Almost as old as man with traces of its existence during the Neolithic ages discovered across the continents, wines are known to be the oldest, favored beverage the world over.

Though its origin is hazy to say the least, archaeological discoveries lead the belief that wines could have first been made anywhere in the vast regions spreading from Spain to Central Asia.

Depictions of wines and winemaking on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs that date back to 3000 BC proves the vital role wines played in those ancient ages as the choice of drink in ceremonial life and the journey after life and was predominantly red though archaeological evidences prove the presence of white wine even in those ages.

Plausibly initially made from wild fruits including wild grapes, wines have however been proved to be produced from domesticated grapes way back from 3200 BC with evidence of such winemaking in Egypt and Sumeria.

The advent of wines into Europe was mostly because of the Greeks who were responsible for popularizing winemaking across Ancient Greece and Rome.

But it was the Roman empire that had an immense impact on the development of viticulture and winemaking technology as wine soon became an integral part of the Roman diet thus as the Roman empire expanded wine production grew as well, in fact virtually all of the major wine producing regions of Western Europe today were established by the Romans.

During this period, many grape varieties and methods of cultivation came to be known. Various methods of storing and shipping wines were developed; in fact, bottles were first used for wines during this period. The initiation of early appellation systems was formed in those days and has given rise to various reputable fine wines.

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the Church took over and through the Church grape growing and winemaking technology was preserved during these Dark Ages as wine was necessary for the celebration of the Catholic Mass,

Thus in medieval Europe, wine was consumed by the church and the noble and merchant classes while ale was the drink of the general populace.

The Benedictine monks became one of the largest producers of wine in France and Germany followed by various other orders. The Benedictines held vineyards in Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne, in fact Dom Perignon was a Benedictine monk, and they were the first to plant the Riesling grapes in Germany. Though they did not introduce viticulture in these areas they created the industry.

Grapes were first brought to Latin America by the Spanish and succeeding waves of immigrants imported French, Italian and German grapes and wines from grapes native to the Americas were soon produced as well.

Wine grapes grow almost exclusively between 30 and 50 degrees north or south of the equator and as a rule grapevines prefer a relatively long growing season of 100 days or more with warm daytime temperatures and cool nights.

Today, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Chile, the United States of America, Germany, South Africa, Portugal, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Croatia and Argentina are the 14 largest export nations in the world.