History of wine

The earliest archaeological evidence of wine production yet found has been at sites in Georgia (c. 6000 BC),Iran (c. 7000 BC),Greece (c. 4500 BC) and Armenia (c. 4100 BC), where the oldest winery to date was uncovered.

The altered consciousness produced by wine has been considered religious since its origin. The Greeks worshiped Dionysus and Bacchus and the Romans carried on his cult. Consumption of ritual wine was part of Jewish practice since Biblical times and, as part of the eucharist commemorating Jesus's Last Supper, became even more essential to the Christian Church. Although Islam nominally forbade the production or consumption of wine, during its Golden Age, alchemists such as Geber pioneered wine's distillation for medicinal and industrial purposes such as the production of perfume. The Turkic Uyghurs were even responsible for reïntroducing viticulture to China from the Tang dynasty onwards.

Wine production and consumption increased, burgeoning from the 15th century onwards as part of European expansion. Despite the devastating 1887 phylloxera louse infestation, modern science and technology adapted and industrial wine production and wine consumption now occur throughout the world.