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ORIGIN OF THE VINES IN SPAIN
There is no clear consensus on the place where the first vine crops
started to be made in Spain and who were the ones who introduced the
techniques of winemaking. Various sources indicate that the first
vineyards were settled in the southwestern Andalusia coast creating the
starting point and place of the oldest vineyards in Spain.
This theory seems the most likely, and it is endorsed by the presence of
the Phoenicians in the peninsula since about 3,000 years ago. This
merchant town founded a port in the southwest, which was called Gadir (Cadiz,
at present). After a while, it was moved inland, creating another city
called Xera (now Jere) whose surrounding mountains were planted with
vines. The warm weather in the area favoured the strength and sweetness
of the local wines, which enabled them to withstand the trips very well.
This fact, associated with the merchant spirit of the Phoenicians, meant
that as early as the beginning of the Christian era, Spanish wines
became one of the most common goods in the Mediterranean and North
Africa trade.
Later on, the Romans would be the ones who continued to produce wines on
the peninsula; for that, they incorporated their particular methods of
winemaking. Among them, the aging in clay amphoras in high and sunny
farm, near fireplaces should be highlighted. Apparently, the wines would
then get textures, flavours and aromas of fruits, flowers, and even
smoke which were greatly appreciated. The need to supply the vast empire
and its legions contributed to intensify the already considerable
commercial traffic that had reached Spanish wines.
The decline of the Roman Empire and the subsequent barbaric invasion
were a brake to the development of the viticulture in Spain. The first
Germanic hordes destroyed many plantations of vines. Subsequently, the
arrival of the Visigoths to the mainland counteracted the action of the
barbarians.
Much more civilized than their predecessors due to the contact with the
Romans in the surrounding provinces of the Empire, gave a great
importance to the viniculture.
The arrival of Arabs in the eighth century also resulted in some
difficulties for the development of the vines and wine production
because of the Koranic ban on consuming alcoholic and fermented
beverages. Nevertheless, the grapes growing continued and even improved
during the period of the Muslim domination.
The primary cause lay in the grapes, which could be consumed as a fruit
or used to produce juice: there was no reason to ban neither their
consumption nor the unfermented grape juice. Hence, its cultivation
could not be prevented, at least for non-Muslims. The second cause is
the well-known permissiveness of some dynasties, more liberal towards
the dominated Christians, who were allowed to continue cultivating their
vineyards and producing their wine, mainly in monasteries.
However, it would not be until after the Reconquest by the Catholic
Monarchs when the final takeoff of winemaking would occur. The religious
communities and the monasteries, which were restored, played an
important role since it would be monks and friars who strived to recover
the winemaking tradition. The wine was an integral element in their
religious rites, although the priests did not get satisfied with the
need for their mass, but they also supplied their cellars to the delight
of the locals and pilgrims. Thus, vineyards began to flourish again
around monasteries and abbeys, and later on spread to other extended
areas.
Over the following centuries, the wine became an essential food in the
diet of the time, to which was joined the possibility of marketing it in
places other than where it was produced. This development of trade flows
increased the birth of the various wine regions and came as a
considerable transferring of municipalities and regions taking turns in
supplying wine to the Court.
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