Moldova has the biggest number of vineyards per capita in the world | Hacker News Reader

Moldova has the biggest number of vineyards per capita in the world

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21 pointsmariuz9 comments

I have a friend who traveled to Georgia a few months ago and came back with stories about how proud they are of the vineyards and make it a must see part of any visit and while they were very impressed by all the enthusiasm the wine itself was less impressive. My understanding is a lot of the grape growing in that whole region started as a way to keep the Roman legions busy and productive and the methods/tastes have not changed as much since then as the rest of the world. I imagine Moldova is quite similar.

It's definitely not true that the Romans introduced winemaking to Georgia. It's been made there for 8000 years and might have been the site of original domestication of the vine. They still make wine in a similar way so that means these methods are even more ancient than your story about the Romans suggest. e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvevri

To add to this, there is genetic evidence that there were two separate domestication events for wine grapes, one in Georgia and one in the Near East: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg6617

Does Moldova still have the highest number of grape-picking-by-day guerilla-raiding-by-night brunettes per capita?

If you find out, let me know, that sounds fun

they are picking a different type of grape by night.

How else am I supposed to get drunk on Țuică

For that you want orchards.

(my understanding is that number of vineyards has a lot to do with inheritance customs/laws: in areas with equal inheritances the vines get parcelled out smaller and smaller each generation; in areas with primogeniture the fact that some lines die out means vines concentrate into larger and larger holdings — compare how small villages wind up having but three or four surnames)

That's pretty cool!

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