| Italy has cultivated vines using ancient Greek methods | | | | When the Genoese and Portuguese landed on |
| for thousands of years. Ancient Greece's viticulture | | | | Madeira, in 1420, Prince Henry the Navigator gave |
| influence stretched past southern Italy and Sicily -the | | | | orders for vines to be cultivated. Most of Madeira's |
| so-called Magna Grecia -to the Alps. Many Italian | | | | vineyards are derived from Cypriot stock, but the |
| names date back to the mid-Byzantine period | | | | island's Malmseys trace their origins to Crete. By the |
| -Aglianico, Aleatico, Greco, Malvasia, | | | | 16th century, 'Greek-style' wines had become the |
| Moscato-Moscatelli, Romania and Vin Santo must all | | | | famous Madeiras. |
| be considered to have Greek origins. The 14th century | | | | Rising demand for Spanish sweet wines coincided |
| judge Petrus de Crescentiis refers specifically to | | | | with-if it did not partly result from-the end of Romania. |
| viticultural methods inherited from Greece. | | | | Soon after the Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks in |
| Veneto, in particular, was influenced by the Greek | | | | 1453, Andalusia became the primary source region for |
| style-all of its finest wines were made from grapes | | | | sweet wines modelled on those from the Aegean. |
| half-dried in the sun. The strong, sweet Recioto and | | | | The Spanish planted Cretan vines on the Canary |
| Amarone are believed to have been Venetian | | | | Islands in 1490 and 'Canary sack' remained popular in |
| adaptations of wines from the Aegean islands and | | | | England for the whole of the 16th century. |
| Cyprus. | | | | Spanish and Italian adaptations competed with |
| The Genoese transported Muscat vines from the | | | | authentic Greek wines from the Venetian territories to |
| Aegean to southern Spain and cuttings may have left | | | | the point where the 14th-century Catalan author |
| Cyprus for France and central Europe as early as the | | | | Frances Eixemienis felt obliged to declare his |
| 13th century. Tokay and Marsala wines are still | | | | preference for sweet wine from Cyprus, Crete and |
| sourced from Cypriot grapes that arrived in Hungary | | | | Majorca. To distinguish the real from the copied, Italy |
| and Sicily during this period. In the 14th century, the | | | | and Spain created the designation 'Greco'. |
| Portuguese port of Azoia, to the south of Lisbon, | | | | The appellation 'Romania' (Romaney or Rumney to the |
| began to produce Osoye, a Muscatel probably | | | | English) referred to original Greek wines as well as |
| sourced from Levantine vines that would resemble the | | | | Greek-style wines. |
| wines found today in the region around Setubal. | | | | |