A Sneak Peek at the Wines of the Ancient World with the #WinePW Crew

This mural is from a mosaic project displayed in Jerusalem's Old City. It depicts a market scene as it might have appeared during the Roman period. You can grapes in the mix as part of the mix.


This weekend I’m hosting the Wine Pairing Weekend (#WinePW) blogging group in an exploration of the wines of the ancient world.

We’ll be sharing discoveries of bottles from regions that have really ancient winemaking traditions. Given the current conditions with the Coronavirus pandemic and most of us social distancing and being under shelter in place orders or stay at home orders, we’re leaving the topic fairly broad this time around, since sourcing unusual wines might be an even more difficult task than usual. Please check out my invitation post here for more details, but here is a quick recap of some the areas with evidence of the earliest winemaking history and likely period in which winemaking began in each place: Georgia  (c. 6000 BC), Lebanon (c. 5000 BC), Iran (c. 5000 BC), Greece (c. 4500 BC), and Sicily (c. 4000 BC). The earliest-extant evidence of wine production has been found in Armenia (c. 4100 BC). (Per Wikipedia)




Here’s what we can look forward to:

  • Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla will be sharing “History on the Table – A Dish from the Hundred Years War Meets Wine from the Land of the Bible: Cassoulet + Tabor Adama Shiraz 2013”
  • Terri of Our Good Life is taken with “Old World Charm: Tifosi Vino Bianco with Olives and Citrus”
  • Andrea of The Quirky Cork is sharing “#WinePW and The Ancient Wine Culture of Antioch”  
  • David of Cooking Chat is "Tasting and Pairing Ancient World Wines"
  • Pinny of Chinese Food & Wine Pairings is making the case to “Drink Ancient Saperavi and Eat Modern Family Meals from Chinese Takeouts”
  • Linda from My Full Wine Glass discovers “Agiorgitiko: Modern Greek Wine from an Ancient Land”
  • Gwendolyn of Wine Predator shares an “Ancient Wine for Modern Times: Slovenia's Jarenincan and Calamari with Lemon Caper Sauce”
  • Susannah of Avvinare will be sipping an “Ancient Wine from Campania- Falerno del Massico”
  • And I’ll be sharing “An Armenian Feast with Friends Paired with Armenian Wines” here on Somm's Table.


HOW TO JOIN US


You are absolutely still welcome to join the fun, even if you haven’t already sent in your title. Simply join us by following the #WinePW tag on Twitter starting at 8:00 a.m. PT/ 11:00 a.m. ET this Saturday, April 11th. It’s always a fun time.

I find the wines from these regions very exciting, so I’ll leave you with a little more inspo and I hope you’ll join us!



Here’s a sampling of wines I’ve tried from some Ancient World Wine regions that I’ve really enjoyed. Bonus — A lot of these are pretty affordable as well!
Top row: Cremisan Wine Estate 'Star of Bethlehem' Baladi, West Bank, Israel 2015, Domaine des Ouled Thaleb Syrocco Syrah Zenata Morocco 2015 (a project from Alain Graillot), Golan Heights Winery Yarden Syrah, Galilee, Israel 2014.
Middle Row: Tenuta di Fessina Erse Etna Rosso, Sicily, Italy 2016 (sample), Chateau Musar, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon 2007, Vaeni Xinomavro Naoussa 2016.
Bottom Row:  Bat Shlomo Rose, Galilee, Israel 2017 (sample), Doqi Saperavi Qvevri, Kakheti, Georgian Republic 2015, Maurer Furmint Sremska, Serbia 2017.

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