Global Wine Wars
Global Wine Wars
In the beginning
Grape growing and wine making have been human preoccupations at least since the times when ancient Egyptians and Greeks offered wine as tributes to dead pharaohs and tempestuous gods. It was under the Roman Empire that viticulture spread throughout the Mediterranean region, and almost every town had its local vineyards and wine was a peasant’s beverage to accompany everyday meals. By the Christian era, wine became part of liturgical services, and monasteries planted vines and built wineries. By the Middle Ages, the European nobility began planting vineyards as a mark of prestige, competing with one another in the quality of wine served at their tables – the first niche market for premium wine.
Wine Production
Hrvesting grapes has always been labor intensive, and one worker could typically look after only a three hectare lot. (1 hectare. = 2.47acres) The introduction of vineyard horses in the early 19 century led to vines being planted in rows and to more efficient tending and allowed one person to work a plot of 7 hectares.
Yet despite these efficiencies, vineyards became smaller, not larger. Over many centuries, small agricultural holdings were continually fragmented as land was parceled out by kings, taken in wars, or broken up through inheritance. During the French Revolution, many large estates were seized, divided, and sold at auction. And after 1815, the Napoleonic inheritance code prescribed how land had to be passed on to all rightful heirs. By the mid-19 century, the average holding in France was 5.5 ha. and was still being subdivided. (In Italy, similar events left the average vineyard at 0.8 ha.)
While the largest estates made their own wine, most small farmers sold their grapes to the local wine maker or vintner. With payment based on weight, there was little incentive to pursue quality by reducing yield. Some small growers formed coopertives, hoping to participate in wine making’s
In the beginning
Grape growing and wine making have been human preoccupations at least since the times when ancient Egyptians and Greeks offered wine as tributes to dead pharaohs and tempestuous gods. It was under the Roman Empire that viticulture spread throughout the Mediterranean region, and almost every town had its local vineyards and wine was a peasant’s beverage to accompany everyday meals. By the Christian era, wine became part of liturgical services, and monasteries planted vines and built wineries. By the Middle Ages, the European nobility began planting vineyards as a mark of prestige, competing with one another in the quality of wine served at their tables – the first niche market for premium wine.
Wine Production
Hrvesting grapes has always been labor intensive, and one worker could typically look after only a three hectare lot. (1 hectare. = 2.47acres) The introduction of vineyard horses in the early 19 century led to vines being planted in rows and to more efficient tending and allowed one person to work a plot of 7 hectares.
Yet despite these efficiencies, vineyards became smaller, not larger. Over many centuries, small agricultural holdings were continually fragmented as land was parceled out by kings, taken in wars, or broken up through inheritance. During the French Revolution, many large estates were seized, divided, and sold at auction. And after 1815, the Napoleonic inheritance code prescribed how land had to be passed on to all rightful heirs. By the mid-19 century, the average holding in France was 5.5 ha. and was still being subdivided. (In Italy, similar events left the average vineyard at 0.8 ha.)
While the largest estates made their own wine, most small farmers sold their grapes to the local wine maker or vintner. With payment based on weight, there was little incentive to pursue quality by reducing yield. Some small growers formed coopertives, hoping to participate in wine making’s