PHOTO: TOMB OF CYRUS THE GREAT -- FOUNDER OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE (550 BC)

"......FIRSTHAND OBSERVATIONS OF XENOPHON IN THE ANABASIS AND THE EDUCATION OF CYRUS.....CYRUS THE GREAT HAD A CONNOISSEUR'S SENSIBILITY ABOUT WINE. WHENEVER HE DISCOVERED A PARTICULARLY FINE WINE, HE WOULD DRINK ONLY HALF OF WHAT HE HAD BEEN SERVED -- PROBABLY AS MUCH AS 3 LITERS.....AND WOULD SEND THE OTHER HALF TO A FRIEND, WITH A NOTE: 'FOR SOME TIME, CYRUS HAS NOT FOUND A MORE PLEASANT WINE THAN THIS; AND HE THEREFORE SENDS SOME TO YOU, BEGGING YOU TO DRINK IT TODAY WITH THOSE WHOM YOU LOVE BEST.'"

FROM "ANCIENT WINE: THE SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINS OF VINICULTURE", BY PATRICK E. McGOVERN