A long and rich history

According to paleontologists the vine flourished before the ice age in the polar regions: Iceland, Northern Europe, North-western Asia, even in Alaska.  The glaciers, though, limited its spread and isolated one variety from another, thus creating several different species of vine. The ancestors of the current grapevine "moved" to the warmer areas of central–eastern Asia and central Europe, mainly however to the greater southern Caucasus region, where, between the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and Mesopotamia, Vitis vinifera, subspecies caucasica, arose, the one that – in several varieties – is cultivated up to this day.
The ancient Persians, the Semitic peoples and the Assyrians are considered the first known grapevine growers. The skill of viticulture was then passed on to the Egyptians, the Phoenicians and to the people who lived on the peninsula of Greece. The Mediterranean is not the only place where the grapevine was cultivated at the time. During the same period there are mentions of wine in ancient China as well.