Noah, the tiller of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within the tent.
Genesis 9:20-21

So the first man to grow wine was also the first flasher. Best not to linger on this unhappy coincidence; of greater interest to me is where Noah is alleged to have carried out his planting, drinking, etc.: the southern Tigris-Euphrates valley, in what is now eastern Turkey.

The Bible may well have got it right.  According to the experts, Turkey competes with Georgia as the most likely birthplace of wine. The country boasts over a thousand varieties of vine, and it was a vigorous winemaking nation from earliest antiquity until the 10th century AD, when Islam arrived.  Thereafter, Turkey and wine had very little to do with one another.  Read the rest of this entry »