VINE GRAP
Target group: 21
vine grap nobilis
scientific name: Vitis
Genus:Vitis
Species:acerifolia
Vulgar Name
Spanish: uva de vino
Basque: ardoko fruitua
Italian: della vite
Greek: σταφυλιών αμπέλου
Morphological description
Uses, threats and singularity
Seedless grapes
Seedless cultivars now make up the overwhelming majority of table grape plantings. Because grapevines are vegetatively propagatedby cuttings, the lack of seeds does not present a problem for reproduction. It is an issue for breeders, who must either use a seeded variety as the female parent or rescue embryos early in development using tissue culture techniques.
Raisins, currants and sultanas In most of Europe and North America, dried grapes are referred to as "raisins" or the local equivalent. In the UK, three different varieties are recognized, forcing the EU to use the term "dried vine fruit" in official documents. A raisin is any dried grape. While raisin is a French loanword, the word in French refers to the fresh fruit; grappe (from which the English grape is derived) refers to the bunch (as in une grappe de raisins). Juice Grape juice is obtained from crushing and blending grapes into a liquid. The juice is often sold in stores orfermented and made into wine, brandy or vinegar. Grape juice that has been pasteurized, removing any naturally occurring yeast, will not ferment if kept sterile, and thus contains no alcohol. In the wine industry, grape juice that contains 7–23% of pulp, skins, stems and seeds is often referred to as "must". In North America, the most common grape juice is purple and made from Concord grapes, while white grape juice is commonly made from Niagara grapes, both of which are varieties of native American grapes, a different species from European wine grapes. In California, Sultana (known there as Thompson Seedless) grapes are sometimes diverted from the raisin or table market to produce white juice.
Symbolism
History of wine
Much of modern wine culture derives from the practices of the ancient Greeks. The vine preceded both the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Many of the grapes grown in modern Greece are grown there exclusively and are similar or identical to the varieties grown in ancient times. Indeed, the most popular modern Greek wine, a strongly aromatic white called retsina, is thought to be a carryover from the ancient practice of lining the wine jugs with tree resin, imparting a distinct flavor to the drink.
The "Feast of the Wine" (Me-tu-wo Ne-wo) was a festival in Mycenaean Greececelebrating the "Month of the New Wine" Several ancient sources, such as the Roman Pliny the Elder, describe the ancient Greek method of using partly dehydratedgypsum before fermentation and some type of lime after, in order to reduce the acidity of the wine. The Greek Theophrastus provides the oldest known description of this aspect of Greek winemaking.
In Homeric mythology, wine is usually served in "mixingn blows" rather than consumed in an undiluted state. Dionysus, the Greek god of revelry and wine—frequently referred to in the works of Homer and Aesopo—was sometimes given the epithet Acratophorus, "giver of unmixed wine".Homer frequently refers to the "wine-dark sea" (οἶνωψ πόντος, oīnōps póntos): under the intensely blue Greek sky, the Aegean Sea as seen from aboard a boat can appear deep purple.
The earliest reference to a named wine is from the 7th-century BC lyrical poet Alcman, who praises Dénthis, a wine from the western foothills of Mount TaYGETUS in MESSENIA, asanthosmías ("flowery-scented").Chian was credited as the first red wine , although it was known to the Greeks as "black wine".Coan was mixed with sea water and famously salty;Pramnian or Lesbian wine was a famous export as well. Aristotle mentions Lemnian wine, which was probably the same as the modern-day Lemnió varietal, a red wine with a bouquet of oregano and th thyme. If so, this makes Lemnió the oldest known varietal still in cultivation.
For Greece, alcohol such as wine had not fully developed into the rich ‘cash crop’ that it would eventually become toward the peak of its reign. However, as the emphasis of viticulture increased with economic demand so did the consumption of alcohol during the years to come. The Greeks embraced the production aspect as a way to expand and create economic growth throughout the region. Greek wine was widely known and exported throughout the meditarranean, as amphoras with Greek styling and art have been found throughout the area. The Greeks may have even been involved in the first appearance of wine in ancient Egypt. They introduced the V. vinifera vine to and made wine in their numerous colonies in modern-day Italy,SICILY southern France,and Spain
Fame, inmortality, and resurrection
Christians have traditionally used wine during worship services as a means of remembering the blood of Jesus Christ which was shed for the remission of sins. Christians who oppose the partaking of alcoholic beverages sometimes use grape juice or water as the "cup" or "wine" in the Lord's Supper.
Symbolic dreams and inspiration
Symbolism involving the grapevine dates back thousands of years, to the times of the ancient Greeks. In Greek mythology there was even a god of a vintage (Dionysus, known as Bacchus in the Roman tradition). Dionysus would carry around a grape vine or bunches of grapes whenever he was represented in paintings and images. Many festivals and banquets had wine toasts to Dionysus as a tradition, and Greek wine cups were often even decorated with wine and grapes as a tribute to the god.
The grapevine also frequently occurs as a symbol in Christianity and the New Testament. One parable told by Jesus likens the Kingdom of Heaven to a father engaging laborers within his vineyard. Jesus even uses the vine as a symbol of Himself, saying “I am the vine.” Because of this symbolism, many important Roman figures (after the Roman Empire had adopted Christianity) use the images of vines and grapes on their graves or in mosaics in which they are depicted. The grapevine makes frequent occurrences in the older scriptures as well, with the vine being the symbol of God’s chosen people, the children of Abraham.
In most of these situations, you can see that the use of a grapevine as a symbol that is tied into fertility and prosperity.
It is therefore appropriate that My Olive Tree helps to literally create more fertility in the desert by using grape vines, a symbol of fertility that stretches back to Israel’s early history.
We are proud to continue the ancient tradition of growing grapes in the region and to be bringing life back to the desert. Please contact us today for more information about how you can sponsor this incredible project.
DIONISIO
Dionysus had a strange birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian pantheon. His mother was a mortal woman, Semele, the daughter of king Cadmus ofThebes, and his father was Zeus, the king of the gods. Zeus' wife, Hera, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant. Appearing as an old crone (in other stories a nurse), Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that Zeus was the actual father of the baby in her womb. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood.
Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she persisted and he agreed. Therefore, he came to her wreathed in bolts of lightning; mortals, however, could not look upon an undisguised god without dying, and she perished in the ensuing blaze. Zeus rescued the unborn Dionysus by sewing him into his thigh. A few months later, Dionysus was born on Mount Pramnos in the island of Ikaria, where Zeus went to release the now-fully-grown baby from his thigh. In this version, Dionysus is born by two "mothers" (Semele and Zeus) before his birth, hence the epithet dimētōr (of two mothers) associated with his being "twice-born".
In the Cretan version of the same story, which Diodorus Siculus follows,[18] Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Persephone, the queen of the Greek underworld. Diodorus' sources equivocally identified the mother as Demeter. A jealous Hera again attempted to kill the child, this time by sending Tit Titans to rip Dionysus to pieces after luring the baby with toys. It is said that he was mocked by the Titans who gave him a thyrsus (a fennel stalk) in place of his rightful sceptre. Zeus turned the Titans into dust with his thunderbolts, but only after the Titans ate everything but the heart, which was saved, variously, by Athena Rhea, or Demeter. Zeus used the heart to recreate him in his thigh, hence he was again "the twice-born". Other versions claim that Zeus recreated him in Semele's womb, or that he impregnated Semele by giving her the heart to eat.
His rebirth is the primary reason for the worship of Dionysus in several mystery religions. Variants of the narrative are found in Callimachus and Nonnus , who refer to this Dionysus with the title Zagreus, and also in several fragmentary poems attributed to Orpheus.
The myth of the dismemberment of Dionysus by the Titans, is alluded to by Plato in his Phaedo (69d) in which Socrates claims that the initiations of the Dionysian Mysteries are similar to those of the philosophic path. Late Neo-Platonists such as Damascius explore the implications of this at length.