Phoenicians and wine
Encyclopedia
The Phoenicians were one of the first ancient cultures to have had a significant effect on the history of wine. The Phoenicians were an ancient civilization centered in the northern reaches of Canaan
along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
, in what is now modern day Lebanon
. Between the years 1550 BC and 300 BC the Phoenicians developed a maritime trading culture
that expanded their influence from the Levant
to North Africa
, Greek Isles, Sicily
, and the Iberian peninsula
. Through contact and trade, they spread not only their alphabet but also their knowledge of viticulture
and winemaking
, including the propagation of several ancestor varieties of the Vitis vinifera
family of wine grapes. The Phoenicians either introduced or encouraged the spread of viticulture and winemaking knowledge to several countries that today continue to produce wine fit for the international wine market. These include modern day Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Though the Phoenicians may have had an indirect effect on the spread of viticulture in France, they are often incorrectly confused with the Greek Phoceans who founded the winemaking colony of Massilia in 600 BC and took winemaking deeper into inland France.
The Phoenicians, and their Punic descendants of Carthage
, had direct influence on the growing winemaking cultures of the ancient Greeks and Romans that would later spread viticulture across Europe. The agricultural treatises of the Carthaginian writer Mago
was one of the most important early texts in the history of wine
to record ancient knowledge of winemaking and viticulture. While no original copies of Mago's or other Phoencian wine writers' works have survived there is evidence from quotations of Greek and Roman writers such as Columella
that the Phoenicians were skilled winemakers and viticulturists. The Phoenicians were capable of planning vineyards according to favorable climate
and topography
, such as which side of a slope was most ideal for grape growing, and producing a wide range of different wine styles ranging from straw wines made from dried grapes to an early example of the modern Greek wine Retsina
, made with pine resin
as an ingredient. The Phoenicians also spread the use of amphorae (often known as the "Canaanite jar") for the transport and storage of wine
.
itself, the alcohol
ic product of fermented grape juice, that cultures realized its value as a trade commodity. While wild grapes of the Vitis
family could be found throughout the known world and all could be fermented, it took some degree of knowledge and skill to know exactly how to turn these grapes into something palatable to drink. This knowledge was passed along the trading routes that emerged from the Caucasus
and Zagros Mountains
down through Mesopotamia
and to the Mediterranean and eventually received by the Phoenicians in Canaan. Specific sub-varieties of grape vines in the Vitis vinifera family were also identified as favorable for wine-making and were propagated via these trade routes.
In addition to being a valuable trade commodity for personal consumption, wine also began to take on religious and cultural significance. Wine, or Cherem as the Phoenicians called it, was associated with various Levantine deities
-most notably El. Wine was considered an acceptable offering
to both gods and kings which increased its trade value in the ancient world. Around 1000 BC, the Mediterranean wine trade exploded with the Phoenicians and their extensive maritime trade network a prime beneficiary of the increase demand. The Phoenicians not only traded in wine produced in Canaan but also developed markets for wine produced in colonies and port cities along the Mediterranean.
, Tyre and Sidon
, the Phoenicians began to expand their trade influence to their neighbors. They were one of the first people to bring wine to Egypt. From there they expanded from beyond mere trading to establishing colonies of trading cities throughout the Mediterranean. They continued along the African coast and eventually founded Carthage in 814 BC. From North Africa they expanded to the Balearic Islands
and Iberian peninsula where they founded the city of Cadiz
sometime in the 9th century (though a small outpost may have been established even earlier).
On the Iberian peninsula, the Phoenicians travelled further inland establishing trading routes along the Tagus
, Douro
, Baetis (Guadalquivir
) and Iberus (Ebro
) rivers. While it is clear that the Phoenician colonies along the coast had planted vineyards, and the Phoenicians likely traded wine with the tribes along the rivers inland, it is not yet certain how far the Phoenicians took winemaking inland on the Iberian peninsula. In Portugal, the Phoenicians were known to trade amphorae of wine for local silver
and tin
. A recent discovery in the modern day winemaking region of Valdepeñas
, in the south central part of what is now Spain, suggest that perhaps the Phoenicians did take viticulture further inland. Excavation in Valdepeñas revealed the remnants of the ancient Iberian town of Cerro de las Cabezas which was founded sometime in the 7th century BC. Among the remnants were several examples of Phoenician ceramics, pottery and artifacts including winemaking equipment.
Beyond the Phoenicians' own expansion and colonization, the civilization did much to influence the Greek and Roman civilization to pursue their own campaigns of expansion. Dealing directly with the Greeks, the Phoenicians taught them not only their knowledge of winemaking and viticulture but also shipbuilding technologies that encouraged the Greeks to expand beyond the Aegean Sea
. The wines of Phoencia had such an enduring presence in the Greek and Roman world that the phrase Bybline (relating to the Phoenician town of Byblos
) became a byword to denote wine of high quality.
regions. The Phoenicians would spread this strain of Vitis vinifera pontica across the Mediterranean—most notably in its Iberian colonies. Today ampelographers theorize that this vine is the ancestor of many of today's most widely planted white grape varieties. According to research from the University of California-Davis, the French wine
grape Mourvedre
may have been first introduced to Barcelona
, in the modern day Spanish wine region of Catalonia, by the Phoenicians in 500 BC.
, was the Phoenicians' most successful colony and survived in its punic form until its destruction in 146 BC by Roman
forces at the end of the Punic Wars
. The colony shared an indelible association with wine and was described in the 4th century as having countrysides full of grapevines and olives. Carthaginian wine produced from the Bagradas river valley was particularly popular.
The city of Carthage also served as a center of knowledge, hallmarked by the work of the Punic writer Mago
. During his lifetime, Mago consolidated the agricultural and viticultural knowledge of the 3rd and 2nd century Mediterranean world into a 28 volume set. The writings detailed advance knowledge of the influence of topography on vineyard production, with Mago recommending things such as the north slope of a hill being planted in order to shield the vines from receiving too much of the hot North African sun. The work also detailed winemaking practices, including early examples of "raisin wine" being made from dried grapes. The importance of Mago's work was even recognized by the Romans, Carthage's rival. Not only did the Roman senate
issue an decree stating that Mago's work should be translated into Latin, his 28 volumes was one of the few works saved from the Carthage library when the Romans destroyed the city in 146 BC.
Today there are no surviving remnants of Mago's work or its Latin translation. What is known comes through quotations of the work by Greek and Roman authors, most notably the Roman writer Columella.
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, in what is now modern day Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Between the years 1550 BC and 300 BC the Phoenicians developed a maritime trading culture
Thalassocracy
The term thalassocracy refers to a state with primarily maritime realms—an empire at sea, such as Athens or the Phoenician network of merchant cities...
that expanded their influence from the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
to North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, Greek Isles, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, and the Iberian peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. Through contact and trade, they spread not only their alphabet but also their knowledge of viticulture
Viticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
and winemaking
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
, including the propagation of several ancestor varieties of the Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran....
family of wine grapes. The Phoenicians either introduced or encouraged the spread of viticulture and winemaking knowledge to several countries that today continue to produce wine fit for the international wine market. These include modern day Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Though the Phoenicians may have had an indirect effect on the spread of viticulture in France, they are often incorrectly confused with the Greek Phoceans who founded the winemaking colony of Massilia in 600 BC and took winemaking deeper into inland France.
The Phoenicians, and their Punic descendants of Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
, had direct influence on the growing winemaking cultures of the ancient Greeks and Romans that would later spread viticulture across Europe. The agricultural treatises of the Carthaginian writer Mago
Mago (agricultural writer)
Mago was a Carthaginian writer, author of an agricultural manual in Punic which was a record of the farming knowledge of Carthage. The Punic text has been lost, but some fragments of Greek and Latin translations survive....
was one of the most important early texts in the history of wine
History of wine
The history of wine spans thousands of years and is closely intertwined with the history of agriculture, cuisine, civilization and humanity itself...
to record ancient knowledge of winemaking and viticulture. While no original copies of Mago's or other Phoencian wine writers' works have survived there is evidence from quotations of Greek and Roman writers such as Columella
Columella
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella is the most important writer on agriculture of the Roman empire. Little is known of his life. He was probably born in Gades , possibly of Roman parents. After a career in the army , he took up farming...
that the Phoenicians were skilled winemakers and viticulturists. The Phoenicians were capable of planning vineyards according to favorable climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
and topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
, such as which side of a slope was most ideal for grape growing, and producing a wide range of different wine styles ranging from straw wines made from dried grapes to an early example of the modern Greek wine Retsina
Retsina
Retsina is a Greek white resinated wine that has been made for at least 2000 years. Its unique flavor is said to have originated from the practice of sealing wine vessels, particularly amphorae, with Aleppo Pine resin in ancient times. Before the invention of impermeable glass bottles, oxygen...
, made with pine resin
Resin
Resin in the most specific use of the term is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees. Resins are valued for their chemical properties and associated uses, such as the production of varnishes, adhesives, and food glazing agents; as an important source of raw materials...
as an ingredient. The Phoenicians also spread the use of amphorae (often known as the "Canaanite jar") for the transport and storage of wine
Storage of wine
Storage is an important consideration for any wine that is being kept for long-term aging. While most wine produced today is meant for near-term consumption , there are certain situations in which it may be set aside for long-term storage...
.
Early history in wine trading
Historians suspect it was not long after the discovery of wineWine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
itself, the alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
ic product of fermented grape juice, that cultures realized its value as a trade commodity. While wild grapes of the Vitis
Vitis
Vitis is a genus of about 60 species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, both for direct consumption of the fruit and for fermentation to produce...
family could be found throughout the known world and all could be fermented, it took some degree of knowledge and skill to know exactly how to turn these grapes into something palatable to drink. This knowledge was passed along the trading routes that emerged from the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
and Zagros Mountains
Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km , from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of...
down through Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
and to the Mediterranean and eventually received by the Phoenicians in Canaan. Specific sub-varieties of grape vines in the Vitis vinifera family were also identified as favorable for wine-making and were propagated via these trade routes.
In addition to being a valuable trade commodity for personal consumption, wine also began to take on religious and cultural significance. Wine, or Cherem as the Phoenicians called it, was associated with various Levantine deities
Canaanite religion
Canaanite religion is the name for the group of Ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age through the first centuries of the Common Era....
-most notably El. Wine was considered an acceptable offering
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship.While sacrifice often implies ritual killing, the term offering can be used for bloodless sacrifices of cereal food or artifacts...
to both gods and kings which increased its trade value in the ancient world. Around 1000 BC, the Mediterranean wine trade exploded with the Phoenicians and their extensive maritime trade network a prime beneficiary of the increase demand. The Phoenicians not only traded in wine produced in Canaan but also developed markets for wine produced in colonies and port cities along the Mediterranean.
Expansion and colonization
From their principal settlements in ByblosByblos
Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
, Tyre and Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
, the Phoenicians began to expand their trade influence to their neighbors. They were one of the first people to bring wine to Egypt. From there they expanded from beyond mere trading to establishing colonies of trading cities throughout the Mediterranean. They continued along the African coast and eventually founded Carthage in 814 BC. From North Africa they expanded to the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
and Iberian peninsula where they founded the city of Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
sometime in the 9th century (though a small outpost may have been established even earlier).
On the Iberian peninsula, the Phoenicians travelled further inland establishing trading routes along the Tagus
Tagus
The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is long, in Spain, along the border between Portugal and Spain and in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. It drains an area of . The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course...
, Douro
Douro
The Douro or Duero is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto...
, Baetis (Guadalquivir
Guadalquivir
The Guadalquivir is the fifth longest river in the Iberian peninsula and the second longest river to be its whole length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is 657 kilometers long and drains an area of about 58,000 square kilometers...
) and Iberus (Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
) rivers. While it is clear that the Phoenician colonies along the coast had planted vineyards, and the Phoenicians likely traded wine with the tribes along the rivers inland, it is not yet certain how far the Phoenicians took winemaking inland on the Iberian peninsula. In Portugal, the Phoenicians were known to trade amphorae of wine for local silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
and tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
. A recent discovery in the modern day winemaking region of Valdepeñas
Valdepeñas (DO)
Valdepeñas is a Spanish Denominación de Origen for wines located in the province of Ciudad Real in the south of Castile-La Mancha...
, in the south central part of what is now Spain, suggest that perhaps the Phoenicians did take viticulture further inland. Excavation in Valdepeñas revealed the remnants of the ancient Iberian town of Cerro de las Cabezas which was founded sometime in the 7th century BC. Among the remnants were several examples of Phoenician ceramics, pottery and artifacts including winemaking equipment.
Beyond the Phoenicians' own expansion and colonization, the civilization did much to influence the Greek and Roman civilization to pursue their own campaigns of expansion. Dealing directly with the Greeks, the Phoenicians taught them not only their knowledge of winemaking and viticulture but also shipbuilding technologies that encouraged the Greeks to expand beyond the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
. The wines of Phoencia had such an enduring presence in the Greek and Roman world that the phrase Bybline (relating to the Phoenician town of Byblos
Byblos
Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
) became a byword to denote wine of high quality.
Spread of grapevines
The most lasting legacy of the Phoenicians' era of expansion was the propagation and spread of ancestral grapevines that ampelographers believe eventually gave birth to several modern grape varieties in Europe. One such sub-variety, known to ampelographers and wine historians as Vitis vinifera pontica, was brought to Phoenicia from the Caucasus and AnatoliaAnatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
regions. The Phoenicians would spread this strain of Vitis vinifera pontica across the Mediterranean—most notably in its Iberian colonies. Today ampelographers theorize that this vine is the ancestor of many of today's most widely planted white grape varieties. According to research from the University of California-Davis, the French wine
French wine
French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France has the world's second-largest total vineyard area, behind Spain, and is in the position of being the world's largest wine producer...
grape Mourvedre
Mourvèdre
Mourvèdre , Mataró or Monastrell is wine grape variety used to make both strong, dark red wines and rosés. It is an international variety grown in many regions around the world....
may have been first introduced to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, in the modern day Spanish wine region of Catalonia, by the Phoenicians in 500 BC.
Carthage
Carthage, in modern day TunisiaTunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, was the Phoenicians' most successful colony and survived in its punic form until its destruction in 146 BC by Roman
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
forces at the end of the Punic Wars
Punic Wars
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 B.C.E. to 146 B.C.E. At the time, they were probably the largest wars that had ever taken place...
. The colony shared an indelible association with wine and was described in the 4th century as having countrysides full of grapevines and olives. Carthaginian wine produced from the Bagradas river valley was particularly popular.
The city of Carthage also served as a center of knowledge, hallmarked by the work of the Punic writer Mago
Mago (agricultural writer)
Mago was a Carthaginian writer, author of an agricultural manual in Punic which was a record of the farming knowledge of Carthage. The Punic text has been lost, but some fragments of Greek and Latin translations survive....
. During his lifetime, Mago consolidated the agricultural and viticultural knowledge of the 3rd and 2nd century Mediterranean world into a 28 volume set. The writings detailed advance knowledge of the influence of topography on vineyard production, with Mago recommending things such as the north slope of a hill being planted in order to shield the vines from receiving too much of the hot North African sun. The work also detailed winemaking practices, including early examples of "raisin wine" being made from dried grapes. The importance of Mago's work was even recognized by the Romans, Carthage's rival. Not only did the Roman senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
issue an decree stating that Mago's work should be translated into Latin, his 28 volumes was one of the few works saved from the Carthage library when the Romans destroyed the city in 146 BC.
Today there are no surviving remnants of Mago's work or its Latin translation. What is known comes through quotations of the work by Greek and Roman authors, most notably the Roman writer Columella.