Wine is one of those drinks that have been present throughout history. There’s evidence of wine production dating back to 4100 BC in Armenia, while it’s believed that the tradition of drinking wine began in ancient Greece, where it was considered an essential breakfast food. The Romans adopted a love for wine, and it was grown in different regions until in the 15th century it spread across Europe.
For centuries, it had been seen as a sign of a person’s social class who had it in their possession, and later during the industrial revolution, the growing middle class were also able to have access to it.
Experts believe the golden era arrived between 1810 and 1875 when the legal structures started to make loans and investments easier to obtain, and the free trade agreement between France and the British Empire removed almost all the duties. In was precisely during this period that what is nowadays considered the oldest existing bottle of wine was discovered. It was found near the city of Speyer in Germany in the tomb of a Roman nobleman and is estimated to have been produced around 350 AD.
Although it has never been opened, the bottle was analysed by a chemist during the First World War, and for years the international scientific community debated about whether or not to open the bottle as there are doubts about whether the liquid is still drinkable.
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