Almost every European vine now grows on American roots
In the late 19th century a tiny American aphid, phylloxera, devoured the roots of Europe's vineyards. The cure was to replant nearly every vine onto resistant American rootstock, a practice that continues today. Only a few regions, such as South Australia, still grow vines on their own roots, free of the pest.
Winemaking predates writing. The oldest traces, from around 6000 BCE, turned up near Tbilisi in Georgia, and the earliest known winery, Areni-1 in Armenia, dates to about 4100 BCE. Phoenician traders and then Greeks spread vines around the Mediterranean, and Romans scaled up production, notably in Gaul once Caesar's campaigns there were under way. In medieval Europe monks planted vineyards to supply wine for the Eucharist, laying out many of today's great regions, although Bordeaux grew up as a purely commercial trade with Aquitaine and England.
Colonists carried vines worldwide, again partly for communion. Mexico had vineyards by 1530, Peru by the 1550s, South Africa from 1655, and Arthur Phillip brought vines to Australia in 1788. Grapes thrive mainly between 30 and 50 degrees of latitude; the southernmost vineyard lies in Sarmiento, Argentina, and the most northerly region is British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. Winemakers speak of terroir, the combined influence of slope, soil and climate on a wine's character.
Making wine involves many choices. Grapes are picked when sugar and acid balance suit the winemaker, crushed, and fermented in steel, wood or concrete, usually with a chosen yeast strain that turns sugar into alcohol, heat and carbon dioxide. Colour comes from grape type and skin contact. Sweet wines may use grapes shrivelled by noble rot, frozen on the vine, or dried. Sparkling wines usually get a second fermentation in a sealed container: the traditional method for Champagne and Cava, a tank method for Prosecco. Their thick bottles resist up to 6 atmospheres of pressure.
After phylloxera came prohibition movements, wars and depression. France set up its national appellation body in 1947, the first comprehensive system limiting grape varieties, yields and methods, and other producing nations followed with their own rules. Since 2009 EU wines carry protected designations of origin or geographical indications. Most cork still comes from Portugal's Alentejo, but screwcaps and synthetic stoppers have spread. Alcohol makes wine generally unhealthy, though it may offer some benefit to the heart.
Source: Wine
