The Spirit of The Mediterranean

“The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine.”
Thucydides
5th Century BC

There is no symbol that describes the Mediterranean civilization better than wine. It was born on these shores, loved these winds, burned with this sun and watched this sea. Even in Baudelaire’s words, “Wine is the divine child of the sun,” seem to have been said for the Mediterranean.

Throughout history, the Mediterranean has exhibited extremely suitable climatic conditions for grape production in both the southern and northern regions. The mountainous and hilly landscape of the entire basin, abundant sunshine, and sufficient water have shaped grapes and wine. Wine found gods in this region, theaters were built for those gods, wine festivals were held, melodies were created. Wine united the north and south as well as the east and west coasts of the Mediterranean.

The grape’s journey to wine began in Mesopotamia,

from where it flowed to the coasts of Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Laws were made for it and it entered into holy books. Anatolian Enetians, Phocaeans and Phoenicians from the Eastern Mediterranean were the ones that carried wine to the west. In this way, Sicily, Corsica, Italy and France were introduced to grapes and wine, trade began, and people in various parts of the world began to enjoy the same tastes. In this sense, wine is both global and multicultural.

Wine being a self-fermenting and intoxicating drink was seen as a divine miracle until the famous scientist Louis Pasteur discovered that this is actually due to the fermentation of sugar in the 19th century. Wine was the only drink that had a god and Dionysus was also a Mediterranean god. The only drink offered to the gods was wine. Based on archaeological findings, it can be said that wine and wheat were the first products transported from east to west by ships, therefore, making them the first commercial goods. The Uluburun wreck, the oldest ship found near Kaş in the south of Anatolia is the the proof of this.

Later, three Mediterranean religion emerged. Judaism, Christanity and Islam. All these three religions were based on the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian culture. There was a common feature in all three religions that their spreading areas and the fact that two Mediterranean fruits, olives and grapes, were considered sacred.

Today, the Mediterranean shows the abundance and diversity of wine. Unlike other regions of the world, the countries representing three major religions continue to produce wine and even if it seems unthinkable, wine plays a binding role for cultures in this region. For example, Israel produces kosher wine at high altitudes despite occasionally unfavorable climatic conditions, while Muslim-majority countries such as Lebanon and Türkiye also participate in international competition. The microclimate conditions formed along the Mediterranean coast enable grapes from the Provence region in southern France to be cultivated along the North African coast as well. The progress that Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, three countries with almost entirely Muslim populations, have made in terms of viticulture and winemaking is incredible. Although the history of viticulture and winemaking in these countries is very old, the major development began in the 1880s with the establishment of vineyards by the French as a result of the Phylloxera disease destroying the vineyards in Europe, and winemaking in these countries is mostly carried out by local entrepreneurs.

When we cross from Morocco to the north of the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar, we will come across the most important vineyard and wine countries in the world. Spain, the world’s leading country in terms of vineyard area, produces grape varieties similar to those in northern Africa on the Mediterranean coast. Southern France raises a glass with Algeria, its counterpart, to celebrate rosé wines from both sides of the Mediterranean, sipping cool rosés in honor of Anatolia, which gifted it grapes and wine. A well-known fact about Italy is that grapes were brought to this country from Anatolia, especially by the Trojans, who are now known to be Anatolian local people, three thousand years ago. Sicily, which plays a significant role especially in today’s world wine trade, blends grapes brought from the East thousands of years ago with international grape varieties, greeting all Mediterranean winemaking in the fertile lands at the foot of Mount Etna. The multiculturalism on this island reveals the tastes of the north of Africa and the south of Europe and tells a little about these two continents.

A good example of Mediterranean winemaking is Greece. This country has been a haven and shelter throughout history for the people who brought grapes, wine, and civilization from Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean to the West, and Europe recognized and named these grapes as originating from Greece. The great pleasure of Greek winemaking is the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. The Aegean and Mediterranean heat was cooled by northern winds, creating the temperature differences that the grapes enjoy. For centuries, islands like Limnos, Chios, and Thassos became famous not only for commercial purposes but also for the production of exquisite white wines. Today, these islands still produce exquisite wines made from the rose-scented muscat grape, which is also found in Anatolia.

There is no doubt that the best example of multiculturalism in wine is Anatolia, which is also the epitome of the Mediterranean. Türkiye, the source of European viticulture, is also the land where Dionysus, the god of wine in Greek mythology, was most venerated, where the most temples were built in his name, and where, according to legend, he himself lived. This country, a true treasure trove of grapes with over 1,200 varieties, has produced wines described by Herodotus, the father of history, as “fragrant” for centuries and wine also occupied a prominent place in Mevlana’s Masnavi and in the poems written by Fatih Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror under the pen name Avni. Anatolia during the Ottoman Empire, became one of the most significant centers exporting wine to the east and west and served multiculturalism. Winemaking, which declined for a while later when non-Muslims left the country, began to keep the tradition alive with local grapes, foreign varieties and special tastes in the 1930s.

Wine, which has been captivating people’s minds for thousands of years and transporting them to other worlds, continues to play this role by utilizing the magic of the Mediterranean. The civilization based on wine continues to develop alongside humanity as an integral part of Mediterranean philosophy.