According to written reports from the third century BC, there was already a class of wine merchants in ancient Greece. The job title "oinogeustes" (wine taster) existed for them because the ability to taste wine was obviously a prerequisite. In the Middle Ages, the Greek port of Monemvasia on the Peloponnese peninsula was an important transhipment centre for sweet wines from all over the Mediterranean.
The so-called two vineyard belts contain 95% of the world's most important vineyards for the cultivation of quality wine. They lie from 40 to 50 degrees north latitude and from 30 to 40 degrees south latitude.
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For my many years of work as an editor with a wine and culinary focus, I always like to inform myself about special questions at Wine lexicon. Spontaneous reading and following links often leads to exciting discoveries in the wide world of wine.
Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien