History
The history of viticulture is closely related to the history of wine with evidence of man cultivating wild grapes to make wine dating as far back as the Neolithic period. There is evidence that some of the earliest domestication of Vitis vinifera occurred in the area of the modern day country Georgia. There is also evidence of grape domestication occurring Near East in the Early Bronze Age around 3200 BC.
The earliest act of cultivation appears to have been the favoring of Hermaphroditic members of the Vitis vinifera species over the barren male vines and the female vines which were dependent on having a nearby male to pollinate. With the ability to pollinate itself, over time the hermaphroditic vines were able to sire offspring that was consistently hermaphroditic itself.
At the end of the 5th century BC, the Greek historian Thucydides wrote:
| “ | The people of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learnt to cultivate the olive and the vine. | ” |
The time period that Thucydides was most likely referencing was the time between 3000 BC and 2000 BC when viticulture emerged in force in the areas of Asia Minor, Greece and the Cyclades of the Aegean Sea. It was during this period that grape cultivation moved from being just an aspect of local consumption to an important component of local economies and trade.
Read more about this topic: Viticulture
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