I'll drink to that where we get behind the scenes of the beverage business.

I'm Levy Dalton.

I'm Erin Scala and here's our show today. Oh, One of the first places Phoenicians planted venephrine's was in Gyak, around 300 BC.

They also established an an fora production facility nearby to have vessels to transport

the wines.

Gyak's location had ideal conditions for grape growing, and the area was also situated near roads

that led to Leon and a river that led to the Bordeaux Port and therefore ultimately

the export market of England.

So from the start, the region had three things going for it.

Good wine, plenty of enforas, and several trade routes to market.

About a thousand years after vines were first introduced to the area,

Gyak was all but destroyed in a series of invasions,

and winemaking had just about disappeared.

But the area was revitalized by Benedictine monks.

The monks focused on quality control. They forbade blending in wines from

other regions. They limited fertilizers and they set strict guidelines for pruning and harvesting.

The more focused monastic winemaking tradition increased quality

and the Gyak wines grew in reputation.

In the early 1700s, a freak winter freeze damaged or killed most of the vines,

and it also damaged warehoused wine that hadn't been shipped yet.

Barrels froze and burst and most of the stored wine was lost.

In this one winter freeze, the region lost much of their vineyards and backstock, and they suffered a decline.

...