reflecting on History</li> <li>Bibliography</li> </ol> </div> <div class="content-justified"> <p>Any attempt at documenting the history of a subject so expansive as wine involves selection. This general history, which traces wine from its earliest origins through the mid-19th century, focuses on such important topics as the spread of production, patterns of consumption, the emergence of recognized wine regions, the wine trade, and regulations. While a wide geographical area is discussed, most of the text relates to Europe; for the most part, non-European winemaking regions did not become significant until the 1800s or 1900s.</p> <p><a name="01"></a></p> The Earliest Wines <p>We will never know who made the first wine, any more than we will ever know who baked the first loaf of bread or poached the first egg. These events took place perhaps tens of thousands of years before the written word, and although there are cave drawings that depict humans hunting and other scenes of daily prehistoric life, none yet discovered show figures treading grapes or drinking what might have been wine. Knowledge of the earliest wines comes instead from the research of archaeologists, chemists, linguists, and other specialists, who have discovered the remains of wine in the form of grape material and residues that point to wine: tartaric acid, which is concentrated in grapes, and malvidin, an anthocyanin that occurs in dark-skinned grapes and only a few other berries and flowers.</p> <p>The earliest evidence of this kind has been unearthed in northern China and in the region of Western Asia now occupied by Georgia, Moldova, eastern Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. In some cases, the evidence takes the form of vessels containing botanical and chemical evidence of wine. In both China and Western Asia, such vessels have often been</p></div></div><script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function(){ jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.subscribe('paywall.ready', function (data) { jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.publish('paywall.restricted', { contentId: '5d71663e-8dc5-4ab2-b4ee-1ec4b9bb6f29' }); }); }); </script><script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function(){ jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.subscribe('paywall.ready', function (data) { jQuery.telligent.evolution.messaging.publish('paywall.displayPopup', { }); }); }); </script><div style="clear:both;"></div>