In the 3rd century, when Hannibal and his war elephants crossed the Alps and into Italy, his army was amazed by how much land was under vine. According to reports from that expedition, there were vines spanning from the northern tip of the Po Valley all the way to the coast of the Adriatic Sea. But how did this happen? Well, that brings us back to our friends the Phoenicians and the Greeks, along with their first encounters with the Etruscans on the Italian peninsula. What came next was the largest explosion of wine culture in the ancient world.
As we discussed in our last series, the Greek Empire went through a period of Ottoman rule, and lost stamina in the development of its wine culture. In Italy, on the other hand, winemaking flourished with nothing to slow it down. Even today, given the vastness of the Roman Empire, we’re still excavating ancient sites and learning more about Italy’s devotion to wine through the ages.
On this episode of “Wine 101,” we’re kicking off a series that’s near and dear to Keith’s heart, and it’s all about the grapevine’s journey in the peninsula we know today as Italy. Tune in for more.
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“Wine 101” was produced, recorded, and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers, at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big old shout-out to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. Big shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair, for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also, Darby Cicci for the theme song. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day. See you next week.
*Image retrieved from michelangeloop via stock.adobe.com