LABELS
While we may
still need to decode a wine label in order to understand all of the vital
information it’s imparting, we have to admit that the label is a very
convenient invention. It’s quite hard to imagine what we’d do if we were
uninformed about the wine inside the bottle. Without the label, there’d be no
way to identify the grapes used to make the wine, where the wine was made, who
made it, or it’s vintage. It would also be difficult to determine which wine
was worth more than another, making trade nearly impossible. Which is exactly
why, the ancient Egyptians invented the wine label.
From 1550 to 1070
BC Egypt dominated the wine trade. While wine did not originally exist in the
region, it made its way to Egypt via trade, and the Egyptians wholeheartedly
embraced and improved it. They first introduced standardized amphorae to make
the transportation of the wine easier, creating seals of reeds and clay that
protected the wine as it traveled across the world.
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| WINE MAKING ON WALL PAINTINGS - LUXOR |
As Egypt became
the center of the wine world, wine became the prestige beverage among
nobility. High priests and kings fell in love with wine and took to collecting
it by the thousands, building massive cellars to store the various wines they
had procured. They even brought the wines with them to the afterlife – King
Tutankhamen was buried with over 26 amphorae filled with different wines – and
they surrounded tombs with highly sought after wines that many thought would
benefit them in the next world.
But with so much
collecting and trading of wine, there was a small problem: no one knew exactly
what wine was inside each amphora, so a labeling system was adopted. The system
was incredibly specific; recording the year the wine was made, where it was
made, who made it, and even the style of the wine. All of this information was
imprinted on the clay amphorae as they dried. On top of these essential facts,
the Egyptians would often include notes on the amphorae that included how much
wine was inside and whether the wine was good, great or excellent – basically
creating the first wine ratings.
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| Wine amphoras in King Tutankhamun’s tomb, Valley of the Kings, Thebes, Egypt, c. 1330 BC Labeled “Year Four. Wine of very good quality of the House-of-Aton of the Western River. Chief vintner Khay.” |
Based on
excavations of Tutankhamen’s tomb, researchers uncovered that only wines from
certain years were buried with the king, leading them to believe that even
centuries ago, these ancient wine lovers were paying attention to which years
were good and which were bad.
