Wine 101: Italy Part II: Oligarchs and Maritime Republics
The Roman Empire’s wine industry was massive. As we travel through time, we see the grapevine spread throughout Italy in tandem with the flourishing of the Empire itself.
However, when Rome fell in 476, documentation of anything viticulture-related essentially went into hibernation. At that time, a bunch of cultures tried to fill the newly created power vacuum on the Italian peninsula, and kind of made a mess of things as the economy collapsed. All the while, the Italians never stopped making wine, but it happened on a very localized basis. Roughly 300 years later, Charlemagne came down from France and conquered Italy. Between the 11th and 14th centuries, Italy’s population doubled, urban communes became city states, and Italian viticulture took off in a way the world had never seen before.
On this episode of “Wine 101,” we bid farewell to ancient times and dive into the Middle Ages. It’s here that we see medieval Italy set the stage for the country’s wine culture as we know it today. Tune in for more.
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“Wine 101” was produced, recorded, and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers, at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big old shout-out to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. Big shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair, for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also, Darby Cicci for the theme song. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day. See you next week.
*Image retrieved from JFL Photography via stock.adobe.com
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