Cyprus 'first to make wine'

Dcanter ^ | May 16, 2005

[Piranha]

Interesting. The incense burned in the Temple in Jerusalem was made of a mix that included Cypriot wine. I always wondered why the description was so specific (i.e., that it had to be Cypriot, as opposed to, say, Greek, wine). If wine itself originated in Cyprus (albeit long before the Temple was built), maybe this provides part of the answer.

[Drammach]

Nah.. I don't buy it..

Wine is older than that.. Much Older..

My bet, eventually we will find the first wines were made as much as 20, 30 thousand years ago.. maybe even earlier than that..

I would be willing to venture that the knowledge that fermented grapes will get you drunk is one of the oldest bits of knowledge in the human experience..

[moog]

I would be willing to venture that the knowledge that fermented grapes will get you drunk is one of the oldest bits of knowledge in the human experience..

I wonder what the French are going to think now. Will they "wine" about it???

[pawdoggie]

Hence the origin of the expression: "drunk as a Cypriot Sailor".

[shuckmaster]

There was a feature on one of the nature channels a while back showing that apes in the jungle make wine. They toss broken coconut shells around under trees with wild grape vines and come back later to drink the juice just before thay start doing backflips, mating, & falling from the vines thay're swinging from. You can bet that humans figured out the source of all this primate fun quite a bit earlier than 6,000 years ago. Vinyards & wineries were at the very origin of civilazation and probably the source motivation for commerce, pottery, agriculture, and nearly everything else associated with early civilazation.

[Shanda]

I once attended a lecture given by a visiting professor from Cyprus. I got to talk to him after the lecture.

I think he was the smartest person I have ever met. Also real short, about 5'4" tall.

[gogogodzilla]

Probably.

Heck, even monkeys know that rotting grapes will get them drunk.

[dhs12345]

Probably discovered serendipitously and perfected after that. Easy to imagine an ancient farmer putting grapes or grape juice in a container for storage and then them accidentally fermenting to produce wine.

Once the farmer figured out the recipe, then the rest was wine history.

Wine is probably as old as grapes and yeast and humans.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Nick. Saw this, but luckily checked for a prior topic before posting it.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[Artemis Webb]

"Heck, even monkeys know that rotting grapes will get them drunk."

Well I didn't know that. Then again I was probably too drunk to find out.

[wildbill]

Doesn't matter if they were first, just if it was potent.

[AdmSmith]

According to this http://www.wineintro.com/events/yr1999/histwine.html it is older than that:

"Wine has been around for at least 7,000 years - unlike beer and other alcohols, wine just happens all by itself and needs no other steps. If a primitive people gathered grapes and let them sit in a jar, wine would have resulted. Even as far back as 5,400 BC, there is evidence that Northern Iranian people aged wine on purpose."

But I guess that it is much older, give another 1-2,000 years (but probably not more) as a product.

[ruoflaw]

thanks for another interesting thread!

[AdmSmith]

The world's earliest known ancient wine jar (more than 7000 years old, ca. 5400-5000 B.C.) and a similarly dated sherd from another reconstructed wine jar are now on display

http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/research/Exp_Rese_Disc/NearEast/wine.shtml

[shuckmaster]

I agree with you! I've seen nature movies that show apes in the jungle know how to put grapes in coconut shells and come back later for a drunken mating party. Grapes were probably the first, easiest, and most logical domestic crop.

Easy to follow sequence
A rotten tree with grape vines falls - The grapes are easier to get to and pick. Prune the vine - the grapes grow larger. Chop the tree down and prune the vine and use the tree branches to trellis the vines. Transplant cuttings from the vines - you've got a vineyard. Select best producing vines for transplanting - you've got primo. Other folks want your wine - make them pay in trinkets and you've got trade. Make pottery to store and transport the wine and you've got advanced culture. Build a walled city and a grain fed army to protect your vineyard and you've got civilization!

[Lee'sGhost]

"At Pyrgos we found two jugs"

Wow! Wonder how much they go for? I understand 3995 BC was a very year.

[Lee'sGhost]

GOOD year.

[Clemenza]

Their is no such thing as rice wine. REAL wine was invented by the Persians near Shiraz.

Alcohol made from rice = Sake

Alcohol made from Honey = Mead

Neither of those are wines.

[nickcarraway]

Does that classify as a wine whine?

BTW, have you ever had mead?