How Did Wine Develop

Wine, today, is not simply a beverage but it is linked with religion, cooking, feasting, and our forms of social gatherings. The history of wine also shows it has long been associated with human societies since the early development of agriculture and early domestication of grapes at about 8,000 years ago in the Near East. Since then, wine has become spread on all major continents human societies have spread to.

Early Development

Wild grapes Vitis vinifera are found in the eastern Mediterranean regions, stretching from Turkey, the southern Caucasus, and northern Iran. The earliest known wine production is found in northern Iran, the site of Hajji Faruz, a site that dates between 6000-5500 BCE. From evidence, it seems this early wine used terebinth as a form of preservative, similar to Greek wine Retsina that is still drunk today. This would suggest that Retsina wine is the oldest known wine type. The wine itself was made evident by residue of tartaric acid, a substance commonly found in grape wine.