Knight of the Blue Lagoon (The Past of Tao v)

2. Wine continued

（《Dusk Shadow Morning Dance" The Past of the Tao ii [first release])

From a scientific point of view, wild grapevines appear and exist like flowers and plants in nature. Over the long years, humans gradually evolved, and as they mastered fire (about 1 million years ago), in the hunting era, during the hunting process of migration, wild grapes were a kind of human food like fruits. Then humans slowly settled down and entered the era of livestock and farming. As humans gradually accumulated planting experience in their survival activities, grapevines developed planting techniques like grain seeds.

Wine is actually the earliest product of nature. About 10,000 years ago during the Paleolithic Age (from about 3 million years ago to about 10,000 years ago), ripe grape berries fell to the ground, and the peels cracked and oozed out. Wine is formed when the juice comes into contact with yeast in the air and naturally ferments. Human beings have the instinct to imitate nature, and artificial wine is actually an imitation of nature. The origin of wine can be said to be the transition from natural wine to artificial wine.

According to research, during the Neolithic Age (from about 10,000 years ago to 5,000-2,000 years ago), a large number of grapevines grew in the Caucasus region of the Black Sea (anciently known as Aratilia in Asia Minor), Georgia and Armenia. This area had a mild climate. The land was fertile and suitable for growing grapes. At that time, grapes were not only eaten, but also used to squeeze juice and make wine.

Historians believe that the cultivation of grapes appeared around the 7th millennium BC, and the brewing of wine first appeared in Persia (today's Iran) in the 6th millennium BC, and later spread to Egypt with the war.

In the tombs excavated in the Nile Valley, archaeologists discovered an earthen jar with a small round belly at the bottom and a large neck to hold liquid as a burial object. It has been proven that it was a vessel used by the ancient Egyptians to store wine. In the ancient tomb of Nakht during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (approximately 1575-1308 BC), a mural (Fresco) was excavated. On the mural, there are two people in white clothes surrounded by grapevines. , the vines are full of grapes. Among them, the white-haired people are picking in the front, and the black-haired people are following behind with buckets. On the left side of the grape vines, there is a row of carrot-shaped utensils, which are grape jars. The people below are washing What he was wearing showed how popular grapes were at that time.

Grapes were widely planted in the Aegean Basin of ancient Greece. Some of the ripe grapes were used to make wine and dried into raisins. At that time, the ancient Greeks had the habit of drinking wine and stored the brewed wine in a special clay jar. During the winter, ancient Greece is considered to be the first European country to start growing grapes and making wine.

During the Mycenaean civilization (Mycenaens 2200 BC-1150 BC), the cultivation of grapes was very prosperous, and wine was not only a trade good, but also a part of Greek religious rituals.

In the 7th century BC, the ancient Greeks had the custom of holding celebrations with wine to express their worship of the god of wine.

From the 6th century BC to the 5th century BC, the economy of ancient Greece flourished and a splendid civilization was formed. As Greek city-states expanded to the Mediterranean coast, grape vines and wine were brought to the conquered areas.

From the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century BC, Rome became the hegemon of the Mediterranean during the struggle for hegemony in the Mediterranean. The ancient Greek civilization was continued by the ancient Romans. The ancient Romans spread the grape cultivation and wine brewing technology throughout the Italian peninsula and soon became popular. throughout Rome, and during this period they continued to improve wine-making technology and gradually formed a grape culture. After the Roman Empire's legion became stronger, it gradually conquered the European continent and also promoted the cultivation of grapes and wine-making technology.

In the 1st century BC, the ancient Romans conquered the barbaric land of Gaul (today's France). The Gauls were called barbarians. The guards of Caesar the Great settled here after they retired. Many of them had the sons of winemakers, so they settled in Rome. A large number of grapes were planted near the Rhne Valley. It spread to Burgundy and Bordeaux in the 2nd century, to the Loire Valley in the 3rd century, and to Champagne and Mosel in the 4th century. In the Moselle Valley, the barbarians who originally liked barley beer (Cervoise) and mead (Hydromel) quickly fell in love with wine.

In the 4th century, Constantine the Great of the Roman Empire officially recognized Christianity and drank wine during mass ceremonies. Since then, wine has been closely connected with Christianity, and monasteries began to plant grapes. (Emperor Constantine was baptized as a Christian before his death in 337 AD. In 393 AD, Emperor Theodosius of the Roman Empire established Christianity as the state religion and the only religion.) At the end of the

5th century, the Roman Empire declined. Because the Romans liked drinking wine very much, Historians have even attributed the decline of the Roman Empire to the Romans' daily excessive drinking of wine, which led to the deterioration of combat effectiveness. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Western Europe fell into chaos and Europe entered a dark period.

It was not until the emergence of Charlemagne in the 8th century that the situation gradually stabilized, and Christianity flourished. The number of monks and nuns continued to increase, which greatly promoted the planting of vineyards.

As divine authority overrides royal authority, the status of wine has also increased. Wine is mentioned 521 times in the Bible. Jesus even said at the Last Supper:"The bread is my flesh and the wine is my blood." Therefore. Christians regard wine as the holy blood, and church personnel regard grape planting and winemaking as their daily work. The wine industry has played an important role in the growth of the Christian church.

The development of wine-making technology in the Burgundy region of France is attributed to the monasteries. The monks were obsessed with the improvement of grape varieties and the study of brewing. The famous champagne and noble rot wines were brewed by the church, and they also proposed the concept of 'Cru )the concept of. Since the Bible condemns drunkenness,"drink less, but be better" has become a proverb in wine that has been passed down to this day. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the best wine in Europe must have come from monasteries. From then on, wine began to follow the footsteps of missionaries. spread.

In the 16th century, the Tudor Dynasty created the Golden Age of Britain under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I. Powerful ocean-going merchant ships transported large amounts of wine from the European continent to Britain, changing the British drinking habits. After Columbus discovered the New World, wine came to South America with missionaries. During the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century, France was the largest wine producer at that time. President Jefferson proposed transplanting grape varieties from the European continent to the New World, and also advocated the classification of wine. grade. Then the pace of invasion and colonization moved to the East. In the 17th century, missionaries brought Western wine to China.

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Before the advent of pressing equipment, wines made in monasteries were made by foot. Nowadays, although there are all kinds of machines, the top wines in the world are still made by foot. In the wine-making process, the grape skins must be broken first. Mechanical breaking of the skins may also break the grape seeds, which will affect the quality of the wine. In order to ensure the quality, some top wines still use traditional foot treading. Of course, stepping on your feet also involves hygiene issues. During the fermentation process of grapes, the alcohol content can reach about 15%, which can kill most bacteria. In addition to bacteria, feet also sweat, so you should use women’s feet to step on them. , women’s feet sweat less. Therefore, the wine made by the nuns at that time was the most popular.

Nature does not favor anyone too much. Wine does not only appear abroad. China is also one of the origins of wine. During the Ice Age 40,000 years ago, wild thorn grapes existed on this land. Research from more than 20 ancient cultural sites revealed that there are dozens of grape varieties in China, distributed in the northeast, central and west. Wine was originally a product of natural fermentation. Due to different geographical and climatic conditions, Mao wine and Xiangshan wine appeared here. Wine was brewed in the Shang Dynasty about 3,500 years ago. It is also recorded in the"Book of Songs" that grapes were planted, picked and stored in the Zhou Dynasty 3,000 years ago. In 138 BC during the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions to bring Eurasian grape growing and winemaking technology to China. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, wine production was very small, so it was precious. Because the eating habits of people in the East and West are different, monks and Taoists do not make wine like European monks and nuns. Later, the technology of grape wine making did not develop as much as in Europe, but formed its own food and wine culture.

Wei Zhen WillNox's novel Welcome to the fantasy world of Tao Zhi