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→Later Developments
After the Roman collapse in Europe, very like the culture of wine would have died as well. However, the now spiritual connection of wine with religious sacraments, kept its relevance even in regions where it did not grow well. Thus, as Christianity spread, so did wine. Northern Europe became more of a beer and ale drinking culture, due to the climate being more favorable to wheat and barley based alcoholic drinks. However, the need wine for in mass resulted in the constant need to import wine. This created an important business opportunity for a variety of monastic orders. Thus, perhaps not surprisingly, the best and most prolific wine producers in the early Medieval period were different orders of monasteries. The Benedictines, in particular, became well known wine makers, often exporting their produce to raise funds in addition to being used for sacraments. Virtual monopolies were established throughout Europe by monastic orders on wine production and trade.
After centuries of growing grapes in different parts of Europe, varieties began to form that have become some of the best known wine types today. Riesling, for instance, was a white grape variety that grew well in the Rhine Valley, which has developed their since the 15th century. Burgundy in France became well known for variety of wines, including developing Pino Gris, Pinot noir, and chablis and others that had begun to develop already by the Roman period. Chenin blanc was another white grape variety developed in Anjou(Figure 2).
In the New World, Vitis (or grape family) vines did grow, but they do not seemed to have been utilized from making wine. Although various alcoholic drinks were known to native populations in the New World, it was the Spanish that brough wine types from Europe to the New World. As shipping was still relatively poor in preserving wine quality, early Spanish explorers and settlers soon preferred to grow wine rather than import it from Europe. With wine production moving to the New World, many experiments began to make wine more adept in growing in more extreme climates found in the New World. British explorers to Australia and New Zealand also brought different grapes and since the late 18th century the wine culture in Australia and later New Zealand, although initially failing, began to be come very successful in the 19th century. Types of shiraz wine, in particular, grew well in those regions. In New Zealand, Syrah and Pinot noir grapes were among the initial successful wines that grew in the climate.
In the United States, the oldest continuous winery is found in New York state, which was founded by a French Huguenot, in 1810. Wine spread to cold regions of Canada, where specialized ice wine became developed, which is a type of sweet wine. By 1811, settlers in Hawaii even began to grow wine in tropical conditions.
[[File:29-autunno,Taccuino Sanitatis, Casanatense 4182..jpeg|thumbnail|Figure 2. 14th century wine pressing.]]
==Summary==
