The Mediterranean Trade

By Liam Greatbatch

Introduction

• The Mediterranean area has been the hub of winemaking for more than 6000 years.

• Areas of Georgia and the Caucasus being the earliest evidence of nomadic peoples ‘discovering’ wine.

• This area of the middle east is where the grape vine grows wild.

The Phoenician Wine Trade

• Historians believe after discovery of wine, cultures in around the Mediterranean started to see its value as a trade commodity.

• Phoenicians (1550BC – 500BC) developed a maritime trading culture that engulfed the Mediterranean coasts; Through trade they brought knowledge of viticulture and winemaking.

• Had influence on many places at the time to introduce or encourage viticulture, including Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, Algeria, Lebanon and Tunisia.

The Phoenician Wine Legacy

• This extensive trading of wine led to the winemaking knowledge beginning to settle in the new homelands of Phoenician families, such as Cyprus, Malta and Carthage.

• Vineyards were planted to supply the local wine market and limit the cost of long distance trading.

• The knowledge became as valuable an export as the wine itself.Phoenicians were capable of planning vineyards according to favourable climate and topography.

• They also spread the use of stackable amphorae (often known as the "cananite jar") for the transport and storage of wine.

• Respected by Greeks and Egyptians alike, contemporary writers deemed them as skilled viticulturists and winemakers.

Fig. 1: This map displays how successful peaceful sea trade can be, and how wine knowledge covered large distances by the Phoenicians throughout the Mediterranean.

The Spread of Knowledge

• Ancient Egyptians expand knowledge of viticulture and winemaking.

• They developed methods of pruning and an early grape press.

• The Nile Delta also proved a successful wine trading route from inner Egypt to important trading centres in the Mediterranean like Crete.

• The spread of knowledge from

Egypt to Greece would have

occurred via this trading route.

The Spread of Knowledge

• Once ancient Greece had acquired the tools for viticulture and winemaking, ideas were spread throughout its region.

• Islands such as Chios, Lesbos, Rhodes and Thasos saw a viticulture boom, and even gained a respected winemaking reputation.

• Chios in particular, coined the “Bordeaux” of the ancient world, exported wine to distant lands, such as Egypt and modern-day Russia.

Changes in Societies

• The rise in the Mycenaean culture saw wine taking on a more cultural, religious and economical purpose.

• The Famous “Linear B” tablet talks of an early ‘Dionysus’ wine god, also wine merchants and vineyards.

• The Greeks developed the cult of Dionysus, and had a group dedicated to wine, having wine-induced celebrations.

• All these changes drove wine trading, as it was sought after by cults, royalty and doctors alike.

Conquest, Colonisation and Exploration• Through Greek conquest of territories, areas of southern Italy,

Sicily and southern France (Rhône Valley) see viticulture expansion.

• Southern Italy coined the status of Oinotria, or “wine land” by the Greeks and the Roman arrival enhances viticulture in these areas.

• Romans turned viticulture into a fully developed branch of trade managed according to economic criteria

Fig. 2. The Mediterranean during Greece’s archaic era. In par with Phoenician trading routes, and the soon to be Roman empire, viticulture and winemaking spreads like a plague.

Key Ports

• The Phocaean Greeks founded the port city of Marsallia(Modern day Marseille, see Fig.2), a port that provided inner France with winemaking knowledge.

• The great port of Pompeii is proof that the trade of wine brought prosperity, even having a reputation for ‘quality’ wine.

• It became a wealthy city, that included both a theatre and amphitheatre. Pompeii was known for exporting to far-off Bordeaux.

Roman Significance

• By the end of the Roman Empire in the west;

• the Wachau

• Mosel

• Rheingau

• Pfalz

• Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône Valley

• and La Rioja regions had become the centres of the wine industry, as they are still today.

The End of an Era

• The disintegration of the Roman Empire had a profound effect on wine trade.

• Spain saw viticulture reduced significantly due to the Arab conquest, and the enforcement of Islam.

• For Italy, wine went from a large economic and social role, to being purely subsistence farming activity for people in rural areas.

The Wine Renaissance

• The collapse of the Arab rule in Spain, and the end of the English rule in Bordeaux led to an opportunity in trade once again.

• The rise in Christian France saw regions of Burgundy and Bordeaux see an influx in wine production and trade.

• Monks and Monasteries keep the wine trade alive during the dark ages, by having large vineyards, using wine for religious purposes and selling wine in order to obtain more income for the monastery.

Conclusion

• The Phoenicians, the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and the Church all played important roles in the Mediterranean wine trade.

• The wine industry is very ancient, and the way it has survived to be the way it is today is a testament to its greatness.

• The legacy of the Romans has left us with the successful, and much sought after, regions of Bordeaux and Rioja etc, something that the drive of trade caused significantly.

References

• Amerine, M., Singleton, V. (1977). Wine. History of the Grape and Wine Industry. University of California, Davis. University of California Press, ltd. London, England. Pg. 9 – 25.

• Dominé, A. (2000). Wine. The Mediterranean Countries. KönemannVerlagsgesellschaft mbH. Bonner Strasse 126, Cologne. Pg. 722.

• Duchêne, R., Contrucci., J. (1998). Marseille and its history. Fayard, France. Pg. 42.

• Foulkes, C. (2004). Larousse Encyclopedia of Wine. The History of Wine. Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd, London. Pg. 21 – 26.

• Johnson, H. (1989). Vintage: The Story of Wine. Simon and Schuster. Pg. 18–43, 61–86 & 106.

• Robinson, J. (2006). The Oxford Companion to Wine (3rd ed.) Oxford University Press. Pg. 141, 520 & 714.

• Seward, D. (1979). Monks and Wine. The Wines of Other Orders. Mitchell Beazley Publishers Ltd. London. Pg. 111.

• Stevenson, T. (2005). The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. Pg. 318.

Pictures/maps References

• In respect to slide order:

• http://kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/481/files/import/i-993ddde4aa7041ca7443d1ba341f86ac-amphoras-kids.jpg

• http://www.treesdirect.co.uk/uploads/shop/prod/33_04.jpg

• http://www.massaya.com/MassayaNewsletter/Library/Images/map-greece-colonies.gif

• http://www.christusrex.org/www1/vaticano/ET2d1-Hydria.jpg

• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Greek_Colonization.png

• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Eberbach_wine_cellar.jpg/250px-Eberbach_wine_cellar.jpg