Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Long History Of Red Wine

About 6000 BC, outside the Caucasus region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, has already begun the cultivation of grapes and wine brewing. Of course, the actual origin of age will be more to ancient human picking wild grapes is likely to be accidentally causing wine. Belong, Viti-Vinifera grapes was planted, this is the ancestor of the world thousands of grape varieties, is generally believed that this species is reached between Turkey and Mesopotamia Mesopotamia by the Transcaucasian, then spread to Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean, and then by the Phoenicians and Greeks grapes brought to Western Europe. However, the latest archaeological data show Spain as early as the Phoenicians before the introduction of the grape, has begun the cultivation of grapes and brewing, and even the North American Indians before the arrival of the Europeans for a long time on the use of the Inter-American grape varieties stuffed system for wine. The grape and wine origin is clearly diverse, and the origins of years than they are now known to more distant.
  
BC 3,000 years ago the Sumerians irrigated vineyards, wine imported by other regions. At that time the wine is quite rare, has a strong religious and political symbolism, not only at the time, and after the Babylonian Empire and Egypt, the role of wine in society are not purely alcoholic drinks, it contains multiple meaning of death, regeneration, and God's proximity and reproduction. The earliest period of origin, it is often used as ritual supplies, dinner in the exclusive and only for the elite of society. These symbolic meanings are gradually developed for the future of Greek and Roman Dionysian culture.
  
In Greek and Roman times, wine has a directly related to God as a symbol of the wine. Dionysian Dionysus of Greece during the crazy symbol, suggesting that the threat of a rational and civilized, but also table the animal belonging to Chi pleasure and human nature.
  
Rituals, wine has its indispensable position. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church of Christ in the power of the vineyards to establish and maintain a great help, many churches are Roman Bacchus named Bacchus, represented by the symbol has become more narrow, only direct link with wine. Bacchus Bacchus in Roman times due to the warlike spirit and Bacchus in Rome highlighted the tendency of personal pleasure and less consistent, the celebration of the Dionysia can only be reduced underground activities without official support.

  
Against Christians, wine is a symbol of the blood of Jesus, so how much has Christian vineyard. Due to the needs of the Church Mass and ceremony, wine production has become the church, especially one of the many monasteries. Depends on the efforts of the Church, grapes, not only in the Mediterranean region generally planted, and was taken to the northern cold weather, the grapes more difficult area, unexpectedly led to the development of the cold climate of the wine industry. In addition, the possession of large medieval oak (14th century) by the Spanish Codorniu winery in the large church organizations, there are various types of expertise, the production of wine is one of the work of the church, many staff have put into the cultivation of grapes and brewing research, laid the foundation for scientific research on the future of wine.
  
Belong to the European culture of wine is also accompanied by the discovery of the New World spread everywhere. In addition to the North American wild grapes, South America and Australia are due to the introduction of European immigrants began the cultivation of grapes. About the 16th century, Mexico and South America Argentina have been small-scale wine production; California, USA and Australia, has been late for wine brewing began in earnest in the late 18th century.
  
Renaissance in the ideological and artistic reform has been to the 17th century, slowly in the food culture have an impact. Cooking more and more complex and refined, and the rise of the bourgeoisie and other factors, provides a richer taste fine wine space. Of course, the widespread use of some with material conditions, such as glass bottles and corks, etc. all contribute to wine quality for a very substantial increase. In the 18th century, the wines are almost always packed in oak barrels directly delivered to the consumer for location, the original has been less stable quality of the wine, plus long-distance delivery wines usually can not be saved for long.
  
About the beginning of the 19th century, from the New World pass into the European vine pests and diseases, posing a great threat to the European species of grapes. The most serious of which the phylloxera disease, these parasites in the grape roots of aphids chomping on roots leaving the grapes to death, almost completely destroyed in the second half of the 19th century, all European species of grapes, which is the history of the wine industry suffered greatest disasters, there are 200 million hectares of vineyards are in French only bring disaster.
  
After several decades, there are many related research, but has been unable to effectively restrain, until the 1980s to find eradicate France: European grape varieties grafted onto the U.S. grape varieties, because the U.S. grape roots is not affected by aphids intrusion. So far, although the global wine almost all of European grape varieties as raw materials, but these European grape varieties they are nothing but kinds of Pu must be grafted on the Inter-American grape varieties. Scientific research on winemaking began in the 1857 French bacteriologist Bath get (LouisPasteur) the principle of discovery of the alcoholic fermentation. After thousands of years of brewing experience, and finally the principles of wine making is that the yeast will be grape juice into alcohol. In addition, Bass have also completed many wine-related research, ingredients such as wine, wine aging and related deterioration of wine, making wine brewing technology can be improved dramatically, and become a specialized discipline.
  
20th century winemaking technology made ​​great strides, not only the brewing process more precise control, and the development of a variety of modern production methods. But the improvement of these technologies can not replace the importance of the vineyard of the natural environment, to create delicious wine today is not difficult, but to spawn a wine with character and style, they must depend on the vineyards owned by the outstanding natural environment . AOC control system established in France from 1936 AOC (appellationd'orignecontrolee), not only is the control of wine quality, but also lies in the character and traditions of the provisions around the wine, through the Pope Metro of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, France, the earliest the establishment of one of the AOC (1936) the provisions of the conditions of production, as well as the actual taste every wine-producing areas can maintain the local character.
  
This concept was later ported to other countries, other European countries also have established a similar system. This system to determine the wine is not like beer, mass production industrialized beverages. Outside of Europe, many of the emerging wine-producing countries have amazing growth in the wine quality and yield has become the main rival of the European wine. But the concept of wine production are quite different on the International Wine Market Complex, popular wine is the main direction of their production, and the conservative way in Europe to become the most obvious contrast

No comments:

Post a Comment