Pre-History

Localised Production Versus

Importation

Anton Luiten

At first a family produces wine for consumption at home. The better producers become known and sell to other people in the village, and in the land around. Eventually, some people, villages and regions specialise in wine production and become net exporters of wine. Other regions become specialists in other fields and become net importers of wine. The social and physical nature of these regions are fundamentally different. Discuss.

The development of wine exporting regions

• Wine became feasible as a trading commodity as soon as it became possible to store liquids, about 5000bc

• Wine was not produced significantly until a demand for it developed, growing grapes was very labour intensive

• Wealthy small family vineyards developed all throughout the Mediterranean where vines grew indigenously, they often used slaves for labour

• As city states emerged throughout the Mediterranean and wine became an intrinsic part of ancient culture, small families and communities began to grow grapes and make wine as the demand for wine grew exponentially

Mediterranean, Greek and Roman period

• In many cases families and communities which had previously grown wheat, olives and other crops saw the potential wealth in wine and whole regions developed and became known for their particular style due to there soils and climate

• As the wine culture developed, regions became known for their wine, for example the ancient region of Cos was renown for its sour wine style

• Due to the demand for wine from particular regions a recognisable appellation system was developed and the Greeks and Romans introduced strict laws and strong penalties for violators

Wine Growing regions of Ancient Greece

• As demand grew, viticulture flourished especially through out ancient Greece and what would develop in the Roman empire

• The Romans were the first to fully industrialize small scale family winemaking, whole regions of southern Italy practiced viticulture, wine was an integral part of their economy

Roman Wine making processes

• The Romans consumed such an amount of wine that soon they spread viticulture to the colonies, recognisable regions such as Burgundy and Bordeaux can trace there origins back to Roman viticulture

• Communities prospered due to the wine trade and soon those colonial regions became recognized for there particular style

The Bordeaux region and a classical Bordeaux vineyard

Development of wine importing regions

• As populations grew in ancient Mediterranean cultures, cities soon became huge importers of wine at first the surrounding country side then from surrounding empires as wine became tradable over long distances

• Wine was a very important and valuable tradable commodity, biblical towns such as Daha in what is now Syria was famous as importing regions

• Wine was a valuable trade item for all ports and cities. not only was important as a food commodity, it was used medicinally, religiously and was safe to drink in cities which often had bad water

• The Roman port city of Pompeii imported millions of litres of wine to support the roman empire, this had massive ramifications and benefits to the region

• Wine importing regions developed due to need, wine was not a luxury for the wealthy but was part the everyday diet

• Wine not only was important as a food commodity, it was used medicinally, religiously and was safe to drink in cities which often had bad water

Wine amphorae discovered from the wreck of a Roman trading vessel

• An example of the development of a wine importing region is London during the middle ages

• England is unsuited to viticulture so almost all wine was imported

• The English developed a passion for wine and imported thousands of shiploads a year

• Wine regions such as London could emerge because wine wasn’t perishable over long distances

Physical differences between importing exporting regions

• Due to the nature of the vine, early wine exporting regions developed where the indigenous vine thrived, all throughout the Mediterranean

• Early successful wine exporting regions developed on land that was viable for viticulture, it was only as viticulture knowledge grew, vineyard sites were selected with care with respect to “terroir” and climate

Typical Mediterranean vineyard, dry mountainous land

• Early viticulture practices were varied and grapes were grown by a variety methods

• Wine exporting regions were often chosen due to their access to water, wine was heavy and difficult to export over land, an example of this is Bordeaux

Barrels such as this, used in early French and German winemaking were very heavy and cumbersome

• Wine importing regions developed where local wine was not sufficient or viable

• Most net importing regions were cities, most cities throughout the Mediterranean would have been net importers of wine, not everywhere was suitable for viticulture but there was still demand

• Regions throughout northern Europe became net importers of wine simply because there climate meant viticulture was impossible

• Wine importing regions were often places which held a lot of different cultures who imported different styles of wine and brought with them different viticulture knowledge

Social differences between Exporting and Importing regions

• Early exporting regions were usually populated by the poor, slaves were often used on vineyards

• Exporting regions mostly saw grapes as a means of sustenance for the community

• Often the success of an exporting region with a particular style was reliant on the trends of the consumer

• During the Roman period, many exporting regions were colonies and influenced by people such as the Gaul's

• Exporting regions became renowned for there style of wine

• Wine exporting regions tended to be very traditional, growing the same vines for hundreds of years and producing the same wine

• Important importing regions became very wealthy, wine was valuable and a necessity and it created huge wealth for those who traded it

• Importing regions were often centres for wine knowledge, countless papers on viticulture and the treatment of wine have been found in ancient Rome

• Important wine importing regions were home to the elite of society, they imported the best from all over the known world not just locally

Exporting regions kept traditional methods for hundreds of years

Roman Elite imported the best wine from all over the world

References• Johnson, H. (1971). The World Atlas of Wine. London, England:

Mitchell Beazley Publishers• Bezzant, N. Burroughs, D. (1979). Wine Regions of the World.

Oxford, England: Reed international books• Foulkes, C. (1994). Larousse Encyclopedia of Wine. Italy: Larousse• Wikipedia. (2012). History of wine. Retrieved from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_wine• Simon, A. (1906). The History of the Wine Trade in England.

London, England: Wyman and Sons• EIT, Faculty of Science and Technology. (2009). History of wine and

the wine [PDF] Retrieved on 26/07/12 from: http://eitonline.eit.ac.nz/course/view.php?id=1875

• Agis, L. (2005). History of Ancient Wine: The Beginnings of the Wine Trade. Retrieved on 26/07/12 from: http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/433249

• Pellechia, T. (2006). The 8,000 Year Old Story of the Wine Trade. New York, USA: Thunders Mouth Press

• Unwin, T. (1996). Wine and the Vine. London: Routledge

Picture References

• www.resourcesforhistoryteachers.wikispaces.com• http://www.sablethome.com/travel/a-year-in-provences-vineyards-2/• www.arblasterandclarke.com• www.classic-french-homes.com• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44231856/ns/

technology_and_science-science/t/roman-wreck-full-wine-jars-found-albania/

• http://stockfresh.com/image/1304685/mediterranean-vineyard• http://www.wineandvinethings.com/barreldolly.html• http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/362649/enlarge• http://outre-monde.com/2012/07/24/the-roman-dinner-party/