Vino Began in Azerbaijan

In the beginning of an agricultural renaissance that began tens of thousands of years ago between the Caspian and Black Seas (modern day Azerbaijan), grapevines were brought to the villages from the forests where they parasitized trees. Before the first bronze-age vineyards were established, wine was made by collecting less-than-ripe fruit from the boughs of trees and large bushes. It was a race to get the berries before the critters — so nothing much has changed for some of us. The wine was likely low in alcohol and high in acid, and may well have been mixed with water when drunk. Bringing the production from the trees to the village (trellising with crude teepee-shaped structures, the villagers found keeping the vines in the sun increased sugar and made better wine. The result was the first viticultural revolution — western culture would never be the same after wine became commonplace in Europe. And wherever Europeans went, wine followed. Now we have entered the 21st Century and we have been blessed to live at a time when more advances in winegrape growing have emerged than in any other period of history.

This is excerpted from the (really excellent) Winemaker Magazine, to which I subscribe:

http://www.winemakermag.com/stories/grapes/article/indices/22-grape-growing/658-ten-signs-of-a-healthy-vineyard-backyard-vines