It’s true that the Italians were not the first to invent wine. But more than any other people throughout history, they have demonstrated a serious passion for it. No one has to explain that the Italians are passionate people to start with- about romance, art, culture, family. Wine is also a very important part of life and everyday, which is why the Italians care so much to perfect the production process and quality of taste. The origin of wine actually lies in ancient Mesopotamia, near present-day Iran, sometime between 4000-3000 B.C. The Greeks brought the art of wine making to Southern Italy and Sicily. The Etruscans, from Asia Minor, gave it to central Italy. It might have been love at first taste, but the Romans, in particular, obsessed enough about the Greek process to later refine it and make improvements. They enhanced the Greek presses used for extracting the juices from grapes, increasing the yields, which became especially important as the demand for wine naturally grew as the population expanded.
