In the beginning God created Man. Man was lonely, so God created Woman. Shortly thereafter, all of the wine-ing began...
According to an item on National Geographic’s site, the earliest known winery was found in an Armenian cave about six years ago on the same site where the oldest known leather shoe was also found. No word yet if they’ve found any leftover wheels of cheese or breadsticks, or if the shoe was the first documented case of tribal shoefiti ...
It’s believed wine was first made 7000 BC by grapes cultivated in Georgia, the apparent Cradle of Wine. Today, according to an item posted on YouTube by KartvelianHeritage listed under the Cradle of Wine's trailer HERE (under the About section's Show More), Georgia is known for over 525 varieties of grapes of local origin and over 100 varieties of wild grapes native to the area. By stark comparison, Canada has what appear to be a whopping TWO native varieties; the Fox Grape and the River Bank Grape (also known as the Frost Grape). Apparently early settlers to Canada tried to cultivate European vines here without much luck. They eventually buckled and decided to work with the native grapes thriving here. Unfortunately, word is the results of their efforts tasted a little "off" - until they turned their offerings into things like ports and sherry-styled wines. (Note to self, apparently I should probably sample some port and sherry, too. You know, just to be on the safe side.)
I was really surprised to discover that for the size of our country, there really isn’t that much space out there dedicated to grape production as illustrated on this Canadian Wine Region Map (I look forward to finding out why - I might even try planting some grapes here in my backyard to see if they'll fly), but I was even more surprised to discover (did I mention I know absolutely nothing about wine?) some Canadian wine producers mix their grapes with grapes from other countries in the manufacturing process (ie: it’s cheaper to buy pre-fermented grapes grown in countries like China - China's the #1 producer of grapes on the planet with about 13% of the market two years ago).
In BC, according to an item on Wikipedia, growers there don’t even have to use Canadian grapes in their wines, period. Uh, so what’s the point of having a vineyard in the first place? I’m going to look more into this apparent “Cellared in Canada” wine controversy - with legitimate authorities on the subject - a little later. Keep in mind, my research to-date has been conducted online at sites that are known for things like THIS. So, unless I'm speaking with someone directly associated with any official laws or decisions, others may have taken their research from sites like this and others, too. Still, if true, I had no idea a “Cellared in Canada” wine - which may appear in the Canadian wine designated section of a store - could be made from 100% foreign grapes – did you? ... Does this mean an Australian wine, or a South African wine - or wines from countries elsewhere - might not have grapes in them from their counties either?
Gaumarjos!
გაუმარჯოს
Heather
It’s believed wine was first made 7000 BC by grapes cultivated in Georgia, the apparent Cradle of Wine. Today, according to an item posted on YouTube by KartvelianHeritage listed under the Cradle of Wine's trailer HERE (under the About section's Show More), Georgia is known for over 525 varieties of grapes of local origin and over 100 varieties of wild grapes native to the area. By stark comparison, Canada has what appear to be a whopping TWO native varieties; the Fox Grape and the River Bank Grape (also known as the Frost Grape). Apparently early settlers to Canada tried to cultivate European vines here without much luck. They eventually buckled and decided to work with the native grapes thriving here. Unfortunately, word is the results of their efforts tasted a little "off" - until they turned their offerings into things like ports and sherry-styled wines. (Note to self, apparently I should probably sample some port and sherry, too. You know, just to be on the safe side.)
I was really surprised to discover that for the size of our country, there really isn’t that much space out there dedicated to grape production as illustrated on this Canadian Wine Region Map (I look forward to finding out why - I might even try planting some grapes here in my backyard to see if they'll fly), but I was even more surprised to discover (did I mention I know absolutely nothing about wine?) some Canadian wine producers mix their grapes with grapes from other countries in the manufacturing process (ie: it’s cheaper to buy pre-fermented grapes grown in countries like China - China's the #1 producer of grapes on the planet with about 13% of the market two years ago).
In BC, according to an item on Wikipedia, growers there don’t even have to use Canadian grapes in their wines, period. Uh, so what’s the point of having a vineyard in the first place? I’m going to look more into this apparent “Cellared in Canada” wine controversy - with legitimate authorities on the subject - a little later. Keep in mind, my research to-date has been conducted online at sites that are known for things like THIS. So, unless I'm speaking with someone directly associated with any official laws or decisions, others may have taken their research from sites like this and others, too. Still, if true, I had no idea a “Cellared in Canada” wine - which may appear in the Canadian wine designated section of a store - could be made from 100% foreign grapes – did you? ... Does this mean an Australian wine, or a South African wine - or wines from countries elsewhere - might not have grapes in them from their counties either?
Gaumarjos!
გაუმარჯოს
Heather