Details

Written by: Giuseppe Zeppa

Summary in Italian

Nel Mondo vi è un elevato numero di bevande ottenute dalla fermentazione alcolica di liquidi zuccherini quali succhi vegetali, miele, latte ecc., ma le più importanti per diffusione e quantità prodotte sono senza dubbio il vino, la birra ed il sidro. Lo scopo di questo breve articolo è quello di riassumere la storia e la tecnologia produttiva di una di queste bevande, ottenuta dalla fermentazione dell'uva, il vino. Conosciuto già dagli Egizi, il vino ha accompagnato con alterne vicende l'uomo in tutta la sua storia, divenendo nella cultura cristiana simbolo, con il pane, dell'unione stessa con Dio. Prodotto in quasi tutto il modo anche in virtù dell'ampio areale di coltivazione dell'uva, il vino si presenta al consumatore in varie tipologie (rosso, bianco, rosato, dolce, secco, spumante ecc.) volte ad interpretare al meglio le caratteristiche della materia prima ed a soddisfare le esigenze del consumatore stesso. Alla base di queste diverse tipologie di prodotti vi sono altrettante tecnologie venutesi a definire nei secoli ed i cui aspetti fondamentali vengono descritti in queste pagine con la speranza di stimolare il lettore ad approfondirne lo studio sui numerosi testi specialistici attualmente disponibili.

Introduction

There is a wide range of alcoholic beverages obtained by the fermentation of sweet liquids (vegetable juices, honey, milk) but the most important are wine, beer and cider. Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of the juice of fruits, usually grapes, although other fruits such as plum, banana, elderberry or blackcurrant may also be fermented and used to obtain products named "wine". In this short article the word "wine" refers to the product obtained from grapes. This product is probably the most ancient fermented beverage and was mentioned in the Bible and in other documents from Asiatic peoples. Exactly where wine was first made is still unclear. It could have been anywhere in the vast region, stretching from Portugal to Central Asia, where wild grapes grow. However, the first large-scale production of
wine must have been where grapes were first domesticated, Southern Caucasus and the Near East. In Egypt, wine played an important role in ancient ceremonies and winemaking scenes are represented on tomb walls. Outside Egypt much of the ancient Middle Eastern peoples preferred beer as a daily drink rather than wine. However, wine was well-know especially near the Mediterranean coast and was used in the rituals of the Jewish people. The Greeks introduced wine to Europe and spread the art of grape-growing and winemaking across the Mediterranean hence modern wine culture probably  derives from the ancient Greeks. Wine

was known to both the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures and referred to as "Juice of the Gods". Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and wine was frequently mentioned in Homer's and Aesop's operas. Many of the grapes grown in Greece are grown nowhere else and are similar or identical to varieties grown in ancient times. Greek wine was widely known and exported throughout the Mediterranean basin, and amphorae for Greek wines have been found extensively in this area.

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