1. The Greek Philosopher Plato wrote that the minimum drinking age for wine should be 18, and then should be drunk in moderation until the age of 31. Use can then increase to 40 at which point you can drink as much as you like... to cure the crabbedness of old age!
2.When the Vikings landed in America in around 1000AD, they called it Vinland (which of course translates as wine land). This was due to the many natural grape vines they found there.
3.In the earliest periods of ancient Rome, it was forbidden for women to drink wine - in fact it was punishable by death! The last recorded incident of this was in 194 BC.
4.The ancient Babylonian Code of Hammurabi stated that the punishment for selling bad or fake wine was drowning.
5.In medieval times, both hospitals and universities derived significant income from wine production.
6.Cistercian and Benedictine monks made huge progress in winemaking during the middle ages. According to historical reports, they even tasted the soil itself to help understand how it could lead to different tastes in wine. Many of the practices of the great vineyards today still follows research based on these historical devotees of the art of winemaking.
7.Within ten years of the death of the Prophet Muhammad, wine was largely banned from every Islamic country. This means that it is he who is the single person to have most influenced the history of wine!
8.The father of modern medicine Hippocrates used wine as an ingredient in almost every single remedy he recorded!
9.The Romans decided it would be a great idea to mix a little bit of lead in with your wine as it gave it a nice sweet taste and enhanced the texture. Historians often argue that one of the key reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire was chronic lead poisoning among the ruling elite. In addition to using it for their plumbing, this rather unwise practice would certainly have been a contributory factor.
10.In addition to this, it was common practice to add various other seasonings to wine. Unusual additives included garlic, onion root and fish sauce!
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