Many believe Khollar, a rugged area of southern Iran was the original source of the grape used to create the world-famous Shiraz wine - today produced in vineyards in California, Australia, France and South Africa. The claim is disputed by some experts, who believe the grape to have originated in France. What is not in doubt, however, is the central place of wine in an ancient Persian culture held dear by many Iranians.
Even Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the famously ascetic father of the revolution - and an amateur poet in his spare time - composed verse praising "wine bearers and wine shops", although it is widely assumed his references were allegory for the spiritual joy of religious belief.
According to legend, the roots of wine's hallowed status lie in Khollar. Credit is given to one of Iran's ancient mythical kings, Jamshid, who is said to have discovered its medicinal qualities after his wife became gravely ill but later made a spectacular recovery. This was attributed to the fermented liquid she had drunk from grapes blown into ditches during a storm. Convinced of its benefits, Jamshid brought settlers to the area, who, the story goes, established the town of Khollar.
Scientists have provided a more precise explanation. They analysed six containers discovered more than two decades ago in Hajji Firuz Tepe, a Neolithic village in the Zagros mountains, and concluded that wine was being made in Iran as far back as 7,000 years ago - 2,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Ever resourceful and independent of mind, Khollar's few remaining denizens have nonetheless found a way to continue their proud tradition. They do so by pouring freshly squeezed grape juice into clay pots, which are then placed in freshly dug ditches before being covered with sheep droppings to aid fermentation and, coincidentally, escape the eyes of any law enforcement authorities who might have occasion to visit.
Shorn of its previous inhabitants and cut off from its time-honoured source of income, Khollar lacks something generally deemed essential in contemporary Iran - a proper mosque.
