THE BEST INVENTION SINCE THE WHEEL

How and when the remarkable discovery of wine was first stumbled upon?

No one can be sure but there is an ancient Persian fable that recognizes a woman as the discoverer of wine. According to the fable, she was a princess who had lost favor with the King. The shame was so overwhelming that she ate some table grapes that had spoiled in their jar in an attempt to end her life. Her suicide did not go as planned instead of slipping onto eternal slumber she got giddy, intoxicated and then she passed out. When she awoke she found that all the troubles of her life seemed to have gone away. She continued to partake of the spoilt grapes and her mood changed so much that she regained the favor of the King and wine really did solve all her problems. Although this is a pleasant tale the accidental discovery of wine probably happened as few times in different regions but what is for sure is that wine is not the invention of man but was found via pure dumb luck. 

The first sign of the vine we all know and love were sixty million year old fossils which means that our pre-human ancestor may well have come to realize that the older grapes will have been more desirable as we can observe with our animal friends today who tend to prefer riper fruit. The earliest remnants of wine were discovered in the site of Hajji Firuz Tepe in the northern Zagros Mountains of Iran. The wine dated back to the Neolithic period (8500-4000 B.C.)  Carbon dating confirmed that the wine was from sometime between 5400-5000 B.C. Although no earlier dating wine has been found it is though that the art of wine making started shortly after 6000 B.C. it is thought that this is the date for one of mankind’s most momentous creations because the  peoples of these regions had managed to create permanent am settlements via the domestication of animals and plants. This was a far more stable living situation than the nomadic way of living which most humans were currently employing. This stability allowed the people to experiment with their cuisine and drinks. Some of our favorite dishes and drinks we still enjoy today were developed in this time period including beer and of course wine.