Historia vinum
As a retired wine-buyer I can see, looking back, how important history was for my job. You could not really understand a country and why they made wine in the way that they did without understanding the background history. Wine historically is also very much bound up with the Church, as you will see.
Better than the NHS?
Built in 1443, the Hospice de Beaune is a cross between a hospital and an old peoples home (the two are run separately today). It was founded by Nicolas Rollin, Chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Guigone de Salins. He persuaded local magnates to donate top vineyards to the charity in order to 'save their souls'. The Burgundies from these vineyards are auctioned off every November, the money raised being sufficient to provide the citizens of Beaune with a free medical service.
The world's oldest winery
The oldest winery to date has been found in a cave in Armenia known to archaeologists as Areni-1, and it is 6,000 years old. Finds include a drinking bowl, grape press and fermentation jars. Another find is the world's oldest shoe; no doubt they took them off in order to press the grapes.
Is Noah just a story?
The pic shows part of the 13th century frieze in Salisbury Cathedral's chapter house and depicts the story of the Ark followed by Noah becoming drunk. Now the Ark landed on Mount Ararat which lies in Eastern Turkey, not far from the winery above. Experts believe that the first cultivated vineyard was planted between the Black Sea and the Caspian and this is where Turkey, Armenia and Iran meet, all of which (despite the Muslim faith) still produce wine. So Noah could indeed be a representation of the first winemaker.
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The messenger
The pic was taken at Schloss Johannisberg in Germany's Rheingau, at one time the home of the premier European statesman Clemens von Metternich (1773 - 1859). Back in 1775, it was accepted that the owner was responsible for setting the date of the grape harvest (here the noble Riesling) and as we know the archetype German always 'go by the book'.
This particular autumn the owner was away and so a messenger was sent after him. After various incidents he belatedly returned with the instruction to go ahead. The delay caused the grapes to ripen more fully but at some risk. This gave rise to the technique of Spätlese or late-picking, a feature of the best Hocks and Mosels.
See link: schloss-johannisberg.de/en/history/
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The Phrygians
The Phrygians introduced wine into Anatolia and to the Greeks on the west coast of Turkey. The Greeks then exported the wine to France. Despite its Muslim religion Turkey has been a source of wine for a VERY long time. The earliest grape pips found in south-eastern Turkey have been radio-carbon dated to 9,000BC!!!!!