The origins of wine predate history. We know that primitive man ate grapes because their seeds have been found in caves along with stone tools. Since grapes will become wine, if just left to their own devices, it is almost certain that wine was 'discovered' not 'invented'. Lichine relates the following story: A Persian who was fond of grapes stored some away in a great jar marked 'poison'. Some time afterward, one of the neglected beauties of his harem, tired of life, drank from the jar and the ''poison was by then so delicious that, much revived, she took a cup to the king. The king tasted it, took the lady back into favor, and ordained that thereafter the grapes should be allowed to ferment.

Although this enjoyable and highly romantic story precludes the likelihood that wine predates either kings or Persia, it is certain that it was along the Fertile Crescent that vines were first cultivated, and wine production was begun. It is unclear what variety the first cultivated grapes were, but it seems that the vinifera varieties that we know today naturally evolved from wild grapes. Vinifera differs from wild grapes since there are no male and female plants, and that vinifera is a hermaphrodite that reproduces vegetatively instead of sexually. This also means that vinifera is highly susceptible to mutation, which accounts for the huge variety found today. Next, we will look at the spread of wine and winemaking throughout the ancient world.

What we know about wine among the ancients comes mostly from its use in funeral rites. Amphorae (clay wine pots) with inscriptions have been found in Egypt and it seems likely that wine was reserved not only for funereal use, but also for the elite generally. The masses drank fermented date juice and other 'beer' like beverages.

The Egyptians were kind enough to leave wall paintings in their tombs, and from these we can see that the techniques for harvesting and making wine were essentially the same as the practices used until the most modern times. Grapes were harvested with curved knives, into wicker baskets. The vats were made of acacia wood, and were filled with the grapes, to be trodden on while work songs were sung. To this day this can be seen in the Port region or Spain, although now it is more for the tourists than a true way of life.

The wines of the day were white and sweet, and the many mentions of wine in the Old Testament were the same. It appears that the Arabians made red wines, but I can find no description of these red wines.

The Greeks probably learned winemaking from the Babylonians and they took to it with a vengeance. Since the Greeks have recorded that they liked their wines old and watered, and since they too only had amphorae to store the wine in, the wines of Greece were probably somewhat like the Madeiras of today.

The Romans, as Romans are want to do, improved upon the Greek traditions. They used a barrel to store wine in. The Romans acquired the barrel after the conquest of Gaul in 58 BC (with thanks to reader Chris Lilley for this last fact). Although they had glass bottles, the lack of a proper closure would keep bottle aging from coming to pass until the discovery of corks in the late 18th century.

The Romans could age their wines in the barrels, more effectively than in the Greek amphorae. Alas, old habits die-hard and most wine was still thick and sweet and needed watering down to drink. Not just water was added to these wines, but seawater! Perfumes were a common additive as well. The wines that were fortunate to be stored in barrels were in all likelihood much like the 'local' Italian wines of today.

As the Romans set forth to conquer the world, they took the vine with them. Although Marseilles was settled by the Greeks in 600 BC, the Romans used this town as a base and headed up the Rhone River. The vineyards of Cote-Rotie and other Northern Rhone regions date to this period. Indeed, every major wine-producing region of France, except for Alsace, dates to the Roman expansion, as do the vineyards of the Rhine and Mosel in Germany.

During the Dark Ages, wine became the domain of the Church. Wine was not only needed for religious rites, but to keep the spirit of the lonely monks up as well. These monks proved to be a studious lot, constantly planting and replanting vines. It was through these experiments that Europe became matched with the proper varieties in the proper regions.

This too did not happen overnight and many improvements in winemaking were called for to make the wines we know today. The region of Champagne, for example, was known for light red wines. It was Henry the IV of England that named this region Champagne, literally "white chalky plain".

Burgundy was somewhat unknown, simply because it was difficult to travel to. The Burgundinian Princes knew the value of the region, and many a war was fought to control it. Again, the influence of the Church can be seen, as landowners left plots of land to their favorite monasteries, beginning the vineyard system that exists to this day in Burgundy. The French Revolution would further divide these lands, as it secularized the vineyards.

Politics had always played a huge role in the development of wine. The English had discovered, by the beginning of the 13th, the wines of Bordeaux, which they called 'Claret'. For 500 years these would be the preferred wines of the British, until 1703 when the Methuen Treaty made French wines too expensive to enjoy, but the wines of Portugal affordable. Although these were dry wines, and not the 'Port' of today, this treaty would change the drinking habits of the British, and the world.

Many of the wines we know today are similar to their ancestors in name only. Champagne was a still dry red wine, which competed with the wines of Burgundy. The health benefits of wine were widely recognized in this era, and a dispute broke out whether the wines of Champagne or of Burgundy were the more beneficial. Louis XIV preferred Burgundy, and Champagne began to look for a new identity. The wines began to switch from red to white, or sometimes a vin gris, pink wine. The wines also started to be made with a slight bubble to them. It would not be until the famous monk Dom Perignon started to use stronger bottles to contain the bubbles, that Champagne of today began to evolve. A contemporary of Dom Perignon, Frere Jean Oudart is credited with first using cork to stopper the bottles. Before this wads of oil soaked cloth were used. Champagne would continue to be refined, with great emphasis given to removing the yeast and clarifying the finished wine. It was the Veuve Cliquot and her Cellar Master that refined the remuage process, so adding the last piece to the Champagne puzzle.

Port, as I have mentioned, was at first just dry red table wine from Portugal, which owed its popularity to political expediencies. At first, the wines from Portugal were not received well in England, and although illegal, Claret from Bordeaux was still smuggled in, much of it labeled as Portuguese wine. In 1678 two English wine merchants were entertained by the Abbot of the Monastery of Lamego near the Douro River. The abbot served the gentleman a wine called Pinha~to. The wine was slightly sweet, and the merchants were intrigued. The abbot explained that in the Spanish style (of Sherry) he had added some brandy to the wine before it had finished its fermentation, therefore leaving some residual sugar. The merchants bought the wine and added more brandy to preserve it for its trip back to England. The wine was a huge success and the technique of fortifying the wines of the River Douro was born.

The wines of Germany, although already based on the Riesling grape, were not made in the levels of sweetness that they are today. Schloss Johannisberg 'accidentally' made the first late harvest 'Spatlese' in 1775, the same year they began to regularly bottle their wines. It is said that this fortunate accident is because of a messenger who was robbed on the way to bring the official start picking order to Schloss Johannisberg. When he arrived the grapes were rotten, and were given to the peasants. The peasants made a great wine, and the rest is history. Sauternes and Ch. d'Yquem specifically relate a similar story of their 'discovery' of making sweet wines from botrytis (noble rot) affected grapes. Even the wines of Bordeaux have undergone changes. Once the English lifted the ban on French wines, Bordeaux was again in favor. The English had by now gotten used to the brandied wines of Portugal and their palates were not ready for the more elegant Bordeaux wines. Even the top wines of the best Chateau were 'sophisticated' for the English market by the addition of coarse wines from Cahors or Hermitage, and just as often, brandy was added. By the mid 1800s the English had returned to 'pure' Bordeaux. Just in time for the twin plagues of oidium and phylloxera.

As Europeans explored what to them were new lands, they brought the vine with them. The Conquistadors brought the vinifera vine to South America, but in an unusual method. They planted the seeds from the raisins they carried. Missionaries carried the more traditional cuttings, and spread north with the vine. The famed mission system in California that founded so many current cities also was responsible for the spread of the wine grape. These early missionaries planted a grape that bears their name, the Mission grape. The Mission has been proven to be related to the Pais of Chile and the Criolla of Argentina, and so may be the descendent of those first vines planted from the seeds of raisins.

Much has been made of Agoston Haraszthy's contribution to vinifera in California. Haraszthy was positively a colorful figure, the type that history remembers, but vinifera in California predates his involvement.

Haraszthy, who is often given the dubious title of Count, was an exile from Hungary who had a passion for, among other things, raising grapes. Before arriving in California, Haraszthy first tried his hand in Wisconsin, founding the town of Haraszthy, which would later become Sauk City. In 1856, after 8 years of various endeavors in California, Haraszthy bought a thriving vineyard in Sonoma, built a big house, and called it Buena Vista. The current Buena Vista winery is still on this sight, although it shares the original grounds with Hacienda Winery.

In 1861 Haraszthy was appointed by the Governor of California to travel to Europe to bring back vines. Haraszthy brought back 300 varieties of grapes, some 100,000 vines all together. Unfortunately for Haraszthy, he was never paid for either his trip, or the vines. In 1866, after years of up and down fortunes in California, Haraszthy left for Nicaragua, where legend has it in 1869 he slipped off a log while crossing a stream, and was eaten by alligators.

The 19th century saw some major changes in the worldwide wine industry.

The first was more the form of an ideological shakeup, and it was owed to the research of Louis Pasteur. Pasteur discovered that fermentation was the product of microorganisms, and that the lack of fermentation was because of the lack of these organisms. This was earth shattering for the scientific community, but at best, mildly interesting to most winemakers. Eventually, the use of specific yeast to get specific results would come out of this research, but for the most part it has not even changed the way most wine is made today.

Pasteur did bring winemaking into the modern age, by showing that it lent itself to experimentation, and that the traditional ways, although not always bad, were not always good. This event presaged the technical revolution in winemaking, that is going on today.

The second event was to hit the winemakers, where they lived, in the vineyards. Oidium is a fungus, more commonly called Powdery Mildew. This fungus attacks the green parts of vines, turning them black and wilting them. It spreads quickly, and in the mid 1800s, strike it did!

The vineyards of Europe were nearly devastated by the disease and it was found that dusting with sulfur was the best prevention. Many plant varieties were attacked, and as they were replaced in the vineyards, only the essential grapes found themselves replanted. The few odds and ends that survived Oidium would not be so lucky when Phylloxera came.

Still reeling from the economic disaster of Powdery Mildew, the vineyard owners of Europe would never believe that something worse was just over the horizon.

Phylloxera is a little yellow-green aphid, no more than 1/25 of an inch long. It hailed from the wilds of America, where it was content to munch on the native grape vines in peace. This little critter was a monster just waiting to be released.

In 1860 a few of these bugs hitched a ride to Europe on the roots of American vines that were being shipped for study. While the American vines were naturally resistant to most of the damage of the Phylloxera bug, the vinifera vines of Europe were not.

The Phylloxera spread throughout Europe, living off the roots of the vines, and eventually killing their hosts. In 1868 Phylloxera was finally identified, but by now is was a full-blown plague. By the time it was realized that the American vines were resistant, and therefore were the cure for Phylloxera, it was nearly too late.

Still underpopulated from Oidium, the vineyards of Europe were now nearly bare. French winemakers, trying to stay a step ahead of Phylloxera, had fled to Spain, and even the New World, taking their fine winemaking skills with them.

The varietal selection process, started after the Oidium outbreak, grew even more rigorous. Vineyards and regions were matched to the grapes that had performed best. The techniques of winemaking had been spread worldwide, and the quality of wine had improved globally.

For generations the rootstocks that were forced on the Europeans were looked at with distrust, and blamed for the lack of longevity in the wines. Now, with 100 years to look back, it is certain that it was the youth of the vines that were to blame for the lighter wines, as much as the rootstocks.

In 1855 the wines of Bordeaux were classified in a hierarchy that related mostly to price. The merchants of Bordeaux wanted to be able to point to a wine's price, and justify it against a set standard of excellence. Pomerol was left out of this classification, because at the time there was no bridge over the rivers, and Pomerol was considered to be in the wilds. Many have pointed to the competition that arose in the unclassified wines of Pomerol, and said the wines tend to be of a better average quality because of it. Many also feel that the 1855 Classification is hopelessly out of date.

While Bordeaux could rate their own wines, and generally govern themselves, many other regions were less clear about what made up quality. Indeed, the practice of adding sugar and water to grape pommace, allowing it to ferment, and then selling it as wine, had become common. In 1905 the French government passed the first anti-fraud law, that would be the cornerstone for the Appellation d'Origine Controlee (AOC) laws.

For 30 years various laws would be passed, each stricter than the other. In 1935 the current laws were passed, and to oversee these laws the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO) created. The INAO ensures that the proper grapes are grown, and the correct yields stuck to, as well as nearly every aspect of winemaking for each French region.

In 1963 the Italians created their own system, Denominazioni di Origine Controllata (DOC), based loosely on the AOC laws of France. Germany, while having strict laws, does not have a single ruling body. Spain has an evolving system that primarily went into effect in 1975.

The United States has (some would say, arbitrary) laws set forth by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). These laws are more concerned with label content, and how the wine complies with the label. While place names (appellations) are awarded by the ATF, there are no controls on the grapes used in each appellation.

The wine industry in the United States flourished throughout the 19th century, despite raging wars between California and the East. It was common practice for these opponents to relabel each other's wines. The worst wines were given labels to blame the wine on the other guy, and the best were labeled to take credit. The US government stepped in, and started to regulate the labeling practices. In 1864 the first tariffs on French wines were passed, to help the domestic wineries. Wine production was still primarily an Eastern venture, until the late 19th century.

The question of sugar was paramount to the wine makers of the East. They wanted to be able to chaptalize their wines, just as it is done in other cool regions around the world. California, with its warmer climes, was opposed. California passed a no sugar law in 1887, although in 1894 the Feds allowed sugar to be used in other regions, on a limited basis.

Starting in 1820 there was a growing movement to outlaw alcohol. Over the next 100 years, these 'Drys' as they were called, were to have a huge effect. In 1880, Kansas became the first dry state. Textbooks, and even literature, had the mention of wine and alcohol removed from them, nationwide. The Bible, with its many mentions of wine, was a problem, so a campaign was started to convince people that the wine of the Bible was nothing more than grape juice.

In the 1860s, phylloxera hit California, and there was a huge struggle to keep the vineyards from being wiped out. The struggle only ended, when, as in Europe, native American grapevine roots were grafted onto the vinifera vines. The California wine industry continued to improve, and by the time of the 1900 Paris Expo, the Californians were dominating the quality wine market in the US.

The Paris Expo was a boon for California; wineries such as Beringer and Gundlach-Bundschu had proved to be the equal of the Europeans. The Eastern wineries too, had won medals. Little did they know that this international recognition would be short lived, and not until 1976 were they again to be so honored.

In 1920 the Volstead Act and the 18th Amendment, outlawed wine and all alcohol in the United States. Or did it? A small loophole was found in the act, one that was meant to appease the Virginia apple farmers, so that they could continue to make cider. It allowed people to make "nonintoxicating cider and fruit juices exclusively for the use in the home," and not just a little either, 200 gallons a year! The grape growers, who had started to rip out their vineyards, saw a light at the end of the tunnel, and they began to sell 'juice grapes' like wild fire. The traditional vinifera grapes they were using to make wine were not as ideal for this market, and so Alicante Bouchet was grafted onto the old vines, and the huge plantings of old vine viniferas were lost.

The California grape growers enjoyed a huge boom, for 5 years. Because of the lack of refrigerated railway cars, the grapes were hard to get to the East, and the demand was high. Prices soared. In 1925 the railways started pumping out new refrigerated cars, and a grape glut crashed the market. The grape growers in California would have a regular surplus until 1971.

Making your own, was not the only way to get wine. Medicinal 'wine tonics' were available without a prescription, and it was soon discovered that if refrigerated, the medicinal herbs would drop to the bottom leaving a palatable wine in the rest of the bottle.

By far the most popular way to obtain wine was as a religious sacrament. Since the Jewish faith called for the use of wine at home, Rabbis were allowed to buy wine for their congregations. Suddenly, everyone was a Rabbi, and the lists of congregations were often little more than a copy of the phone book, and Synagogues sprung up in extra bedrooms.

As prohibition grew to a close, 3.2 beer was created. It was allowed because it was considered nonintoxicating. Wine was to have been allowed to 11%, but it to ended up with a 3.2% limit. Fortunately, prohibition was repealed, in 1933, before too many of these 3.2 wines were made.

After World War II, new forms of neo-prohibition began to take hold. Fortified wines were seen as the downfall of the poor alcoholics that increasingly lived in the streets. New taxes were added to these wines, in an effort to price them out of the market. The liquor lobbies saw this as a way to remove the tax advantages of wine and pressed for the added levies. Threatened, the wine lobbies were able to persuade Congress to remove the dubious term "Fortified" from all wine labels and advertising, in 1954.

With a newfound love for fine wine, the returning GIs helped to restart the wine boom in California. Confident of the improvements made since prohibition, California wineries began to run blind tastings against their European rivals. Much to everyone's surprise, California held its own, especially in red wines. Although wine was still being produced throughout the United States, it was California's exclusive use of vinifera grapes that allowed to it compete directly with the Europeans. In 1957 that changed.

Dr. Konstantin Frank, a Russian born German, planted Riesling and Chardonnay in the Finger Lakes region of New York. While to this day, New York has never been able to out produce California, either in quality nor quantity, it was quickly considered the number two player in the US wine game.

The increasing sophistication of those same GIs began to radically change the way America thought of wine. No longer just a passion of the wealthy, the middle class found themselves attending wine tastings and starting collections of their own. The stage was set for the wine explosion of the 60s.

The mid 1960s represented the beginnings of the modern premium wine movement in California. The bulk dessert wines that had exemplified the industry since the repeal of prohibition gave way to table wines. Vineyards were planted in areas heretofore ignored, in grape varieties that had been all but forgotten. Technology and modernization became apparent in every aspect of winemaking. The premium wine boom was on.

In 1968 for the first time, sales of table wines surpass that of dessert wines. The premium wine industry begins to predict a rosy future. So obvious is this new trend in wine sales that it begins to attract investors into the wine business that would have never considered it just a few years before. Large corporations such as Coca-Cola, Heublien and Seagrams and individuals like Doctors, Airline Pilots and Ad Executives decided that their economic futures lay in the sunny vineyards of California.

New plantings of the noble wine grapes took off at an astounding rate. In 1960 a mere 700 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon could be found, within 20 years that number would escalate to over 22,000 acres. New districts for growing grapes were sought, as the increasing population encroaches on the traditional vineyard areas. Lake County, with a mere 300 acres of vineyards found itself with 3000 acres by the 1980s. San Louis Obispo had over 5000 new acres planted between 1977 and 1987.

The new mechanical harvesters roamed the vineyards, allowing the grapes to be brought into the crush in a more timely and less damaged state. Gone are the old cellars in the ground for storing and making wine. New insulated above ground facilities began to spring up, and inside shiny new refrigerated stainless steel fermenters promised more control for the winemakers. Advances in the vineyards themselves took the form of experimental trellising and in 1971 Dr. Olmo's hybrid grape varieties joined new techniques of irrigation to bring the hope of better wine from California's scorching interior valley.

The early 1970s saw "Pop" wines storm the market. These fruit flavored, lightly sparkling wines accounted for 10% of all wine sales. The writing was on the wall however and the white wine boom lurked over the horizon. Foreseeing the trend, grape growers began to graph white wine varieties over their red wine stock and even experimented with making white wines from red wine varieties. In 1974 there were a total 146,000 acres planted in red wine varieties, as opposed to 84,000 in white. By 1984 there was a dramatic increase in white wine varieties as the acreage reached 198,000. Red wine varieties hardly kept up with only 165,000 acres total.

By the mid to late 1970s "Pop" wines had run their course and those white wines made from red wine grapes begin their move. Zinfandel (still the most widely planted red wine variety in 1990s, with a current 27,000 acres planted) found itself being pressed lightly so that little of the skin color ran into the juice. White Zinfandel is born and by the mid to late 1980s was the best selling varietal wine.

The Thompson Seedless variety of grape, so useful in table grapes and raisins found itself being edged out as a white wine variety (it made up the base for the "Pop" wines and much bulk wine) by French Colombard. In 1973 there were 24,000 acres of French Colombard in the ground, and by 1983 that number rose to 74,000 acres. The popularity of French Colombard can be easily attributed to its crisp acid balance, making it ideal as a blending base for bulk wines and the successor of "Pop" wine, Wine Coolers.

Quality became the watchword and vintners throughout the state began to reassess their winemaking and marketing techniques. In the early 1970s vintage labeling became popular, fueled in part by legislation in California that allowed wines to be taxed only in their first year. This permitted winemakers to hold their wines for several years without extra taxation, and experimentation with oak barrels and aging became common. Simultaneously, consumer awareness was on the rise and many wineries begin to add back labels to their wines outlining a remarkable amount of technical information.

Vineyards themselves were mentioned on the labels as more varietals were matched to soil and microclimate. 100% varietal wines became the norm, a trend that came full circle by the late 1980s when blended wines such as Meritage (Bordeaux style blends) emerged. Monterey, which underwent a planting boom in the 1970s, topped off in 1978 at 34,000 acres. By 1985 there were only be 30,000 acres in Monterey, due primarily to efforts to match proper grape varieties with soil and microclimates in search of greater quality wines. The federal government understanding the need for legal place names created the American Viticultural Area (AVA) program in the early 1980s. These AVA designations recognized specific areas as being unique. The Chalone bench and Livermore Valley became AVAs, as well as Alexander Valley, Stag's Leap and scores of others.

In 1979 the California legislature reduces the legal minimum alcohol content in wines from 10.5% in reds and 10% in whites to 7%. This allowed winemakers to concentrate on making lighter styled wines; often more suited to the grape variety as well as the American tastes. By the early 1980s gone are the huge oaky Chardonnays that wine writer Frank Prial said, "are so massive that a second bottle would be unthinkable, and are to fat to sit comfortably on a dinner table". Instead, fresh crisp Chardonnays became the trend and frequently winemakers discovered the delights of such varieties as Chenin Blanc (with 40,000 acres, it is still more widespread than Chardonnay).

The late 1980s saw an emergence of health consciousness in the United States that manifested itself on the wine industry as health warnings printed on wine labels. The dubious sulfite warning came first, only to be followed by the more serious and unproven fetal health warnings. The real dangers of driving and drinking became more apparent and warnings also appeared on wine labels.

The 1990s were ushered in by a trend of producing Rhone style wines, another extension of matching grape varieties to soil and climate. Many wine varieties that produced huge inky (when red) wines of the 1970s are being scaled down to fruity, lighter styles. The fresh fruit flavors common to wine made via Carbonic Maceration found their way into Merlot, Pinot Noir and even Cabernet Sauvignon. Great long lived red wines were still available but are joining the price range of their European counterparts, making the ready to drink lighter wines so much more appealing to the average consumer.

That louse phylloxera made the news once again recently, as grape growers admitted to a long time infestation. The great cost of replanting threatens the economic base of the California wine industry, and promises great shake-ups yet to come. The irony of the return of this pest is that it could easily have been avoided. Over a hundred years earlier, it was the introduction of American rootstocks that saved Europe, and while the California vines are grafted onto such rootstock, it turns out to be the wrong one. Lured by the potential of high yields, the rootstock that is most often chosen is not, and never was, resistant to phylloxera.

The philosopher G.W.F. Hegel had something to say to say about this, over 200 years ago. "What experience and history teach us is this - that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it."