The Ides of March and Ancient Roman Wine

Today is the Ides of March, originally the mark of the Roman New Year but more widely known as the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated back in 44 BC. As such, I thought I'd do some research on ancient Roman wine making and consumption.

Unsurprisingly, wine was of great importance to the Romans, and many people across all classes would drink it. However, the wine of the ancient Romans was very different than what we consume today. The process to harvest and ferment the grapes was quite similar to what's presently done: grapes are pressed after harvest, crushed by foot, and fermented in large terracotta containers in the ground with holes on the top that allowed CO2 to escape. The resulting wine from this process was quite unpalatable, so Romans would make a number of adjustments. For example, marble dust would be used to reduce acidity, wine was boiled or honey or lead (??) were added to sweeten the wine, some people added their selection of spices to the wine to flavor it and give it medicinal qualities, and others diluted the wine with water (the "drinking water" was not potable, so the alcohol killed off the bacteria).

Consumption was high -- on average, one bottle was consumed per person per day! Some of the more coveted wines came from the regions of modern day Campania and Lazio in Italy, which are now not as well known for their wines as a place like Tuscany (whose wines in Ancient Rome were not considered high quality). Prior to the Mount Vesuvius eruption, Pompeii was also quite famous in the Roman Empire for its wine. Its vineyards were devastated by the eruption, but are now being revived thanks to the documentation (which grapes were planted and how) of author and naturalist Pliny the Elder back in the first century AD.

If you happen to be in Southern France or Italy in the (not near) future, it seems there are a couple of wineries that can evoke the flavors of wine from the ancient Roman Empire. Mas de Tourelles in France uses the techniques described above that winemakers used to use. In Campania, you can try wine made from the red anglianico, finao, or greco grapes, or the sweet Falanghina wine. Lazio wines include Terbbiano and Malvasia di Candia.

As the Romans said back in the day: "Dignitas Amicorum Pie Zeses Vivas!" (Worthy among your friends! Drink that you may live. May you live!)

https://finewineconcierge.com/the-ides-of-march
https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/features/what-does-a-two-thousand-year-old-wine-taste-like
http://tourelles.com/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/drsarahbond/2016/12/31/drink-and-live-among-the-good-ancient-toasts-to-welcome-the-new-year/#7bfe66c563d3