Food and Beverage

From Past to Present: Wine

The land of Anatolia, where such myths go through wine; is the starting point of viticulture and therefore production of wine. When we look at the archaeological finds, which are the most realistic evidence for us, there are many indicators showing that the Hittites are interested in viticulture and wine in 2000 BC. Sculptures containing wine figures and drinking pots from that period are the most important findings. 

From Past to Present: Wine

Noah who began to live on Mount Ararat after the flood saw one day that his goat going around to feed was back very happy. When Noah, who had seen that the goat behaved like that for days, followed the goat for a while, he realized that this situation arose from the food it ate and is hooked on the juice of grapes. When Satan saw him in this mood, he defoliated all grapevines with his flames. When Satan realized that Noah got sick of the sadness, he said that he might have revived the plant again by only watering it with the blood of seven sacrifices (the dog, tiger, lion, cock, magpie, bear, and fox). According to this myth, people who are drunk with the wine are said to have taken the belligerence of the dog, predacity of the tiger, courage of the lion, clamorousness of the cock, chattering of the magpie, force of the bear, and cunning of the fox. 

So, the land of Anatolia, where such myths go through wine; is the starting point of viticulture and therefore production of wine. When we look at the archaeological finds, which are the most realistic evidence for us, there are many indicators showing that the Hittites are interested in viticulture and wine in 2000 BC. Sculptures containing wine figures and drinking pots from that period are the most important findings. 

It is possible to see the traces of viticulture in Persian and Phrygian civilizations after the Hittites. Especially, the region, including East Anatolia, Armenia, and Georgia is considered as the mainland of wine. It is also useful to add a footnote immediately here: the oldest known winery was discovered in the Areni-1 cave in Yeghegnadzor, Armenia, and is estimated to be 6,000 years old. The migration of Hittites to the Crete and Aegean Islands in 2200 BC, allowed that culture to shift to the west and continued its expansion in Thrace.

Even though our country is in the top 10 in the world’s production of grapes, it uses only 3% of it in the production of wine. One of the most important reasons is thought to be a recession in the vinification culture, which came along with the Ottoman-drink bans. The fact that as Anatolian territory fell under Ottoman rule, the decline of vinification and viticulture began, emerged as the most important proof of this. With the movements of Westernization after the Tanzimat, the Ottoman vinification -revived, about 300 million liters of wine were produced and exported at the beginning of the 1900s.

In 3000 BC, the Egyptians were making the wine in cubes with large openings covered by resin, making it more durable. After the openings of these cubes were closed with clay or lime, the brands of wine were printed on these covers.

The basis of barrels and bottle technology, which dates back to the present day, is going back to the 16th. century in Europe. While glass decanters are still used for wine to be purged from its precipitation and ventilated at the service stage, the residues in wine are separated by centrifuge decanters in today’s technology. 

 


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