WINES & SUCH: Beginnings of beer and wine

Beer is America’s preference when it comes to an alcoholic drink.

Archaeologists date its discovery somewhere near 10,000 B.C. It was the first of the world’s six leading beverages. Others in order of advent were wine, followed by tea, spirits, coffee, and guess what, Coca Cola.

Winemaking has been around almost as long as beer brewing. Scientific evidence suggests it was first produced in the region of Asia known as Armenia and northern Iraq, in the pre-history era of 9000 to 4000 B.C.

Three important factors led ancient vintners to the idea: the presence of natural grapes of the family “Vitus Vinifera” (the very same kind we drink today), the availability of cereal crops which allowed people to settle down in one spot, and crucially the invention of pottery, essential in making, storing and drinking wine with storage being the critical factor.

Real evidence has shown up in the form of residue in pottery jars precisely dated to about 5400 B.C. in an area near Mount Ararat, reflected in the story of Noah in the Bible, who is said to have planted the first vineyard. And incidentally, he may have suffered the original hangover from overindulging, if you remember the story.

Knowledge of winemaking now spread west, through the present-day region of the Middle East and then down to Egypt. The pharaohs it seems quickly acquired a real taste for the stuff and established vineyards in the fertile Nile Delta, so that domestic production was under way in a big way by 3000 B.C.

But the “big way,” it seems, was restricted to upper classes only. Everyone else stuck to beer, doubtless because it was a lot cheaper to make. We know this because countless depictions of wine drinking are in the many examples of tomb paintings unearthed in graves of the elite upperclass.

No one disputes the cradle of Western thought owes its debt to the Greek thinkers of the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. whose writings laid the basis for modern Western philosophy, politics science and law.

Wine played a huge role in Greek society of this age. It was the centerpiece of the countless ceremonial dinner parties, where Greek citizens opined with academic discussions. Only barbarians, they believed, drank beer.

Thucydides, perhaps the world’s first historian, wrote in 5th century, “The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarianism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the grape.”

Treatises were written on grape farming with advice on pruning, harvesting and pressing. Better methods led to a less-expensive product for consumers, as well as becoming a cash cow for farmers who made 20 times more from grape growing than from grain cultivation.

In a word, wine drinking for Greece was equated with genteel civilization, the “good life.”

Jump now to the 2nd century B.C., when imperial Rome began to displace the Greeks as the dominant power in the Mediterranean world. Roman society was modeled on the Greek and wine played a significant role. Farming, as with war, was a principal piece of Roman civilization, and grape growing was considered a further symbol of a sophisticated Roman approach to life.

By 70 A.D., the Roman writer Pliny the Elder told us 80 or more different wines of note were in the Roman world. Its popularity actually surpassed grain farming, so cereals had to be imported from abroad. Wine eventually was consumed by aristocrat and peasant alike as an everyday beverage of choice.

But snobbism was alive and well it ancient days. Wealthy Romans prided themselves on recognizing the finest wines, a sign of conspicuous consumption, much like what goes on today among the rich and famous.

Wine was almost always mixed with water along with other additives so as to conceal spoilage. These additives included salt, seawater and sweeteners such as honey, and even roses. Travelers often carried herbs to improve the flavor of bad wine.

Roman armies conquered a good part of Europe and brought with them winemaking techniques that influenced what eventually become the countries of France and Spain.

The former passed on its love of the grape to English society, and with the invention of the glass bottle and the cork seal, the rest is as they say, “history.”

Today, the presence of wine in everyday society seems to be increasing by leaps and bounds. India and China with more than 3 billion potential drinkers have entered the arena.

Who knows how long before humans may be toasting each other among the stars of the Milky Way?

Let’s finish with a bit of trivia.

What was the most expensive bottle of wine ever purchased?

Answer: a 1787 Lafitte (France) bought by Malcolm Forbes for $160,000, reportedly owned by Thomas
Jefferson.

Anecdote has it, due to improper storage, the old cork popped out and the contents spilled; now making it the “most expensive empty bottle ever purchased.”

Question: how many gentle readers can accurately describe a blind tasting? Answer next week.

Oak Ridge resident Ron Drinkhouse was a buyer and seller of wines in his native Connecticut. He welcomes inquiries, and can be reached via email at ronoct9@aol.com or via telephone at 352-445-0328.