Although details are understandably sketchy, it is
believed that, around 6000 BC, grapes were being grown and wine was
being made in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq).
Mesopotamia and Egypt Wine was popular with
the pharaohs of ancient Egypt from about 3000 BC onwards. Inscriptions
and illustrations of grape harvesting and wine making have been found
in a number of tombs.
Many temples had vineyards attached to them and it
is thought that wine was used for religious ritual purposes. However,
as is still true today, the majority of Egyptian wine was produced in
the Nile delta area.
Wine was stored in clay jars, as wooden barrels
were unknown to the ancient Egyptians.
Greece The exact date that winemaking
started in Greece is unknown. However, the remains of a stone wine
press, dating from around 1600BC, have been found at a villa in Crete.