Wine

Facets of everyday Roman life, from food to travel to petkeeping. "How did the Romans...?" answered here!

Moderator: Aldus Marius

Wine

Postby Tiberius Dionysius Draco on Thu Jan 29, 2004 9:35 pm

Salvete Romani,

As we all know wine was used daily by the Romans and is still being used by modern-day people on a daily basis. Wine also plays an imporatant role here on the forum (just count the number of times that wine or amphora is used at the Symposii Philosphici).

And it got me wondering, were there any well known wines during the Roman Empire, or areas that were famous for their quality wine? And does the custom of squashing freshly picked grapes in a barrel with bare feet date from the Roman period?

If anyone knows the awnser to one of these questions, I might just buy him/her a drink :wink:

Valete bene,
Tiberius Dionysius Draco
User avatar
Tiberius Dionysius Draco
Curator
Curator
 
Posts: 458
Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2002 5:18 pm
Location: Belgica

Postby Horatius Piscinus on Thu Jan 29, 2004 10:45 pm

Salve Tiberi

More people really need to read their Pliny. He is filled with all kinds of information. Natural History Liber XIV is devoted to viticulture and 14.53-57 will answer your question on famous wines. As for crushing grapes with the feet, that goes back before the introduction of wine to Rome. Articles on ancient wine and the process frequently come up in magazines devoted to archaeology. In fact Archaeology Odyssey had such an article a couple years back, I think on Egyptian wine-making, and more recently there has been some stories on wines of Cyprus in the ancient world.

Vale bene
M Horatius Piscinus

Sapere aude!
User avatar
Horatius Piscinus
Curialis
Curialis
 
Posts: 1194
Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2002 7:39 am
Location: Ohio, USA

Postby ariadne sergia fausta on Fri Jun 11, 2004 12:55 pm

It surprised me that nowbody mentionned the Falernum, the "Bordeaux" of the ancient Rome

"In ancient Rome, the preferred wines came from Campania, from the plain area between sea and mountain, crossed by the Volturno River. Because of its unique climate it was called Campania Felix.
At that time, the most famous wine was the Falernum (today known as Falerno) produced at the slopes of the Massico mount, in the province of Caserta, with Aglianico and Falanghina grapes born from very ancient vines brought here by the Greeks 3,000 years ago. Falernum red wine is from the Aglianico vine, Falernum white wine is from Falanghina vine.
Falernum is the Emperors’ wine as described by the Latin poets. It was so famous that the Roman ships delivered it everywhere in the known world.
After the Romans, the Popes have been fond of this wine.
These special vines risked extinction at the beginning of the 20th century owing to a parasite that destroyed its roots. Only some vines succeeded in surviving in the provinces of Caserta, Avellino and Benevento.
Nowadays, many producers in these areas, after working long on their vines, have taken back Falerno to its ancient prestige. We can also thank the professionalism of great oenologists.
Falerno rebirth began about 50 years ago due to the work of “oenological archaeology” lead by a small company based on the Massico Mount hills: Azienda Villa Matilde (Strada Statale Domiziana, Località Cellole – Caserta). After long research, the farm managed to single out the grapes used by the Romans, discovering again the ancient “Aglianico” vine.
- Falerno del Massico (Vigna Camarato) Villa Matilde: D.O.C. red wine from Aglianico grapes, with intense nose of flowers like violet, plum, sour black cherry and berry fruits, extremely long rich palate. Excellent wine with very good tannin, it can stand a long ageing.
Perfect with lamb and baked potatoes, roasted meat and hot cheeses.
- Falerno del Massico (Vigna Caracci) Villa Matilde: D.O.C. white wine from Falanghina grapes. The nose is of white and yellow flowers like broom, apple and exotic friuts. The palate is an ensemble of all these flavours. It is perfect with spaghetti with clams, baked fish, pasta and beans, pork meats.
Another farm in this area has contributed to the salvage of another precious vine: Aglianico; it is the Azienda Mastrobernardino (località Atripalda – Avellino) that produces an excellent wine called Taurasì (one of the most important Italian red wines). Its name derives from Taurasia, an ancient town near Avellino, quoted by Tito Livio for its very good vines.
- Taurasì (Radici) Mastrobernardino: D.O.C.G. red wine, from Aglianico grapes. The nose is of rose and violet, red mature fruits and spices. The palate is complex and austere with velvet tannin. Powerful wine ideal for a very long ageing. Very good with filled pastas, baked meats, game, truffles and seasoned cheeses.
The Aglianico grape has a great personality and an ancient flavour unique to our country. Its heritage is of Southern Italy viticulture, it is a continuously evolving vine that has already reached a very high level of quality that will characterise the future of the Italian wines.

Ancient Romans were right, their Vinum Falernum survived history.


uit "http://www.romecentral.com/article_list_singleeventpage.php?id=18&title=Wine%20Review:%20Ancient%20Roman%20wines"

I didn't know that is was still possible to buy Falernum today, but I fear that it is really expensive

Ariadne
User avatar
ariadne sergia fausta
I. Auxiliary
I. Auxiliary
 
Posts: 23
Joined: Sat May 22, 2004 7:49 pm


Return to Collegium Vitae Quotidianae

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests