10 countries where, it turns out, they produce delicious wine, and we didn't even know about it
The first thing that comes to mind when mentioning wine is the countries that are famous for winemaking. Italy, France, Spain and the USA are ahead of the whole planet in this area. In addition, we know wines from Georgia, Moldova, South Africa and New Zealand.
But, it turns out, there are 10 more countries where winemaking is developed and appreciated.
Despite the fact that the Egyptians got acquainted with wine and winemaking back in the 3-4 millennium BC and wine was an integral attribute of the supreme secular and religious authorities of the country, their own wine is little known here. However, it is there — scenes reproducing the full cycle of winemaking are depicted on many frescoes, and the Egyptians know well how to make wine correctly. However, the modern climate of the country is not very suitable for grapes, and the prevailing religion adds difficulties. Nevertheless, the wineries Gianaclis, El Gouna produce local wines from the varieties "Cabernet Sauvignon", "shiraz", "bobal", "Carignan"for many tourists.
Along with Georgia and Armenia, the territory of Turkey is the region of the world where archaeologists discover the most ancient evidence of winemaking — wine ceramics, fragments of terraces intended for growing grapes, and much more. Despite the prevailing Islam in the country, the continuing secular regime of society allows a large number of wineries to produce wine in Turkey, and in some cases of exceptionally high quality. Local grape varieties, such as "kalechik karasy", "ekyuzgezyu" and "bogazkere", carry a bright local flavor.
Located on the Arabian Peninsula, the country opens up to the wine lover as a producer quite unexpectedly — there are more than 100 hectares of vineyards in the country, where such varieties as "cabernet Sauvignon", "merlot" and others are grown. The history of local winemaking, as well as the neighboring lands, dates back more than 2000 years — during the excavations of Roman and Byzantine settlements in the north of the country, quite a lot of stone pressure presses of various designs were found.
Even in the only karst cave in the country, Al-Daher, opened only in 1995, among other things, there was a monolithic wine press cut out of the rock. And in the south, in al-Beida, also called the small (or younger) By Peter, roomy wine cellars have been discovered. The average level of today's wines is not too high, nevertheless, they may well be recommended for acquaintance — they do not have any serious defects.
Most people imagine Mexico as a source of a sea of tequila, but few people know that the country also manages to produce grape wine. The grapes were brought to the country by the Spanish conquistadors sometime in the 1530s, and the history of some farms can be traced back to 1597. Wines from regions such as the Valle de Guadalupe on the Baja California Peninsula — a few hours south of San Diego-can be purchased domestically, and some of them are also available in foreign markets. The oldest winery — Casa Madero (Casa Madero) — is located in the upper part of the Valley of Parras (Valle de Parras). The vineyards are dominated by heat-loving grape varieties, such as" syrah"," zinfandel"," Carignan "and"tempranillo".
In Brazil, there are not only a lot of "don Pedro", but, oddly enough, there are quite a lot of vineyards with wineries. The main wine — growing region of the country-the Valley of Vineyards (Vale dos Vinhedos) - is located in the south of Brazil. More than 30 wineries are located on an area of 81 square kilometers: small family wineries and large enterprises. According to the OIV, 3.5 million hectoliters of wine were produced in the country in 2007. Despite the fact that at that time New Zealand produced only 1.5 million ch. However, the climate of the country imposes its own peculiarities — only about 11 percent of the wine is made from European grape varieties, and the rest is the well — known "isabella" and similar hybrid grape varieties.
The first vines in Peru, as well as in Mexico, were brought by Spanish colonizers in the XVI century. The great need of the conquistadors for wine led to the fact that all suitable slopes were soon covered with vines, but in 1687 the entire southern coast of Peru was affected by an earthquake that destroyed the cities of Villa de Pisco and Ica. The wine boom began to decline, and the Peruvians turned to the production of pisco-distillate from muscat grapes. It still occupies a large part of the alcohol industry in Peru today. The oldest winery in the country is Tacama, which traces its history back to 1540, in fact from the first years of the Spanish Conquest.
Until 1536, many monasteries in the south of Britain owned large plots of land, on which they grew, among other things, grapes. However, an endless series of wars in the Middle Ages, climate change and the secularization of monastic possessions led to the fact that until the end of the twentieth century, the vineyards disappeared almost without a trace. However, since the 90s, viticulture and winemaking have become fashionable again, and now vineyards in England and South Wales occupy about 1000 hectares. Initially, British wines were not quite dry and vaguely resembled cheap German, from hybrid grape varieties, but the modern direction of winemaking is rather focused on the production of classic sparkling wines from traditional varieties of "chardonnay" and "pinot noir".
During the Soviet Union, there were quite a lot of vineyards on the lands of the Kazakh SSR. However, the harsh continental climate of the country required huge labor costs for their shelter for the winter and opening in the spring, so after the collapse of the Union, most of the vineyards were abandoned. To date, the only good winery in the country has been restored-Arba Wine, which produces very bright and memorable wines with a very unusual taste and aroma.
Most people associate Japan with fruit wines and rice sake, but local grape wines are one of the well-kept secrets. 80 percent of all wines from the rather rare pink variety "koshu" are produced in Yamanashi Prefecture, which is located at the foot of Mount Fuji. About 450 hectares are occupied by vineyards here, from which about 7 thousand hectoliters of wine are produced. The zone has a rather extreme climate: in summer it is hot and very, very humid, in winter it is cold. Summer days are long, bringing a lot of sunlight. The soils are volcanic, well-drained, excellent for cultivating grapes.
The Persian conquerors brought the vine with them to India about 2500 years ago. The first mention of wine consumption in the country appeared in a written source dating back to 300 BC. Wine did not become a popular drink due to the complexity of production and high price, but it became a drink of the elites and remained so for a very long time. The influence of British colonization contributed to the growth of wine production in the country.
Chateau Indage is considered the first modern farm that began producing high-quality wine in this country in the 1980s. The largest producer is Sula Vineyards-the project of Rajiv Samat, who studied at Stanford and worked in Silicon Valley, and then returned home and started running a family business. His Tuscan-style winery is a few hours ' drive from the country's largest city, Mumbai.
Keywords: Wine | World | Countries | Winemaking