HISB94H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Vitis Labrusca, Vitis Amurensis, Vitis Vinifera
Document Summary
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus vitis. Grapes can be eaten fresh as table grapes or they can be used for making wine, jam, grape juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of the domesticated grape began 6,000 8,000 years ago in the near east. Yeast, one of the earliest domesticated microorganisms, occurs naturally on the skins of grapes, leading to the discovery of alcoholic drinks such as wine. The earliest archeological 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.
