wein.plus
Attention
You are using an old browser that may not function as expected. <br><strong>For a better, safer browsing experience, please upgrade your browser.</strong>

Log in Become a Member

Greek viticultural history began, so to speak, with a fling between the supreme god Zeus and the beautiful Seméle (daughter of Harmonia, goddess of concord), which led to the birth of Dionysus, the god of wine, joy, grapes, fertility and ecstasy. Ancient Greece or, based on archaeological finds, especially the island of Crete, is considered one of the "cradles of European wine culture". Wine was already cultivated in the Mycenaean culture in the 16th century BC (Mycenae = north-eastern Peloponnese), as indicated by amphorae that have been found.

Griechenland - Szene aus Platons Symposion und Amphore 500 v. Chr.

Wine was an important part of the drinking culture of daily life. This was also expressed in the symposia, a drinking party accompanied by witty conversations, jokes, songs, music, games and performances. The painting shows the famous work "Symposion" by Plato (428/427-348/347 BC) with, among others, the participants Aristophanes (450-380 BC) and Socrates (470-399 BC). The Greeks were also among the very first to attach great importance to wine as a valuable commodity. In the Iliad, Homer (8th century BC) already reports on wine as the beverage of choice for the heroes he describes. The historian Hesiod (~750-680 BC), the philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC), the naturalist Theophrastus (370-287 BC) and the physician Galen (129-216) also dealt with wine and viticulture.

Voices of our members

Sigi Hiss

There is a vast number of sources on the web where one can acquire knowledge about wine. But none has the scope, timeliness and accuracy of the information in the encyclopaedia at wein.plus. I use it regularly and rely on it.

Sigi Hiss
freier Autor und Weinberater (Fine, Vinum u.a.), Bad Krozingen

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

26,079 Keywords · 46,829 Synonyms · 5,323 Translations · 31,413 Pronunciations · 186,972 Cross-references
made with by our author Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer. About the Lexicon

EVENTS NEAR YOU