History of Grapes

We’re not going way, way back to the beginning of civilization; even though that’s how old grapes are, because we’re not here to discuss woolly mammoths. We’ll start with the Greeks because they are the people responsible for first using grapes to make wine and even had a God of wine called Dionysus or Bacchus as he was later known.

So the history of grapes used in wine began with the Greeks. Not that they were particularly good at it. The art of fermentation was rather hit and miss and so was the wine. At times thick and bitty, it had to be watered down, the lack of sanitation also added to the rather unusual flavour and so herbs were added as a disguise.

It was the Romans who really got to grips with the art of processing and soil structure and this is where the history about grapes and wine as we know it today really evolved. Unfortunately in 400 AD when the Roman Empire was in decline so was grape growing. The only people who really practiced viticulture were the monks of France and Germany, so the church didn’t go short of a bottle or two.

The next important time in the history of grapes was when the Spanish settlers planted vines in North America in the early 17^th Century. The vines grew particularly well in California due to the lack of pest’s and the warm weather.

In 1869 Dr Thomas Bramwell perfected the art of pasteurisation and so unfermented grape juice became extremely popular, so popular in fact he will go down as one of the most important people in the history of grapes and winemaking.

Sadly this was also around the same time that almost all French vines were struck by an insect that had made its way from America leaving most French vines destroyed. But all was not lost, botanists cross bred an American grape with a French variety to produce a grape resistant to the bug, saving the day and the French wine industry.

Since Dr Bramwell there have been many scientists who have now established that drinking wine has its benefits to health. Good news for those of us that like to be healthy, also good news for the grape growers of Greece; where it all began, and vineyards around the world who are all part of today’s ‘history about grapes.’