Wine is a global commodity that can be bought almost anywhere on the planet, but which continent produces the most wine?
Europe produces more wine than any other continent on Earth. It contains all three of the top three wine-producing countries in the world: Italy, Spain, and France. As a collective, these three countries produce more than fifty percent of the world’s wine.
Read on to learn more about wine, where it originated, and how much of it is produced every year.
Wine, That Ancient Commodity
It’s said that the first traces of wine, just not as we know it today, date as far back as sixty million years ago. However, when we say that, we’re not talking about a nice Chablis, but older, fermented fruits, such as grapes.
As evolution suggests, modern man learnt a lot from the beasts that roamed around him. They mimicked the behavior of animals, and took on some of their survival properties – including the consumption of various foods.
It’s quite likely that as man evolved, he came to notice how animals consumed fermented or over-ripe fruit, and tried it for himself. Although, the earliest examples of actual wine that we’ve discovered as a collective date back some six thousand years.
While there are traces of what can be thought of as wine occurring further back than this, it’s around this time that wine-making became a thing. From this point on, the human race would begin painstaking work in perfecting the formulation of wine.
As the millennia wore on, civilization after civilization adopted wine-making, with each iteration adding something to the process. The Ancient Egyptians, the Romans, the Greeks – everybody had a hand in perfecting the wine-making process.
However, as the rest of the world caught up, Europe remained at the heart of the wine-making industry. Today, it still holds that title, and more wine is produced in Europe than any other continent on Earth.
The Undisputed Kings And Queens Of Wine
Europe is an absolute powerhouse where wine-making is concerned, and it always has been. Whether it’s the advantageous climate for the cultivation of grapes, or the people that have dedicated hundreds of years to the craft, it’s undoubtedly the reigning champion.
Throughout medieval times, it’s often thought that wine was more commonplace than water. As you might imagine, clean water was quite difficult to come by, but wine was available in abundance – and people took advantage of that.
In France, Benedictine monks dedicated their lives to perfecting the wine-making process, and to creating new beverages. In fact, it was one of these monks – Dom Pierre Perignon – who is thought of as the original creator of champagne.
When you examine the scale, Italy, Spain, and France sit at the top of the wine production list, standing proudly above all others. As a collective, these three countries produce around fourteen million tons of wine every year.
They’re responsible for the production of more than fifty percent of the world’s wine, and of course, they’re all European countries. Behind them on the scale sits the United States, then China, Argentina, and Chile.
Not Just Making It, But Storing It
Europe isn’t just famous for the production of wine, but also the enormous wine cellars built around the continent to store it. For example, in Moldova sits the largest wine cellar on Earth, and it houses some two million bottles of wine.
It’s a vast expanse of underground tunnels that has held the official record for the world’s largest wine cellar since 2005. It’s so gargantuan that it must be traversed using a vehicle, such a low-emission car or a bike.
The wine kept within this cellar, known as Milestii Mici, can be purchased, but some of it is remarkably expensive. However, with the count constantly being expanded, it seems unlikely that the Milestii Mici cellar will ever run out of wine.
If it’s revisited in a thousand years, there’ll still be countless bottles present within the racks and shelves.
This further enhances the fact that Europe is the undisputed champion of wine in general – both production and storage. Outside of Europe, there’s no continent or individual country on Earth that comes close to beating it in these respects.
It’s estimated that overall, the wine industry is worth around thirty billion dollars – a remarkable sum of money for what is essentially old grapes. However, it’s an industry that will likely exist forever, given how much the human race loves its wine.