Red Grapes Mug

Grapes represent charity in the world of the spiritual meaning of flowers. Grapes are said to be the oldest cultivated fruit. Grapes were found in Egyptian tombs and in the tombs of pre-Christ era as well. This proves the popularity of this fruit.The Phoenicians took grapevines from Asia to Greece around 1000 BC. The Mediterranean climate suited grapes, so it started spreading throughout the Mediterranean region. The European grapes were brought to America by the Spanish and the Portuguese. In 1655, the Dutch took grapes along with them to Cape of Good Hope, where the 'vitis capnsis' soon became a native species. Gradually grapes became a popular crop in Australia and South America too. Wild grapes were present in the Caucasus region in the Stone Age itself. This was the time when man learnt fermentation and began to turn grapes into wine. It is a fact that the Egyptians were the first to make wine. But they made it only for the religious purposes and for their temple rituals. They didn't indulge in social drinking. It was the Greeks and the Romans who started growing grapes for the production of other things, mainly sugar substitutes, because sugar was virtually unknown to them. They prepared different kinds of syrups like sapa, defrutum, passum, etc.. These syrups were of different concentrations and were used to add taste in various dishes. Grape syrups are still prepared in Turkey and Levant regions. Verjuice was another product made out of unripened grapes which was mainly used as a substitute to vinegar.