Monday, November 21, 2005

Wine update
Cyprus: Archaeologists: Cypriots Took Wine to the World


The ancient Greeks took wine to the masses, the Romans to the world. But it was the innovation of Cypriots that showed them how, say archaeologists. Italian experts claim to have unearthed evidence suggesting not only did Cyprus introduce clay drinking goblets and wine jars for transportation further afield, but it had at least a 1,500 year head start on any of its Mediterranean cousins on the art of making wine.

"It's an amazing discovery," says research head Maria Rosaria Belgiorno.

"The most ancient wine seems to have been found in a 5,000-5,500 BC vase in Ajjii Firuz Tepe in Iran ... but in the Mediterranean, the earliest examples of wine-making have been in Cyprus."

With a tradition steeped in history, the quality of the "honey flavoured" Cypriot wines was praised by the ancient Greek poet Homer, and, subject however to some scholarly debate, by King Solomon.