Viticulture in ancient Egypt dates back to 3200 B C. During this era Egypt’s rulers enjoyed the fruit, and occasionally, also the wine.
The Delta of the Nile River contains the best vineyards, but there were outstanding sites in Fayum and Memphis too.
An Egyptian writer of the time advised people to drink in moderation, and warned of the evils of excessive alcohol consumption.
The writer Athenaeus from Naucratis in Egypt tells us about Egyptian gastronomy, and informs readers about the town of Marea, on Lake Mareotis, famous for its eponymous mareotic wine.
Virgil (70 – 19 B C), the Roman poet, claimed Mareotis wine to be light, and Strabo (63 B C 23 A D ) Roman historian, geographer, and philosopher, adds that all had a long shelf life.
Taenotic wine from the southwest of Alexandria was quite pleasant, but mildly astringent, tells writer Athenaeus and claims that the best originated in Antylla close to the city of Alexandria, which has in antiquity the largest and best selection of books.
Egyptians knew then that the best wine grapes came from hillside vineyards that had to be irrigated to compensate for the excessive sunshine, heat and lack of rain.
Vines were trained on trellises, or on pergola-style contraptions or tended as bush on flatlands.
Shortly before harvest tie children and adults watched over vineyards and tried to prevent hungry birds from devouring luscious grapes.
Grapes were harvested without the help of scissors, and placed into baskets, then carried to press houses where they were trodden in shallow square throughs equipped with a sluice. Eventually, the pulp was pressed in a rudimentary “cloth balloon” by twisting one end while the other was fixed to a pole.
There is no proof that “press wine” was mixed with “free run” juice. After fermentation, the wine was run into earthenware vessels (amphorae). A small hole on the seal; allowed carbon dioxide from secondary fermentation to escape. Once the amphora was sealed, it was “labelled” with vintage, grape variety, the name of the winery and winemaker. A note carried suggestion(s) for food matches. Most wines originates, according to labels excavated by archaeologists from estates in the Nil Delta. The royal family or temples owned these estates, but the nobility also owned vineyards. Some wines were sweet, others dry and rough, according to records unearthed.
There are also indications that some wines were blended by servers before banquets started; others were blended before running them into amphorae.
You can well imagine how advanced the Egyptians were more than 3400 years ago.
Ancient winemaking basics have not changed much; but changes are now continuously taking place though modern equipment and advanced scientific approaches.

Never miss a post! subscribe via RSS or subscribe via e-mail.   Post writer – Hrayr Berberoglu – E-mail – Read his books?

Did you Enjoy This Post? Share it with others!

Tags: ANCIENT, EGYPT, VITIVINICULTURE

This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 06:00 and is filed under Food & Wine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.