Ancient Rome and wine Gaul. The Romans established lucrative trading relations with local tribes of Gaul, despite their potential to produce wine of their own. The Gallic tribes paid high prices for Roman wine, with a single amphora worth the value of a slave. From the Mediterranean coast, the Romans pushed further up the Rhone Valley, to areas where olives and figs were unable to grow but where oak trees were still found. As a result of their experience in what is now northeastern Italy, the Romans knew that regions where "Quercus ilex" were found had climates sufficiently warm enough to allow the full
History of wine History of wine The earliest archaeological evidence of wine grapes has been found at sites in Georgia ( BC), Iran ( BC), Greece ( BC), and Sicily ( BC), although there is earlier evidence of a wine made from fermented grapes among other fruits being consumed in China (c. 7000–5500 BC). The oldest evidence of wine production has been found in Armenia ( BC). The altered consciousness produced by wine has been considered religious since its origin. The ancient Greeks worshiped Dionysus or Bacchus and the Ancient Romans carried on his cult. Consumption of ritual wine was part of Jewish