Just some history on winemaking

The history of wine spans thousands of years. According to Genesis 9:20, "Noah began the planting of vineyards" presumably this was a distraction from zoo-keeping duties. As of today, the earliest evidence of a fermented drink based on grapes was in China circa 7000-6600 BC, then more widespread evidence is found soon thereafter in the Middle East. The grapevine and the alcoholic beverage produced from fermenting its juice were important to Mesopotamia and Egypt as well as being essential aspects of Phoenician, Greek, and Roman civilization. Many of the major wine-producing regions of Western Europe and the Mediterranean were first established during antiquity as great plantations. Winemaking technology improved considerably during the time of the Roman Empire: many grape varieties and cultivation techniques had been developped; the design of the wine press advanced; and barrels were developed for storing and shipping wine.

Wine production and consumption increased, burgeoning from the 15th century onwards as part of European expansion.The devastating 1887 phylloxera lice infestation swept across European vineyards and encouraged many redundant French winemakers to head off to South America to make wine. Modern science and technology have enabled industrial wine production, and with that wine consumption that has truly gone global. Wine is a drink that can express a sense of origin and originality like no other, a drink that can develop in time like no other, a drink that can linger in the memory like no other, and a drink that can inspire like no other!