Phoenicians

When writing about Rioja last time we learned the ancient Phoenicians had a hand in planting the vineyards there.  Phoenician international trade activity extended from 1550bc to 300bc so whatever planting was done there probably bears no resemblance to what Rioja was to become.  What struck us as significant though was that, along with the twelve hundred year trading activity, they ventured so far inland as Rioja.

The Phoenicians hailed from what is now known as Lebanon and during the heyday of their activity they ruled the Mediterranean trading roost.  That they planted Spanish vineyards isn't new to us but what we have now learned fleshes out what we thought we knew before.

The Caucasus region of western Asia; what is now known as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia along with parts of Turkey and Iran; is where the vitis vinifera wine grapes got their start.  Evidence of wild grapes and winemaking are known to exist in the region as far back as 6,000bc with steady production beginning around 4,000bc.  

The Phoenicians are credited with commercializing the earliest wine industry.  Those wine images in pyramids and elsewhere in Egypt depended on one of their land trade routes from the Caucasus.  Their greatest impact however, would have been what they did over the Mediterranean Sea.  

Greece, North Africa, Sicily, the Iberian Peninsula and the ancient eastern Mediterranean region of Levant are all known to be stopping points for Phoenician wine traders.  Vines were delivered to the regions that were to become Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, France and Portugal.  Where the rivers were navigable, they ventured inland; hence, a stop in Rioja became possible.

The Phoenicians, themselves, became skilled viticulturalists and winemakers.  They also traded in winemaking equipment and amphorae, "Canaanite jars", for transporting wine even further inland from stopping points like Rioja.  France would have been the beneficial next stop heading up into Europe.