History of viticulture
The history of viticulture is closely linked to the development of earlier cultures. The product of the vine, wine , was seen as the drink of the gods. The Greek god Dionysus and his Roman counterpart Bacchus were dedicated to wine in mythology . In other cultures, wine was a symbol of blood spilled in the battle against the gods. It was often used as a burial object.
From the family of grapevines , the genus of grapevines has the greatest importance for cultivation. The main focus of the natural distribution is in the climatically moderate regions of the northern hemisphere. Of the around 60 known species of this genus, almost exclusively the noble grapevine ( Vitis vinifera ) is cultivated for viticulture . The products of Vitis riparia and Vitis labrusca play a subordinate role .
Preconditions
Wild vines can be dated back to 80 million years ago through fossil finds. The seeds of vines grown by human hands could be traced back to a period of 8000 BC. To be dated. Such finds were made in Georgia and the adjacent part of Turkey . However , there is already evidence from the early Neolithic that the not yet sedentary peoples processed the berries.
It was not until the settled down that the actual viticulture began. This was the only way people could wait for the berries to be harvested optimally. The oldest wine press to date was found in Hadschi Firuz Tepe in the Zagros Mountains in Iran. As far as we know today, the facility is 7000–7400 years old.
Origins
Viticulture in Georgia can be traced back to 5800 BC. In the 5th millennium BC. BC also in the Middle East Sumer landscape (today southern Iraq ). Viticulture spread throughout the Middle East , in the 4th millennium BC. Chr. Who built ancient Egyptians of wine. Around 1700 BC The Minoans cultivated the first noble grapes on Crete . In Babylonian mythology , Gilgamesh represented wine and its consumption.
Greek colonists are likely in the 7th / 6th Century BC First brought vines to Gaul (Massalia → Marseille ). Wine production in present-day France around 400 BC is clearly proven. In today's Swiss canton of Valais it has been proven that between 800 and 600 BC Vines were cultivated. In Italy , various shaped educational methods of: on trees as a roof trellis on short trunk or crawling on the ground. With the Romans, viticulture spread to Spain , Gaul and North Africa , and a little later to the Rhine and Moselle ( Germania ).
Persia
The Persian Empire is called the country of origin of the wine. Shiraz , erroneously named as the place of origin of the grape variety of the same name, near the capital Persepolis (old Pers. Parsa), also known as the "Throne of Jamschids", was famous for its wines and had a reputation for producing the best in the Middle East .
There is a legend about "the invention of wine" from the time of the mythical Persian king Jamschid , who lived around 2500 BC. "It is written that a king stored his grapes in the cellar. These fermented after a while and thus the wine culture began. At first it was thought that the grapes were possessed and poisoned by evil spirits. When the queen took this tasty drink to flee her migraines to suicide, not only was she relieved of her headache, but she was put in a happy mood. For this reason the wine became the official drink. "
According to the Greek historian Herodotus (482–425 BC), which was later confirmed by the author Strabo ( 63–23 BC), the Achaemenid dynasty (559–331 BC) gave rise to intoxication used consciously to judge important issues. However, the resolutions passed had to be confirmed again in a sober state.
Despite the Muslim takeover ( 641 ) and the associated wine ban, wine was still produced and enjoyed there. Wine also plays an important role in the old works of the famous poet Hafez (1324-1388) and the scholar and poet Omar Chayyām (1045-1122).
If the wine did not wash the grief out of our souls,
the anger of fate soon put an end to our bodies.
If our spirit
could not drop anchor in the intoxication, our little ship would not withstand all the storms of suffering.
Oh, the sky took everyone as its goal.
Nobody was who could ever win this terrible game.
Is it dark, where is the Chisr who teaches us the right way
before the fire of privation consumes the whole body?
My weak soul was longingly drawn to the meadow,
where, fanned by the gentle wind, I wanted to escape death.
'Give,' I shouted, 'Doctor of love, give me wine!'
Only wine can save me, can drive away all fear and anguish!
But what was the use? Hafez burned! And it was hidden from the friend.
God grant that the wind will tell her in a gentle whisper!
- Lament (by Hafez , translated by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe )
From the 17th century wine was in bottles filled and, for example, exported to India. From the 17th to the 19th century the wine from Shiraz was mentioned again and again by English and French travelers: "No part of the world has better wine than Shiraz." State viticulture in Iran only came to a standstill after the regime change in 1979 . Table grapes and raisins are produced almost exclusively on the 220,000 hectares of vineyards today .
Egypt
In 1988 German archaeologists discovered the tomb of Scorpio I , an ancient Egyptian king ( pharaoh ) from the pre-dynastic period who lived around 3200 BC. . BC ruled. A grave offering of 400 wine jugs with a total capacity of 4000 liters was discovered in the burial chambers. This wine was probably imported from the southern Levant , which at that time was one of the most important growing regions for wine. An Egyptian wine production, which however had only a limited extent, is from 3000 BC. Chr. Detectable. In ancient Egyptian tomb paintings there are often depictions relating to the production of wine.
Greece
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In ancient Greece , three types of wine were distinguished: white, black and amber. These could be dry (austeros), semi-dry (autokratos) or sweet (glycazon). Old wine was valued more than young. The wine presumably had a relatively high alcohol content (Davidson assumes 15 to 16%) and was stored in sealed clay jugs or goat skin tubes.
Most of the wine was locally grown and cost a fee for three cotyls . The best wine that was widely traded came from Chios (area of Arios), Thasos , Lesbos and Mende on the Chalkidike peninsula . The transport amphorae differed in shape or had images, which made it possible to identify the place of origin.
Wine was always mixed with water, and the consumption of undiluted wine was considered a characteristic of the barbarians . Only when the libation (libation) at the beginning of a symposium (joint carousing) unmixed wine was used. The water was always added to the wine, which represented God Dionysus, never the other way around. The usual mixture was five parts water to two parts wine, a mixture of equal parts was already considered immoderate and was called akratos (unmixed). Wine and water were mixed in the kratér , sometimes the wine was chilled in a psyktér or snow was poured directly into the drinking bowls. The wine was drank from flat bowls on high feet with two small handles on the sides. For a normal feast attended by 14 guests, three kratér wines were considered appropriate.
In addition, in ancient Greece, wine was an object of religious worship and a symbol of culture. Since the god Dionysus was not only responsible for fertility and ecstasy, but also explicitly for the grapes and wine, he played a role in numerous cults and mysteries as well as the festivals in his honor. The latter include the Lena in December , the festival of the wine press, at which Dionysus was offered the new wine. In February the Anthesteries followed , where the wine of the last harvest was tasted. Wine was also an important part of the Greek and Roman libation sacrifice, in which the wine was sprayed directly on the sacrifice to be offered, on the earth or in the fire.
Roman Empire
In Roman mythology, Bacchus was the god of wine as a counterpart to the Greek Dionysus. Its production was determined by religious norms, for example the priests setting the harvest date and pruning the vines in the form of a religious duty. Wine was also an important part of religious festivals in ancient Rome, such as the women's festival of Bona Dea , goddess of female fertility.
In the Roman Empire , viticulture spread over large parts of Europe with the conquering legions . Viticulture was also widespread in northern Africa until the Islamic conquest. Although the Celts also planted vines and were familiar with pressing, the Romans intensified viticulture in the Wachau , the Rhine Valley , and Gaul and even brought it to England . The Romans often drank the wine mixed with water. At that time it was not the luxury product of today, but was a drink that was said to have strengthening and healing properties.
Jewish and Christian religion
The Bible - in which Noah is considered the first winemaker - makes rich symbolic use of wine. In the Book of Psalms , wine is used for the joy of life, in Solomon it is a medicine for those who suffer, but also an intoxicant to be consumed with caution. The people of Israel are compared to a vineyard. Kicking the wine press and selling wine on the Sabbath were forbidden ( Neh 13.15 EU ). Jesus describes the connection to his followers like that between vine and branch. The work of the Holy Spirit is compared to fermenting new wine. Wine can seduce and also - as a tumbler - express divine anger.
According to the Bible, wine lets people feel the glory of creation, so that it also has a messianic meaning.
In Christianity, the wine at the Lord's Supper is the element for the blood of Christ. In addition to the use of mass wine, in the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages wine was also used as consecrated wine in a variety of ways as sacraments . In Judaism, kosher wine is one of the rituals of Kiddush on the Sabbath , Passover and wedding.
Byzantium
In Byzantium , spiced wine ( conditum ) was popular. Spices such as lavender , bay leaf , cinnamon , pepper , cloves , rose petals , wormwood , anise or mastic were added to the wine to improve its taste. The spicy wine was also thought to have medicinal properties, as the recipe collection of the pseudo-Oreibasios shows. Resin wine ( retsina ) was widespread.
Muscat wine , which was grown on Samos and Lemnos , and monembasiós ( Malvasia wine ) from Crete were particularly widespread . The wine from Chios , Lesbos , Euboea , Rhodes and Samos as well as from Varna on the Black Sea was famous . In Bithynia , Nikäa and Triglis were well-known wine-growing places, in Thrace Kuzias and the Ganos mountain. Wine was drunk more heavily than in antiquity, in winter a bowl of pure wine was recommended in the morning, otherwise one part wine was usually mixed with one part water. The wine was reserved for men.
Byzantine wines were also exported to the west, particularly the monembasiós of Crete. In Rethymno , the wine was preserved by heating ("boiling") for export to England. The wine from Crete, on the other hand, was shipped "uncooked" to Italy.
Even in the Ottoman period , the muscatel from Samos and the wine from Crete continued to be exported.
Middle Ages and Early Modern Times
Wine production and wine consumption reached an absolute climax throughout Europe from the transition phase from the early to the high Middle Ages through the Medieval Warm Period . Wine was no longer available only to the wealthy. Extensive vineyards were also planted in climatically unfavorable areas; their northern extent reached as far as Königsberg and Thorn in East Prussia or Grünberg in Silesia . Extensive viticulture was also carried out in southern England. However, border locations were soon abandoned after the climatic deterioration. In wine-growing areas, large parts of the population drank wine almost every day. In regions that were unsuitable for the cultivation of grapevines, wine was the preferred drink of the wealthier classes of the population. It thus became an important commodity. For example, Frisian traders exchanged textiles for wine in Mainz as early as the 9th century, and in the 12th century the Hanseatic League supplied, among others, England and Norway with Rhine wine .
In the teaching of humoral pathology , wine was considered hot and dry. Water and beer, on the other hand, were viewed as damp and cold. Wine was the most prestigious drink and had a reputation for being beneficial to human health. It should aid digestion, promote good blood , and brighten mood. The quality of the wine fluctuated depending on the growing area, the type of grape and especially the number of grapes pressed. The most expensive wine was obtained from the first pressing. Poorer sections of the population drank the cheap post-wine or pomace wine, which was produced from the second or even third grape pressing and was often diluted with water and vinegar .
Methods for making, preparing and refining wine, including grafting, were published in Latin and German-language texts in the 14th century. The best- known author of the corresponding agricultural technical instructions was Gottfried von Franken, who worked in the Würzburg area and was also born in Würzburg, with a fur and wine book that appeared in the first half of the 14th century.
The maturation of high quality wine required specialized knowledge as well as suitable storage rooms and barrels. Since many medieval sources give advice on how to treat wine that is beginning to spoil, it seems that wine rarely has a long shelf life. Le Viandier , a cookbook from the 14th century, advised always topping up wine barrels or adding a mixture of dried and cooked grape seeds and the ashes of dried and burnt pomace to make wine more durable. Spices such as ginger, pepper, grains of paradise, nutmeg and clove were often added to the wine, as this should support the health-promoting effects of the wine. The hippocras , a particularly strongly sweetened and spiced wine, was considered to be a particularly effective remedy and tonic. As early as the 14th century, you could buy the spices needed in small bags as a ready-made mixture of spices.
In the Middle Ages, wine was also the basis for the production of higher-proof spirits , which were mainly used for medicinal purposes. The methodology of the wine distillation used for this was mainly published by the Catalan Arnald von Villanova and made internationally known.
During the English rule over Gascony and Aquitaine from the 12th century, the boom in Bordelais began , especially in the Médoc and the neighboring regions around Bergerac and Cahors . Wine has been grown in this area since Roman times ( Château Ausone in Saint-Émilion refers to the poet Ausonius ), but things only really got going at this time. As with other wines (such as port, sherry, Madeira, etc.), the emerging global trading power of the British was the stone that got everything rolling. The port town of Pauillac became a center of viticulture and trade, and over time those chateaus developed in this area that now lead the market in terms of quality.
The reputation of the Burgundy developed at the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern age. During the reigns of Philip the Bold to Charles the Bold , the reputation of the Burgundian way of life and the wine that goes with it increased. The Clos de Vougeot vineyard , which was laid out by monks in the 11th century and had the early character of a systematic experimental cultivation of grapevines, was already famous . Since that time, other parcels have also been measured more precisely and classified based on their suitability for viticulture. This and the Burgundian inheritance law of the distribution among the heirs mean that all these parcels, with a few exceptions (for example Romanée-Conti or La Romanée), often have many owners, and the vineyard property of one owner is often in all parts of Burgundy (two hectares there, four hectares there, five hectares here). Nowadays, these circumstances make it difficult for consumers to find a good Burgundy wine.
Huguenots who immigrated from Europe planted the first vines on the American continent in 1562. This happened near Jacksonville .
Change to quality viticulture
French wines first became famous. It was not until the 16th century that Portuguese ( port ) and Spanish ( sherry ) wines , as well as the Hungarian Tokaj , became increasingly popular . All other wines were only of local importance and were mostly consumed close to their respective growing area. Although the Dutch had not taken over Aquitaine from the English, they did take over the wine trade there, and because of their expanded markets they now also promoted Cahors in the Gironde hinterland, from where the "black wine" competed seriously with Bordeaux for about a hundred years. The English, on the other hand, deprived of their main supplier, looked for alternatives and found them in the Douro valley in the hinterland of Porto . The port wine arose from this trade relationship.
In Spain, the wines from the area around Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, which the English had known since Francis Drake's raids , were of interest to the British. On the one hand, they appreciated the sweetness of these fortified wines , on the other hand, due to the high alcohol content, they could be easily shipped anywhere in the English colonial empire.
At the end of the 17th century a new star appeared in the wine sky. Dom Pérignon brought the bubbles to champagne , and this previously neglected wine became France's new export hit. A little later the English looked for new sources and found them in Sicily. The Marsala (wine) was the first Italian wine of world renown.
In the 19th century, on the one hand, the French consolidated their supremacy. They classified the most expensive plants in the Médoc (or rather made the unofficial valuation of the dealers public) on the occasion of the World Exhibition of 1855 , based on the sales of a chateau known for decades. The classification in Bordeaux is not based on the location, as it was later in Burgundy. Ownership that is subsequently shared remains in the same class (same chateau name with appended addition, for example Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse and Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste , both 5eme Cru Classe), area purchased subsequently increases in quality when the areas related. The only wine in this list that does not come from the Médoc is Château Haut-Brion in the Graves.
The wines of Libournais and other areas of Bordeaux received no attention. Even then, there were more subdivisions than the Grand Cru Classés , the Crus Bourgeois , the Crus Artisans and others, which at that time had little significance for the trade and are still only hesitantly noticed today. At the same time, the sweet wines from Sauternes and Barsac were also classified. The ones from Loupiac were omitted because they were of little importance for the trade. Now it was thought to have given the wealthy clientele a guideline. Unfortunately, this classification has only been changed once, when Château Mouton-Rothschild was raised to the 1er Cru rank in 1973 . The classification does not reflect the current status, especially in the lower ranks.
Almost at the same time (around 1860), during the unification movement in Italy, the Barolo also made a name for himself for the first time. From the vineyards of the Piedmontese royal family in and around Serralunga d'Alba, the king of wines, wine of kings like the Piedmontese royal family, was recognized throughout Italy and became the second world-famous Italian wine. On the other hand, the unification of Italy also offered the Tuscan wine trading houses a much larger market, so that the Antinori and Frescobaldi were soon among the largest wine traders in Italy. There were also some trading houses in the Veneto, which now also expanded their activities to all of Italy. Due to its completely different structure, southern Italy will remain a country for cheap bulk wine for a very long time , and the quality of Marsala is also continuously declining.
In the Spanish Rioja , the first attempts were made with barriques imported from France , which, however, only triggered a red wine boom in Spain in the late 20th century. Wines have been made in the New World for several decades. The vines from America are, however, much less suitable for viticulture, as the taste is affected by a so-called Fox tone . So vines from Europe are shipped all over the world.
But American vines were also brought to Europe for research and experiments. With these vines, however, a pest came to Europe, phylloxera . The American vines, however, are tolerant, the European ones are destroyed by the root pest. In the course of the phylloxera disaster , many varieties and clones were irretrievably destroyed, and many vineyards had to be replanted with rootstock . This means that a branch of a European vine known as a 'noble twig' is grafted onto a root made from American vine material. In Europe there are only a few so-called "root-real" vines in areas that have been spared phylloxera. American roots are used in all other areas. This grafting of the vines occasionally leads to the claim that after the phylloxera disaster there will never be such extremely good wines as they were harvested in good years before the phylloxera appeared in Europe.
After the phylloxera disaster, European viticulture was also severely affected by the two world wars. It was only after the Second World War that there was a great boom, which continues to the present day. Initially, most of the wine-growing regions tried to respond with mass to the increased consumption of wine during the economic boom, with the exception of the wines in the high-price segment, which had some legendary vintages during this period. In the 1960s, however, some producers began to supply the quality wine market in Italy and in the 1970s also in Spain. Their growing success led to stricter laws . Against this, there were scandals, especially in the 1980s: the so-called " glycol wine scandal ". Since then, more and more manufacturers from overseas, starting with Australia and California , and later Chile , South Africa and Argentina , have entered the wine market. Their qualities developed rapidly so that their offerings can often keep up with Europe today in terms of quality. The wine market has been growing for years, as the general increase in prosperity has meanwhile established good wine as a status symbol and luxury food. The market has also become global. However, regional market shares are also subject to shifts, sometimes of a drastic nature, for example the export of Bordeaux wines to Germany fell by over 30% between 2004 and 2005, and domestic demand for Bordeaux fell by twelve percent within France during the same period.
Because of their prestige, top plants are now also in great demand in the emerging economic regions of Asia and the reform states of Eastern Europe. A large part of the lower to middle price segment is in the hands of a few corporations. In Germany, discounters are now by far the leading wine suppliers.
This is currently leading to two developments: on the one hand, the prices for top wines are still rising, and some of the bottles that are in demand cost more than 1000 euros per piece. On the other hand, wines in some price ranges are becoming more and more uniform, because they are vinified according to the taste of the mass, or, as some claim, according to the taste of the predominant wine critics such as Robert Parker .
The production of wine in the EU is so that the overhang of wine by higher than the market demand, burning to brandy is distilled. In 2005, over 180 million euros were spent on distilling wine.
See also
literature
- Friedrich von Bassermann-Jordan : History of viticulture. 2nd edition Frankfurt am Main 1923.
- Friedrich von Bassermann-Jordan: From the history of viticulture. In: Ciba-Zeitschrift , Volume 6, No. 64, 1953, pp. 2122-2131.
- Jancis Robinson : The Oxford Wine Lexicon . Hallwag, Gräfe and Unzer, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-8338-0691-9 .
- Patrick E. McGovern: Ancien wine: the search for the origins of viniculture . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2003, ISBN 978-0-691-12784-2 .
- Michael Matheus (Ed.): Viticulture between the Maas and the Rhine in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, (Trier Historical Research 23) Mainz 1997.
- Michael Matheus (ed.): Wine production and wine consumption in the Middle Ages. (Historical regional studies 51) Stuttgart 2004.
- Georg Schreiber: German Wine History. Wine in popular life, cult and economy. Cologne 1980.
- Otto Volk: Seasonal Aspects in Late Medieval Viticulture. In: Peter Dilg , Gundolf Keil , Dietz-Rüdiger Moser (eds.): Rhythm and Seasonality. Congress files of the 5th symposium of the Medievalist Association in Göttingen 1993. Sigmaringen 1995 p. 117-134.
- Dieter Weber: The wine in the autumn of the Middle Ages: A picture arc of culture and realities. With a foreword by Otto Meyer , Würzburg 1994.
- The curious and open-hearted wine doctor. That is: Safe and harmless means, how one can carefully wait for the wine from the press, when it is damaged, help it again, and transform the locals into foreign and other wines […]. From a lover of the economic sciences. Reprint of the Frankfurt and Leipzig edition in 1753; 5th edition Dortmund 1984 (= Die bibliophilen Taschenbücher , 63).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Patrick McGovern et al .: Early Neolithic wine of Georgia in the South Caucasus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , November 13, 2017, accessed November 13, 2017 .
- ^ A b French learned viticulture from Etruscans. In: Der Spiegel . June 4, 2013, accessed November 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Information on the "Wallis / Valais" wine region in the Wein ‑ Plus wine guide , viewed on March 6, 2017
- ↑ Gabriele Höber-Kamel: Abydos - Religious Center of Resurrection , In: Kemet, Heft 2, Berlin 2000, pp. 4–9
- ^ Hermann Alexander Schlögl : The ancient Egypt . Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 3-406-48005-5 , p. 59.
- ↑ Tom Standage: Six drinks that moved the world , Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf / Zurich 2006, ISBN 3-538-07234-5 , p. 48
- ↑ Gert von Paczensky and Anna Dünnebier: Cultural history of eating and drinking. btb 1997, ISBN 3-442-72192-X , pp. 225-226
- ↑ Gerhard Ice : Godfrey Fur book. Studies on the range and duration of the effects of the Middle High German specialist literature. Brno 1944 (= Southeast European Works, 38). Reprint Hildesheim 1966.
- ↑ Konrad Goehl : How Gerhard Eis read Gottfried's wine book. In: Specialized prose research - border crossings .. Volume 8/9, 2012/13 (2014), pp. 299–309.
- ↑ Konrad Goehl, Johannes Gottfried Mayer : The fur and wine book of Gottfried von Franken. In: Würzburg - Herbipolis, city of gardens, plants and wine. Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7954-2139-7 , pp. 103-110.
- ^ Terence Scully: The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages . 1995, ISBN 0-85115-611-8 , pp. 138-146.
- ^ Willy Louis Braekman: A Middle Dutch version of Arnald of Villanova's 'Liber de Vinis'. Janus 55 (1968), pp. 96-133