"Ah me, so wine lives longer than miserable man. So let us be merry. Wine is life."
(Petronius, Satyricon 34)
Types of Ancient Wines Available to the Romans[]
| Wine Name | Region | Wine Class | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absinthiates | Italy | 4th | Example of wines used for medicinal purposes. Absinthiates roughly corresponds to modern Vermouth. |
| Albanum | Italy | 3rd | A preferred wine among the upper classes, it provided several varieties of flavors including very sweet, sweetish, rough, and sharp. It was considered perfect if kept for 15 years. |
| Amineum | Italy | 4th | It was of Grecian origin, having been conveyed by a Thessalian tribe to Italy (a story which would seem to refer to some Pelasgian migration), and reared chiefly in Campania around Naples, and in the Falernus ager. Its characteristic existence was the great body and consequent durability of its wine |
| Babylonium | Syria | 4th | A wine with great similarities to Chalybonium, originally from Beroea, but afterwards grown in the neighbourhood of Damascus also, was the chosen and only drink of the Great King, called nectar by Chaereus and the Βύβλινος from Phoenicia. It is spoken of elsewhere as Thracian, or Grecian, or Sicilian, which may have arisen from the same grape having been disseminated through these countries. |
| Baeterrae | France | 4th | A Gallic (or later French) wine that was considered acceptable to the Romans. It's grape was cultivated in the south, or Narbonensis. |
| Balearic | Spain | 4th | A wine of the Balearic isles (Hispania) that was considered a worthy import. |
| Caecuban | Italy | 1st | Another sweet wine of Latium. Before the imperial period, this seems to have been the most prized grape variety. This grape too, seems to have suffered under Nero's canal. |
| Calenum | Italy | 3rd | Hailing from Cales, Calenum was a large grape and its wine, according to Pliny, was better for the stomach than Falernian. |
| Chalybonium | Syria | 4th | An eastern wine, whose finest product seems to have come from near Damascus, Syria. |
| Chian | Greek | 4th | Perhaps the most prized Greek wine, with the best variety coming from Ariusium. |
| Falernian | Italy | 2nd | A highly prized wine, available mainly to the upper classes. It was made from the Aminean grape originating near Naples, but transfered to Mt. Falernus between Latium and Campania. These vines grew best around elm trees. It produced a full-bodied drink that was best when aged between 10 and 20 years, and had a near yeast killing alcohol content of up to 16%. |
| Formianum | Italy | 3rd | From the gulf of Caieta and associated by Horace with the Caecuban, Falernian, and Calenian. |
| Fundanum | Italy | 3rd | Again, Pliny suggests that this wine was full bodied and nourishing, but apt to attack both stomach and head; therefore little sought after at banquets. |
| Gauranum | Italy | 3rd | From the ridge above Baiae and Puteoli, produced in small quantity, but of very high quality, full bodied. |
| Lauro | Spain | 4th | A wine of Hispania that was considered a worthy import. |
| Laeetani | Spain | 4th | Another wine of Hispania, that was famed not so much for quality, but for the massive quantity in which it was produced. |
| Lesbian | Greek | 4th | A Greek wine hailing from the island of Lesbos, and Mytilene in particular. It was considered light, wholesome and had natural taste of salt water. |
| Lora | Italy | 4th | A bitter wine made from the grape skin husks, seeds and any other product left over from the pressing process. Fermented by soaking in water, it was generally served to slaves, though some lower classes, and even soldiers may have had access to wines that were hardly any better. Varro, however claimed that it was the drink of old women. Today these excess grape products are used in distilling the liquor Grappa. |
| Mamertine | Sicily | 4th | This wine, also called Messanic, hailed from Sicily and was made fashionable by Julius Caesar. He served it often as his various public events and triumphs. The finest of this type was called Potalanum. |
| Mareoticum | Egypt | 4th | An Egyptian grape originating near Alexandria. It was said to be white, sweet, fragrant and light. |
| Massicum | Italy | 3rd | Another product of Naples vines. It was considered a harsh wine. |
| Meroënian | Nubia | 4th | Ascending through Nubia, to the confluence of the Nile with the Astapus, we reach Meroë, whose wine has been immortalized by Lucan. |
| Messanic | Sicily | 4th | See MAMERTINE. |
| Mulsum | Italy | 4th | A common class wine, generally sweetened with honey and served to Plebes and the lower classes at public events. |
| Mustum | Italy | 4th | A low quality grape juice, mixed with vinegar and drank fresh after pressing. |
| Myrtites | Italy | 4th | Example of wines used for medicinal purposes. Myrtites was a general medicine aiding many ailments. |
| Passum | Crete | 4th | Raisin wine. Obviously made from nearly completely dried grapes. It's most prized variety was imported from Crete. |
| Posca | Italy | 4th | A sour vinegar like wine (acetum) mixed with water to reduce the bitterness and generally available to soldiers and lower classes. |
| Potalanum | Sicily | 4th | See MAMERTINE. |
| Privernatinum | Italy | 3rd | A thin and pleasant wine from Privernum, a town on the Volscian hills |
| Rhaetic | Italy | 4th | A sweet wine made from grapes grown in the Alps, especially prized from near Verona, Italy. Suetonius claims that this wine, and not Setinum was actually the favorite of Augustus. |
| Rheginum | Italy | 3rd | Similar to Privernatinum. |
| Scillites | Italy | 4th | Example of wines used for medicinal purposes. Scillites was used for digestion and as a tonic. |
| Sebennyticum | Greece | 4th | The wine of Antylla, a town not far from Alexandria, regarded as cheap wine. |
| Setinum | Italy | 1st | An strong, sweet Italian wine of Latium considered perhaps the best of wines. It was the favored wine of Augustus hailing from the hills of Setia. However, Setinum seems to have fallen into disfavor and became nearly extinct due to miscultivation and the canal of Nero that was dug out directly in this grapes natural habitat. |
| Signinum | Italy | 3rd | From Signia, a town on the Volscian hills, this wine looked upon only in the light of a medicine, being valuable for its astringent qualities. |
| Surrentinum | Italy | 3rd | Hailing from the bay of Naples, this mid class wine was considered lacking in richness and very dry. It was best when kept between 5 and 20 years. The Emperor Tiberius referred to it as nothing more than generous vinegar. His successor Caligula called it nobilis vappa, indicated it being known as worthless. Of course, these men had tastes for higher qualities, so their reaction can be understood. |
| Taenioticum | Egypt | 4th | Named from a long narrow sandy ridge near the western extremity of the Nile Delta. It was aromatic, slightly astringent, and of an oily consistency, which disappeared when it was mixed with water. |
| Tarraco | Spain | 4th | A wine of Hispania that was considered a worthy import. |
| Thebaisian | Greece | 4th | The wine of the Thebaïs, and especially of Coptos, was so thin and easily thrown off that it could be given without injury to fever patients. It was regarded as cheap wine. |
| Veliterninum | Italy | 3rd | A wine from Velitrae, a town on the Volscian hills. It was a sound wine, but had this peculiarity, that it always tasted as if mixed with some foreign substance. |
| Vinum Diachytum | Italy | 4th | Similar to vinum dulce but grapes were allowed to dry in the sun for longer periods of time and was described as more 'luscious' than the vinum dulce. |
| Vinum Dulce | Italy | 4th | A sweet wholesome wine, made from dried grapes that were pressed in the heat of the day. |
| Vinum Marrubii | Italy | 4th | Example of wines used for medicinal purposes. Marrubii was used for coughs. |
| Vinum Praeliganeum | Italy | 4th | Manufactured from inferior and half-ripe fruit gathered before the regular harvest period. Perhaps also used in the production of ciders and similar drinks. |
| Vinum Pramnian | Greece | 4th | A Greek wine that was considered harsh, astringent and remarkably strong. |
| Vinum Operarium | Italy | 4th | See LORA. |
| Vinum Opimianum | Italy | 4th | The year B.C. 121 is said to have been a season singularly favourable to all the productions of the earth; from the great heat of the autumn the wine was of an unprecedented quality, and remained long celebrated, being treasured up and sedulously preserved, so that samples were still in existence in the days of the elder Pliny, nearly two hundred years afterwards. It was reduced to the consistence of rough honey, and, like other very old wines, so strong and harsh and bitter as to be undrinkable until largely diluted with water. Such wines were useful for flavouring others when mixed in small quantities. |
View or download in Adobe PDF, CLICK HERE