Some of the wineries, winemakers, and topics we have covered over the years for Wine Tribuataries often find their way as links on other wine sites. We decided to include some as a way to pay tribute to the wines and people who who have shaped the wine industry.

Wines' Roots Are Seven Millennia Deep
by Tim Hayes & John Koetzner

With all of the celebration of the new Millennium going on all around us, much of the toasting and partying has been accompanied by a glass of champagne or wine. We tend to link our wine appreciation to the past by recognizing great vintages and outstanding years that bring our sensory evaluations to near ecstasy. What we want to know is who still has some of that Neolithic Period (8500-4000BC) Chateau Hajji Firuz cellared?

One of the earliest indications of wine production was found by an archeologist named Mary Voigt while excavating a dig at the site of Hajji Firuz Tepe in the northern Zagros Mountains of Iran. Voigt unearthed five clay pottery jars embedded in the earthen kitchen floor of a 5400-5000BC mud-brick building. One of the jars was filled with a volume of 9 liters (2.5 gallons) of a "fermented beverage."

Subsequent analysis of a yellow residue found in some of the other jars turned out to be tartaric acid, one of the by-products of grape wine. This find, along with analysis of other remains, has aided historians with an insight towards understanding Neolithic winemaking.

The presence of wine was very prevalent in the Egyptian culture. Hieroglyphic scenes found inside the walls of the tombs of the pharaohs depict grapevines on trellising systems and the consuming of wine at parties and special occasions.

Large clay jars that had stoppers and a round pottery lid that were sealed with moist clay bearing the seal of the pharaohs were often buried in their tombs for consumption in the afterlife. In addition to the king's name, seals on the jars have been interpreted as a primitive kind of wine label to identify the location and producer of the wine.

Wild grapevines never grew in ancient Egypt and the development of their "viniculture" had to have taken a great deal of time. With all of the genetic DNA research going on today it will just be a matter of time until it is determined when and where the first grapevines were brought up the Nile and planted throughout the Nile Delta.

The Bible is another place where we can find all sorts of references to wine. At the wedding in Canaan, Jesus performed one of his miracles by changing water to wine. At the Last Supper he broke bread, and shared a common cup of wine. There are many more depictions of wine throughout the Old and New Testaments.

While not the first to produce wine, in more recent times the Greeks and the Romans were the first cultures to make notes on viticultural practices. It was during the era of the Roman Empire when grape growing and winemaking flourished and began to receive its highest accolades. Roman texts on the subject of wine were both poetic and profound, leading people to worship the beverage and a god named Bacchus.

The Bacchus cult grew larger through the Roman Empire as the commerce from the wine trade grew. The early peoples from countries conquered by the Romans who assimilated to their culture also provided a wealth of knowledge used to further develop the quality of wines produced. The Romans planted grapevines all through France, Spain, and Britain to try and establish a wine trade between colonies. Thanks to their research, the wood barrel was built and found to be the best container to ship wines in, as well as store and age wine.

When you really get down to it no other people in history have done as much as the Romans to advance the culture of wine. After the fall of the Roman Empire and the start of the Dark Ages not much was seen or heard from the wine trade. Most of the production of wine was kept alive by the religious orders of the time.

It was not until the late Middle Ages that wine once again emerged as a common everyday beverage that was to be enjoyed by all the people and not just the priests and royalty. It was during this time that the French wine industry took center stage and flourished. A monk by the name of Dom Perignon chanced upon a wine going through a secondary fermentation and became the "Father" of the Champagne industry, as we know it.

The wine we drink today reaches back through time from our New Year's Millennium celebration, to the glories of pomp and circumstance in the Middle Ages. It was a light following the Dark Ages and a coveted elixir for the indulgences of the Roman Empire. It was there at the Last Supper, and consumed by Pharaohs in the afterlife. And finally, we have traced it back to a little mud hut in the mountains of Iran