Mead Honey Wine is widely believed to be the oldest fermented beverage on the planet. Mead Honey Wine was around before the Roman Empire or when Jesus made wine from water. It was there a long time before France became the authority on wine or California toppled French wines from their throne in international wine competitions. Many famous people in history drank mead honey wine, including King Tut, Eric the Red, and Queen Elizabeth.
Our word “honeymoon” comes from the tradition of giving newlyweds a month’s supply of mead honey wine which was believed to increase the chances of having male offspring. One of my favorite legends of modern mead's birth is that monks, who raised bees, washed their barrels with water. They discovered over time that when honey was mixed with water, its natural preservatives were broken down enough so that fermentation could begin. This fermentation was experimented with and mead was born. Mead Honey Wine was probably around quite some time before even the monks though, so it is more likely that a bee hive got wet and began to ferment before a lucky human stumbled across it and discovered mead honey wine.
Bees live and make honey everywhere while grapes originally grew only in the temperate Mediterranean and a few more varieties were discovered by the Vikings in the New World. The grape vines were so prolific, Leif Erikson dubbed the Americas Vineland while drinking his daily mug of mead honey wine. Because honey was available everywhere, mead honey wine became the predominant fermented beverage on the planet. Grape wine eventually became more popular because grapes are an easier medium to work with. Fermenting honey is more difficult because of its natural preservatives.
Modern yeasts and wine making technology has changed this. Now mead honey wine is ready to be discovered again. Mead honey wine has a rich history that is greatly unknown in modern circles. It is not just a crude drink of the past, but a very delicious and sophisticated drink that can be enjoyed with a meal or on its own. Hidden Legend Winery is one modern winery that is dedicated to producing high quality meads. Mead honey wine is a wonderful beverage that represents a frontier waiting to be discovered.
