Drinking Through History: The Genesis of Wine

So, Bible readers know the Genesis story of Noah and the Ark. He and his sons supposedly created the first wine. But there is quite a lot more to the genesis of wine...

• The earliest known wine production occurred in Georgia around 6,000 BC, based on archeological evidence, but it took another few thousand years before the grapevine was domesticated.
• The oldest winery was discovered in Armenia. Over 6,000 years old, it contained a wine press, fermentation vats, jars, and cups (for quality control purposes, I am sure).
• A legend tells of an ancient Persian king who banished one of his harem ladies. Grief-stricken, she went to the king's warehouse and found a jar of "poison," not knowing that it contained rotten grapes... which had merely fermented. She drank the "poison", and felt loads better. She took it to the king, who not only took her back, but decreed that grapes would thereafter be devoted to winemaking.
• Modern wine culture has its origins in Ancient Greece - many of the grapes grown there today are identical to varieties grown back then!
• An ancient king of Egypt refused to drink wine, believing that its blood-like appearance indicated that the grapevine had sprung from the blood of the gods' enemies.