In our last look into the history of wine, we explored destinations that were making wine during prehistoric times. As we continue exploring wine production through the ages, we now turn to ancient Rome, in the days of the Republic Era and the beginnings of the Roman Empire. During this time, practices were traded as much as the wines themselves were, and the people of this era developed the techniques that are still used to this day. All across the Mediterranean you will find ruins, vineyards, and museums that tell the tales of ancient viticulture; too many, of course, for us to explore in a single article. But let us offer a glimpse with a few of the most influential regions where you can visit to learn more about the history of wine in ancient Rome.
Nemia, Peloponnese, Greece
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While wine production was already happening in Italy when the Mycenaean Greeks began to set up colonies, it is commonly believed that these settlers brought new techniques and practices to the region. Ancient Greeks saw wine as a daily necessity and a crucial trading commodity, so they coveted the fertile hills of Sicily, referring to the region as Oenotria, or “land of vines.” As Rome expanded its own colonies throughout the following centuries, it continued to exchange knowledge of viticulture with the regions it conquered, spreading the techniques it learned from Greece across the Western world.
Throughout the ages, Greek wine was heavily sought after in Rome, with domestically produced wine being considered much less desirable. Across Greece, you can find ruins of cities and other archeological sites where this prized wine was grown and crafted. Pictured above is one such site in Peloponnese called Nemia. Not only was this an important region for wine production throughout the ages of the Roman Empire, it is currently Greece’s largest red wine appellation, often referred to as the “Bordeaux of Greece.” A trip here will allow you to step into the past by seeing the ancient ruins, learning from the museums, and sampling the world-renowned wines that the locals have spent centuries crafting and perfecting.
Carthage, Tunisia
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Carthage was already a producer and trader of wine before they were conquered by Rome in the Punic Wars in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE. Archeological finds of pressers and cellars prove a storied history with wine production, and shipwrecks stocked with wine-bearing amphorae confirm the existence of a healthy trade economy with their neighbors. In their conflict with, and eventual conquest of Carthage, Rome had again gained even more viticultural knowledge, expanding their understanding of climate and terrain on grape quality.
Mago of Carthage, one of the world’s most influential writers of agriculture, wrote extensively about the practices of this time. After the conquest, his work was translated into Greek and Latin and was often quoted by other great authors on the subject. The original Punic writings have been lost to time, but some fragments have survived, offering a glimpse into the knowledge the Carthaginians added to Rome’s. With such a heavy and yet overlooked influence on the development of global wine production, a trip to Carthage makes for a worthy addition to any wine-lover's bucket list.
Pompeii, Italy
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Before the famed eruption of Mount Vesuvius that wiped it out, the city of Pompeii was a central wine producer for the Roman Republic. The effects of its loss were thus far reaching and resulted in a wine shortage across Rome. To combat this, the Romans began planting new vineyards closer to Rome, even rooting up grain fields to make room. This, predictably, traded a wine shortage for a food shortage that caused Roman Emperor Domitian to put a ban on new vineyards some 13 years later.
Ironically, the abrupt eruption that covered Pompeii’s vineyards in volcanic ash and pumice also preserved them for study by archeologists. Because of this, Mastroberardino Cellars in Atripalda has been able to replicate the practices of the time and identify the grape varietals that were used, crafting the closest approximation to what wine was like at the time. It is impossible to know how modern viticulture would have been affected had Pompeii not been destroyed, but at least this rare window into the past helps us understand just a little bit more about the wine production of Ancient Rome.
