The story of wine since 3500 B.C.

Here is an interesting little article on the history of wine. I also remember reading something awhile back which stated there was reference to mead in prehistoric "caveman" days where honey dripped into puddles and fermented. A little bit muddy for my tastes but back then they figured it was some nectar from the gods.... Kinda makes sense in a caveman sort of way.



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Source: sthelenastar.com

The origins of wine are clouded in prehistory.

The grape from which wine is best made, Vitis vinifera, originated in what is today the disputed land between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the wild grape there having the additional name of silvestris. The wine, made from that grape, was probably insipid, especially as compared with today’s wines.

More solid evidence was discovered at an archeological dig, called Godin Tepe in what is now modern Iran. Archeologists discovered a 3500 B.C. ceramic vessel that held reddish crystals. These resembled the tartrate crystals which are found today on the bottom of many corks of wine bottles. They came from the wild grape sylvestris, which still grows there today and which ferments overnight.

One theory about wine making is that a Neolithic man made grape juice from wild grapes, forgot it or left it alone for awhile, then tasted it: “Praise the gods; I am tasting heaven!”

Another theory is that it was a development of previous knowledge. Archeology has evidence that mead or honey wine and beer existed prior to wine, made from grapes. And the people of the time applied their knowledge of fermentation to grape juice.

In time, the knowledge of wine making and domestication of the wild grape spread around the Caspian Sea, Black Sea, and Mediterranean Sea, and eventually all over the world. Egyptian hieroglyphic depicts feasts with wine. Homer refers frequently to wine in his Iliad and Odyssey. The roots for the word enology, the study of wine, come from the Greek, oinos meaning wine, and logos meaning study.

The Romans spread the culture of wine and viticulture all over their known world — from their word for wine, vinum we get the many words like vine and vineyard. The Bible, both Old and New Testament, discusses wine. Many religions, both ancient and modern, have adopted wine as part of their rituals.

Pottery of many ancient cultures depicts aspects of wine. In time many lands cultivated their own grapes by cross pollination, grafting and individual agricultural methods.

Today, most of the people in varying lands throughout the world drink wine and have vineyards, and produce their wines from their own unique varietals.

The early American colonists did not have much interest in wine. An exception was Thomas Jefferson, who tried to grow European grapes at Monticello.

Prohibition was an indication of the way the American citizen viewed wine. However, after the repeal of Prohibition, the citizenry of the United States began to take an interest in wine, slowly but increasingly. That was the era of jug wines when wines of the same color were mixed together with no indication of the varietal and given the name of a district in Europe. Today the name of Burgundy or Chablis or Champagne and similar district names can be used only by those districts in Europe with a few exceptions.

In the late ‘30s and early ‘40s, varietals began to be the vogue. Wineries began to be interested in the grape as a varietal. Also, the maxim was white for fish and poultry, and red for red meat.

Today, the majority of the populace has reached a new sophistication. Wineries and vineyards exist in all 50 states. Wineries produce both varietals and special blends of wines, which people enjoy. Wine is recognized as a food, and like all foods, the individual matches all the foods so that they blend into a pleasing taste. And even that rule can be set aside for the person who prefers one wine for all his or her meals. Wine like all else in life follows the Latin saying: “De gustibus non disputandum est.” Freely translated, it is, “One does not argue about taste.”

Raise a glass of barley wine

Toast 2008 at midnight with a delightful honeyed sipper that's meant for sharing

Dec 26, 2007 04:30 AM
Josh Rubin
Beer reporter

On New Year's Eve, a lot of folks head out to an overcrowded bar or restaurant where the highlight of the evening is a free glass of cheap sparkling wine at midnight.

As appealing as that sounds, it's not for everyone. If a quiet idea at home with a loved one is closer to your idea of a good way to ring in the New Year, you still might like something to sip. Picking up a bottle of Mill Street Barley Wine would be a good idea.

For one thing, it's clearly meant for sharing and sipping slowly, as it comes in a 500-millilitre ceramic bottle, and checks in at a hefty 10 per cent alcohol.

The rich, sweet, golden-coloured brew is made in the tradition of strong English ales first brewed by butlers for wealthy clients who wanted to impress friends. When you flip the top on the bottle, you'll be hit with a whiff of honey and caramelized fruit. The taste follows through on the promise of the beer's aroma. After notes of honey, caramel and even pineapple, there's a decent amount of hoppy bitterness on the finish.

While it's not as complex as the world classic Thomas Hardy's Ale, which is also part of the LCBO's Winter Ales program, Mill Street Barley Wine is still an excellent sipper. It also happens to be one of only two regularly made barley wines from Ontario, and the only one available bottled.

Last year, it wasn't available, as the brewery was transforming its original space in the Distillery District into a brewpub, says brewmaster Joel Manning.

"There was plaster dust everywhere. It really wouldn't have been a good idea to do any brewing," Manning says with a chuckle. At the same time, Mill Street was brewing its other beers at a new, bigger location in Scarborough.

While a good barley wine can be one of the beer world's great delights, Manning says other brewers can be forgiven for not making their own. It's a timely, costly beer to make. Unlike most ales, which are aged for just a few weeks, Mill Street's barley wine is brewed in January, then aged in tanks until November, when it's bottled. Having beer taking up valuable tank space for so long isn't cheap.

"We brew this beer because we love it. We don't make a whole lot of money on it," says Manning.

A beer made with love, to drink with your loved one. Not a bad way to ring in the New Year.

Tej - Ethiopian Honey wine

I was at an Ethiopian restaurant last night (Insert joke here) and had this wonderful drink called "Tej". The description said honey wine, however on speaking with the owner, I found this was far more than a basic Mead. First of all, it also has hops. Upon further reading, I discovered their definition of Hops is quite different. Here is what I found. Comments would be appreciated.


I think the first problem with all attempts to translate Tej recipes is that
"hops" is a translation by analogy. Gesho is a species of buckthorn. DON'T
substitute the ornamental buckthorn or the native Californian species as
they are hazardously potent laxatives.

"Woody hops" versus "leafy hops" refers to both the bark and leaves being
used. The leaves are used alone to make beer (Suwa or Tella) but Tej (or
Mies) uses some combination of bark and leaves.

Obtaining Gesho requires a trip to Washington DC or Toronto. LA probably is
good, too, but I don't know. In Toronto, the address is in Kensington
Market:
Ethiopian Spices
60 Kensington Ave (at Baldwin)
Toronto ON M5T 2K1
416-598-3014
The owner also has another store in the market selling non-food items. I
think it was on Augusta. Another store has some African items, but no
Gesho.



If in Washington, look for stores with names starting with "Merkato". A bit
of searching on the web for "Ethiopian or Eritrean food" should turn up a
list. I tried arranging a mail-order once, but the US-Canadian border
created extra hassle in that it would have taken a lot of exchanged faxes to
sort out the price and delivery. I finally managed to pass through Toronto
on holiday and stocked up.

One member of this group turned up a web link to a store in Denver, but they
didn't reply to emails and I knew that the stores in Washington do a lot of
mail-order.

Gesho is expensive, even in its own habitat.

The flavour of the leaf is quite unlike hops. I used some in place of hops
in a bitter recipe just to characterize the flavour. If I had to
substitute, I would try a small amount of aged hops (like for a lambic) for
the antibacterial action and a handful of yellow birch twigs for a vague
wintergreen-citrus flavour.

For comparison, here's my recipe, obtained in a mixture of sign language,
Tigrinya and Italian (none of which I speak):

(for 16-18 L)
Start:
4 cups powdered Gesho leaves (replace part with bark if
available)
1 1/2 cups malt (whole grains)
1 cup sugar
pkg dry bakers' yeast
5-6 L water
Leave 2 days for fermentation to start

Add:
4 lbs pale honey, including whole combs if possible
2 kg dried dates, chopped
2 kg raisins
Water to make 18 L
Ferment 13 days.

Strain out solids. Add some sugar or honey to taste if too sour. Bulk
condition in a pressure-resistant container (like an olive barrel) 15 days.
Decant and serve while yeast still slowly active.

This recipe gives a result very much like champagne & OJ. It's very easy
drinking and very alcoholic. The sourness is from the lactobacillus
introduced on the malt selected by the antibacterial action of the Gesho.
The flora make quite an impressive sight under the microscope but don't let
that frighten you!

So good luck obtaining Gesho in either form, and I think either recipe would
work. Do you know anyone from that part of the world? You would find them
quite willing to taste test for you.