Wine with Leslie: Italy is at the core of modern wine world
Yes, the French created the first modern wine regulations in the 1930s but Italy can claim to have had designated regions for longer.
I’ve just finished listening to a fascinating book on the ancient near east by Amanda Podany entitled ‘Weavers, Scribes and Kings’ that delves into the 3000-year history of the Near East (e.g. Mesopotamia) as captured in the clay tablets used for record keeping.
As you might expect, wine gets lots of mentions as it is as old as civilisation, although barley and date beer were the daily drink of regular folk with wine kept for the aristocracy.
