Grape evidence for a dominant position of wine-making in human culture dates from 8,000 years ago in Georgia. The oldest known winery was found in Armenia, dating to around 4000 BC. By the 9th century AD the city of Shiraz was known to produce some of the finest wines in the Middle East. Thus it has been proposed that Syrah red wine is named after Shiraz, a city in Persia where the grape was used to make Shirazi wine. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics record the cultivation of purple grapes, and history attests to the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians, and Romans growing purple grapes
Phenolic content in wine tannins they increase the stability of a wines color-meaning that a wine will be able to maintain its coloring for a longer period of time. The amount of catechins present varies among grape varieties with varietals like Pinot noir having high concentrations while Merlot and especially Syrah have very low levels. As an antioxidant, there are some studies into the health benefits of moderate consumption of wines high in catechins. In red grapes, the main flavonol is on average quercetin, followed by myricetin, kaempferol, laricitrin, isorhamnetin, and syringetin. In white grapes, the main flavonol is quercetin, followed by kaempferol and