The Origins of Wine

Humans have been cultivating Vitis vinifera, the grape which has remained the near-exclusive species used in wine production throughout history, for millennia. The ancient Egyptians are believed to be the first culture to document the cultivation and making of wine, though archaeological records place wine’s origins much earlier than that. Some historians even suggest that wine may even predate our species, with previous hominid groups enjoying the fermented juice of the grape. Regardless of who discovered wine, it is indisputable that viticulture has played an important and constant role in the history of our humankind, capturing imaginations and evolving over the centuries to become the global business it is today.

THE DRUNKEN MONKEY HYPOTHESIS

Biologists Dustin Stephens and Robert Dudley proposed that it was our monkey ancestors who first developed a taste for boozy fruit. Their hypothesis suggests that fermenting fruit was easier to sniff out and may also have offered probiotic and antimicrobial properties without a huge alcoholic kick. Around 10 million years ago, primates evolved a set of genes to better process ethanol, one of the intoxicating compounds found in wine and fermented fruit. These earliest brews were not made from grapes, which are not indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa, but these boozy fruits set the table for the more elegant concoctions to come.

INTENTIONAL WINEMAKING

Homo sapiens’ first encounters with Vitis vinifera would have occurred when  the species moved out of Africa and into the Middle East, Asia and the Mediterranean, approximately  two million years ago. The shift from Stone Age foraging to the Neolithic cultivation of crops is the most likely inception point for what we think of as wine, around 8500-4000 BC. Evidence shows that grape crops were domesticated for food, and the effects of its fermented juice would have been a delightful discovery – accidental or intentional. Grape juice left to sit in a warm climate quickly begins to turn alcoholic and these crude wines would have been easy to produce. Traces of these early brews have been found on pottery vessels, which were used to store and preserve wine to keep it from spoiling.

Trying to precisely date the rise of viticulture has been difficult. Interestingly, archeological evidence seems to push the window further and further back, with current estimates placing the advent of large-scale winemaking to around 6000 BC. In 2017, Patrick McGovern from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology found wine residue on clay jars from Georgia, making it the oldest known site of production, overtaking an Iranian location which had held the record previously. Chinese pottery dating to 7000 BC has been excavated bearing traces of grape juice, though it is thought that the grapes used were wild and not cultivated – perhaps more haphazard than the large-scale production indicated by European and Middle Eastern sites.

CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS

In our science and process-led world, we take winemaking for granted. For ancient cultures, this transition from grape to wine was nothing short of miraculous and is closely associated with divinity. From Dionysus, the Greek god of the vine to the Biblical symbolism of wine as the blood of Christ, wine has long been viewed as sacred. With medicinal, ceremonial and practical usages, wine has acted as a lifeblood to diverse civilizations.

WINE GOES GLOBAL

The wine trade was greatly expanded by the Greeks and Romans who brought their home brews, grape vines and  the art of viticulture along with them as they colonized territory across Europe and North Africa. Winemaking was brought to the New World following the arrival of Columbus, Spanish missionaries brought the practice to Chile and Argentina in the 16th century, and to California in the 18th century. The role of Christianity in winemaking has been important, as the primacy of wine for use in the Catholic mass has ensured continuous cultivation for millenia, even during periods such as  Prohibition when general alcohol consumption was illegal. Subsequent waves of European immigrants to the New World would bring updated techniques with them, slowly improving the quality of wines around the globe.

The 18th and 19th centuries brought a deeper understanding of the processes behind winemaking, with Enlightenment-era emphasis on science, chemistry and sanitation. From antiquity, wine had a short window where it could be stored, typically within a year. The Romans had introduced wooden barrels as a means to age wine, but it was the introduction of glass bottles and cork stoppers in the 17th century that ushered in the dawn of the great wines that we know today. Spoilage, a major concern for millenia, had flummoxed winemakers. Herbs, ashes, gypsum, cheese, honey, seawater and other creative substances were sometimes mixed in with the grapes in an attempt to prolong shelf life. Once winemakers began to apply the lessons of the scientific revolution – such as pasteurization –  wines became more stable and easier to store and transport.

Today, new advances and growing interest means that wine is being grown on every continent except Antarctica. Winemaking has spread to places previously considered inhospitable to Vitis vinifera like Patagonia and Scandinavia, continuing the evolution of humankind’s relationship with this special drink.

About the auction:

Held online from September 9-17, 2024, our Fine Wine auction highlights the best from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Napa, Germany, the Rhône, Italy and more. Special lots include Salon champagne, Screaming Eagle, Chave Ermitage and lots of wine in their original cases. With over 500 lots, there is something for both new collectors and seasoned oenophiles on the hunt for specific wines.

Please contact us for more information.