ABSTRACT
Wine is a product of the alcoholic fermentation of grape juice, which is stored in a manner to retain its wine like properties (1). Clear evidence of winemaking dates from 5000 years ago, although archaeological records on wine date back to 6000 B.C. (2,3). It is believed that winemaking technology was first developed in Caucasia (currently part of Turkey, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Georgia). The domestication of the commercial grape cultivar Vitis vinifera is also assumed to have originated in the same area (4). Some researchers believe
that domestication of grapes may have independently occurred in Spain (5). From Caucasia, grape growing and winemaking spread toward Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and around the Mediterranean. In southern Spain however, there is evidence that extensive grape cultivation existed before the colonization of the region by the Phoenicians (6). It is not until the seventeenth century that modern winemaking technology became established. The quality of the wine was improved by the use of sulphur in barrels, glass bottles, and corks.
