A Roman Style Wine 1

A Roman Style Wine

Passum Quemademodum Fiat

Lord William Ismeade, AOA, CMC

Barony of Iron Mountain

Kingdom Of Meridies

December 5, 2014
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Abstract

This research explores Passum Quemademodum Fiat, from the writings of Lucius Junius

Moderatus Columella in his work Res rustica, and the recreation of that raisin-wine. To do this I

explore four areas; The Recipe, The Grape, Obtaining the juice, and Fermentation/Storage. I will

also cover Serving as would have been done within the period of Columella since serving played

a major role in how wine was consumed. I believe the only way to prove Columella was accurate

is to recreate the raisin-wine in the same manor while maintaining current sanitary practices of

home-brewing. The steps are fairly straight forward however the finding the proper grape will be

a challenge.
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Wine has been created and consumed throughout history. There are very few references

to the steps and ingredients list of a grape wine as it was a common and normal process. Natural

yeast collects on grapes and can start the fermentation process during storage, especially if the

grapes are pressed for their juice. We find information from the Roman authors Cato, Columella,

Pliny the Elder and Varro on Wine and the wine making process during the Roman Republic and

Roman Empire. However Columella, 4 AD – 70 AD, makes a direct quote of the recipe from

Mago to make wine. This work will explore the process and tools used to make this wine

Columella has passed to us.

Mago was Carthaginian, an author on agriculture whose work was written in Punic.

Rome destroyed Carthage in 146 BC with the destruction was so complete that salt was plowed

into the soil. What remained of the Carthage libraries were given away with the exception of

Mago’s 28 book set which was brought back to Rome and translated. There now only remains

extracts and quotes within the works of Roman Authors like Columella.

Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, born in 4 AD and died in 70 AD is known as the

most important writer on agriculture of the Roman Empire. De Re Rustica and On Husbandry

has survived to show where many of our current viniculture practices began. It is in On

Husbandry where we see the Mago Quote and begin the Wine making process.

We will start with Serving as the items are on the table before you. There are several

items which are required for serving wine the Roman way: First the amphorae, the main storage

vessel for wine. Second is the pitcher, Romans drank wine dilutes, whereas to loosen the tongue

and lower inhibitions just enough to invigorate conversation. (Pliny) Wine was poured from the

Amphorae into the pitcher with water to dilute it, or water was poured from the pitcher into the

cup and then the wine poured on top. The wine could be poured from the pitcher through a
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strainer holding herbs or spices allowing those flavors to infuse the wine, if desired. Pliny, in

Book XIV.xxviii, states he is not fond of adding anything to wine at the time of drinking. The

strainer can also hold ice or snow to cool the wine. The strainer is made to fit over the top of the

wine vessel/cup, thus reducing the need to hold it while pouring.

The final piece is a type of Roman drinking vessel. Many upper classed Romans reclined

while eating and drinking thus making it difficult to drink from small rimed goblets or small

rimed cups. Goblets and cups however were used and could range from silver or bronze to

pottery or glass. See the photos of archaeological items on the display board.

Please start by tasting the modern style full strength. My Roman style has spruce

flavoring added to simulate what pitch, a sealant used in the wine amphorae, would have

imparted. The roman style can affect the flavor of your taste buds. Please use the cheese and

other items on the table to cleanse your pallet. Place the strainer on a cup, add the spices to the

strainer if you would like and pour the wine over them to give the wine extra flavor.

Recipe

Our direct recipe was originally in written in Punic and contained in one of the only

books to be brought from Carthage for translation. The original 28 books have been lost and very

little text from translations exists but for quotations from writings of Columella, Pliny the Elder

and Varro still giving us some information. This recipe is a raisin wine and although there are no
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measurements directly, the writing allows making the wine in any size batch. Here is the Latin

text from Columella:

(Lucius)(Rodgers, R.H.)
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Below is a translation of the Latin text.

[LJM Columella]

My Process

To insure sterilization was

maintained I cleaned all

equipment with boiling hot

water and 1-Step cleanser, 1

gallon of hot water to 1

tablespoon of cleanser

placed in the brewing

bucket, scrubbed my hands

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with antibacterial soap, then washed and soaked my hands in the cleanser. This was done each

time any equipment or hands touched the products or must, including the airlocks and bungs.

The recipe was easy to follow however it took a lot of searching to find the proper

ingredients. I contacted approximately 10 Wineries and several bulk order fruit sellers before

finding non-chemical ripened raisins. Since Muscato wines are making a comeback it is more

difficult to get the raisins. I obtained Muscat raisins still on the vine by ordering (Apkarian) and

Muscat juice; the “first set” was about 3 gallons of juice and 4 pounds of raisins. I removed all

raisins from the stems and placed them in the clean brewing bucket. Here the unglazed Roman

containers would have been used but could extract some very bad things from the clay. I added

juice to cover about 1 inch above raisin level and let sit a total of 6 days. On the third day I took

2.5 more pounds of raisins and poured 2 gallons of juice on them in another container, this was

the “second set”. At the end of 6 days almost all the juice had been absorbed, the first process

was squeezing the grapes by hand to break apart/crush the swollen raisins and simulate the

stomping process then pressing to extract the remaining juice. My hands were scrubbed with

antibacterial soap rinsed and then rinsed with 1-step cleanser. Although the brewing bucket

might have held my weight, I refrained from using my feet and just crushed all the grapes with

my hands. The Husks from the first set were added to the second set of must, mixed thoroughly

then squeezed by hand and pressed into the first set of juice. The use of rubber gloves would

have saved several days of stained skin.

Pressing was done by placing the hand crushed raisins in a piece of material, pulling up

all 4 corners and twisting/squeezing until all juice was extracted. This was a technique used by

the Egyptians pre-dating Columella (McGovern, 1996, pg. 90). I placed a clean colander over the

bucket while I twisted then pressed the bag against the side of the colander to get any remaining
A Roman Style Wine 8

juice. The colander was mainly used in case the material tore, thus preventing the husk from

falling back into the juice. This worked very well for the smaller batch I had as I worked with a

few handfuls at a time. It was mostly time consuming and a press would have reduced my time

to less than 20 minutes and 2 pressings, this took well over 2 hours. There was no fermentation

activity noticed during this 6 day process but to expand on this, the juice was being absorbed by

the raisins. Although the raisins were dried naturally with no chemicals I am sure there was some

reaction to the natural yeast left on the grapes during drying. I did not want to risk the chance of

natural fermentation with unknown strains of yeast. Muscat juice was added to top off a 5 gallon

carboy and 1 packet of Lalvin 71b yeast was added.

Noticeable activity started on day two. Wine turned a milky caramel color and visible

swirling in carboy started. Day 7 – must showing strong fermentation with 1 inch of foam, very

strong fermentation smell with grape aromas. Day 14 – still strong fermentation but airlock

starting to slow to 1 bubble per 3 seconds, still good aromas of fermentation and grape. Day 21 –

fermentation slowing considerable with good lees forming and starting to clear, airlock down to

1 bubble every 7 to 10 seconds, with Must aromas not as grape but more on the acrid side. Day

30 – more lees forming and clearing with no swirling visible in must, airlock at 1 bubble in 30 to

45 seconds. Racked to new carboy and airlock attached, taste was still green fermentation with

residual sweetness. Day 60 – cleared and racked to new carboy. Day 90 – racked to new carboy

and left to age.

The Roman Process

Create a stand, in full sun, with the corner poles 4 feet apart. Fasten poles around the top

and cover with reeds. The reeds would allow air circulation around the grapes placed on top thus

allowing them to dry at a faster rate. Each night the grapes would be covered to prevent the dew
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from forming on the grapes. When they have dried, the raisins would be removed from the stems

and placed in a barrel or container. The best “Must”, which would be the pressed juice of grapes,

would then be poured in until all the raisins were covered. When the Raisins have fully expanded

back to their original size, place them in a press container and use a wine press to extract all the

juice.

Take the pressed husks, tread or stomp them and mix them with “Must” from grapes that

has been ripened in the sun for 3 days. Place all this in the press again and press. Place this in

plastered vessels, Amphorae, and when it can be poured clear into other vessels do so. They refer

to fermentation stopping and clearing happening in 20 to 30 days. Here it is also made reference

to plastering the covers and covering with skin. So we see the sealing of the vessels to age and/or

prevent oxidation of the wine and covering to possibly help maintain the seal if the cover was to

get pressure for some remaining fermentation. The plastering would stick to the skin and act

much like a muselet, the wire cage, on a champagne bottle.

The rest of the writing goes on to describe another way to make a cheaper version which

includes hanging the grapes on pole to dry until shriveled pluck the raisins and toss into a tub and

tread until mashed then cover with old wine. Continue this same process 3 times and insure they

are completely covered with wine each time then leave them alone for 5 days. After the 5 days

press the mixture through a new wicker basket and then ferment as stated above. The last

paragraph states taking rain water, reducing it a third by boiling and using it as the wine was

used above. Columella states however that this is a cheaper version and does not have the

“Charge”, meaning the alcohol content is low, and is cheaper priced but sweeter.

The Grape
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The grape is a key factor to any wine and so it was in the roman period. We see

references by Pliny, Columella, Galen and Varro to not only different types of wines but

different grapes. This brings us to the grape used in the wine before you, the Muscat. The recipe

does not call for any specific grape in the first part. However, Columella instructs us to use early

ripening grapes and pick them when they are very ripe. The Apian grape is mentioned later in the

text as needing to be dried different, therefore it brings the knowledge that this wine was and

could be made with different types of grapes. To be within the Roman style I needed to find a

grape that would come as close to or be a grape used in that period. Columella does not give us a

description in his works of types of grapes, Pliny, conversely does.

Pliny the Elder 23 AD – 79 AD, died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius but lived during

the same period as Columella and wrote Naturalis Historia (The Natural History). In book 14

Pliny describes grapes and vines. The detail, beginning at Apianis apes dedre starts Pliny’s

descriptions and is detailed enough on one grape in particular to bring me to the conclusion it is

the Muscat Grape. Below is the Latin and translated text.

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(C. Plinii Secundi)

TRANSLATION: The vine known as the "apiana," has received that name from the bee, an

insect which is remarkably fond of it: there are two varieties of this vine. This grape, too, is

covered in its young state with a kind of down; the main difference between the two varieties is,
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that the one ripens more rapidly than the other, though this last ripens with considerable

quickness. A cold locality is not at all hurtful to them, although there is no grape that ripens

sooner: these grapes, however, very soon rot in the rain. The wines produced by this grape are

sweet at first, but contract a rough flavour in the course of years. This vine is cultivated more

than any other in Etruria. Thus far we have made mention of the more celebrated vines among

those which are peculiar and indigenous to Italy; the rest have been introduced from Chios or

Thasos. (Bostock)

I however am not the only one of the opinion Pliny is referring to the Muscat Grape.

Jancis Robinson, Author of The Oxford Companion to Wine, which is the standard reference to

wine all over the world states on her website. “The Muscat grape…It was almost certainly the

grape variety referred to by writers in classical times as being particularly attractive to insects for

its heady smell and impressive ripeness. But, as one might expect of a grape variety known to the

ancient Greeks and Romans, the Muscat family is particularly diverse and ramified.” (Robinson).

The Oxford Companion to Wine is very definitive. Muscat grapes have always been attractive to

bees and it was almost certainly Muscat grapes that the Greeks described as anathelicon

moscgaton, and Pliny the Elder as uva apiana,’grape of the bees’. (Robinson)

Here is a foot note from Bostock & Riley defining the word “apiana”, “From "apis," a

"bee." He alludes, it is thought, to the muscatel grape, said to have had its name from "musca," a

"fly;" an insect which is greatly attracted by its sweetness.”

Another trait of this grape is mentioned by Pliny is a type of down covering when the

grape is young. This grape, too, is covered in its young state with a kind of down. (Bostock) The

Muscat grape of today, although there may be over 200 varieties, all have a fuzzy, down like

texture when the plant is first starts its shoots each year as seen in the photo
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Juice

With the grape defined I needed to get the juice. The juice was ready available at most

brew shops. I had to however order online

as the local store no longer carries the

grape juice assortments without buying a

kit. Here is what I ordered, a concentrated

form of the Muscat Juice from

Alexander’s Sun Country line, see Figure

1. Alexander’s Muscat Juice Concentrate.

From my redaction above you see that I

used a piece of material to act as a press.

Twisting the ends of the material

Figure 1.

“pressed” the grapes allowing me to extract as much of the juice as possible.

The Romans however used stomping or treading to squash or break open the grapes thus

releasing much of the juice. After the stomping, grape husks would be placed in a press and

squeezed with enough pressure to extract the remaining juice. I know this was done in large

amounts by findings from Pompeii. In the area called Villa of the Mysteries, in Pompeii, we find

2 wineries with pressing and stomping floors.

Stomping and Pressing

Below we see one layout containing a treading area with 2 presses. The darkened area is

where the grapes were stomped and the juices would flow to a reservoir. As can be seen from the
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drawing the juices flowed through a small channel on one side of the room to a lower level room.

The juice was then collected into containers for fermentation and storage.

Below we see one of the presses from the above drawing that has been reconstructed. It is

simple and very effective. A block and tackle system to raise and lower Prelum or Press which is

the long pole exerting pressure on the container to force the remaining liquid out of the grapes.

As can be seen in the photo a single person could operate the press while stomping continued

and still allow a great deal of pressure on the Prelum.

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Below is the second press found at Villa of the Mysteries, the same principles were used from

above just collection of the juices were directly by the press. Here the box has been constructed

of boards with spaces between them. If you look carefully you can see the outside frame fits

together with notches cut out. This allowed support all the way around the box and allowed the

boards to be replaced and disassembled quickly. The better view here shows the ability to insert

boards on top to increase the pressure within the same range of rope. These are however

reconstructions as none of the wood survived.

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The press made it possible to extract more of the juice from the grape with less work and with

simple technology.

Fermentation

As we know with all food products, the quality of the grape was and is highly important

when making wine. With that being said, fermentation has at least an equal part to the finished

wine. Fermentation being a natural process, most wine was fermented by whatever yeast was in

the juice from the stomping and pressing. Yeast, a group of uni-cellular (single cell) organisms

grow naturally on grapes (Dharmadhikari).

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Yeast or what is now referred to as Wild Yeast, has been present around the world thriving

especially in regions with vineyards. There are many varieties and only a few are “true” wine

yeast. The name we know wine yeast under today is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The reason this

yeast is so important to our process is its alcohol tolerance. The yeast eats the sugars producing

alcohol and C02. Wine yeast can tolerate alcohol in the range from 13% up to 21% thus

preserving the wine by not allowing other bacteria, molds or fungus to thrive.

As we see in Columella, the knowledge was present to have fermentation complete then

pour the cleared wine off the sediment before storage. Sediment is due to the alcohol level being

high enough to kill the yeast and they sink to the bottom. There is no reference to sediment

causing off flavors in the wine but any wine maker learns this very quickly and with the large

amounts of wine making prevalent it is logical to see this as a natural practice. Once the

fermentation was finished and cleared, the wine was stored in Amphorae sealing the top with

plaster or plaster and skin as stated above. See below a plaster stopper used on an Amphorae

(The British Museum).

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The Amphorae was the standard ceramic (clay) storage vessel for liquid during the time

of Columella. Although there are variations on the shape, most all Amphorae found have an oval

lower body with a long tubular neck and two opposing handles. This allows large Amphorae to

be carried with 2 poles and 2 people.

Sealing the Amphorae was required as the clay would absorb liquid due to the permeable
structure of clay. No glazes were used on the inside of Amphorae during the firing process so a
sealant was used. This sealant was made from tree resins. Although there are several kinds most
are found to be made from Pinaceae resins (pine, spruce, larch and fir). The majority of
amphorae show biomarkers of resins, which are reported by ancient authors to have been used
for sealing wine amphorae (Heron and Pollard). Over 74% of Amphorae from a study by the
Journal of Archaeological Science show evidence of the pitch originating from Pinaceae resin
(Romanus, et. al)
Pitch

On the Table

Serving

Cutting with Water

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Wine almost always was mixed with water for drinking; undiluted wine (merum) was

considered the habit of provincials and barbarians. The Romans usually mixed one part wine to

two parts water (sometimes hot or even salted with sea water to cut some of the sweetness).

Flavoring

Strainer

Herbs & Spices

Drinking

Drinking Vessels

Bibliography

Apkarian Family Farm, Reedley, CA 93654, http://www.apkarianfamilyfarm.com/ (Muscat

Grape/Raisin grower)

The British Museum, Item number EA53955, Amphorae Stopper, Excavated 1913-1914 by John
de Monins Johnson on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund,
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?
objectId=109605&partId=1&material=208787&page=1

C. Plinii Secundi, Naturalis historia, Pliny, the Elder, Detlefsen, Sönnich Detlef Friedrich,
1833-1911, [from old catalog] ed., Berolini, apud Weidmannos, 1866-00-00T00:00:00Z

Cato and Varro: On Agriculture (Loeb Classical Library No. 283), by Cato (Author), Varro
(Author), W. D. Hooper (Translator), Harrison Boyd Ash (Translator), Harvard
University Press, 1934

Columella, De Agricultura, (1954) translated by E. S. Forster and Edward H. Heffner (Loeb

Classical Library) (4 AD – 70 AD)

Dharmadhikari, Murli, (2014) Wine Yeast, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, 2150
Beardshear Hall, Ames, IA. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/wine/yeast
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Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, L. Junius Moderatus Columella of Husbandry, in Twelve

Books: and his book, concerning Trees. Translated into English, with illustrations from
Pliny, Cato, Varro, Palladius and other ancient and modern authors. London: A. Millar.
(1745) pp. xiv, 600

Lucius Iunius Moderatus Columella, Paris: Stephanus 1543

Heron, C., Pollard, A.M., 1988. The analysis of natural resinous materials from Roman
Amphoras, in Science and Archaeology. In: Proceedings of a Conference on the
Application of Scientific Techniques to Archaeology, Oxford.

Hugh Johnson (1989), Vintage: The Story of Wine, Simon and Schuster, New York, p. 61.
J. P. MAHAFFY (1889), Hermathena, containing the work of MAGO on
AGRICULTURE, Vol. 7, No. 15, pp. 29-35, Trinity College Dublin,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23036462

McGovern, Patrick E., Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture, Princeton
University Press, 2003

Pliny, Naturalis Historia (1945), translated by H. Rackham (Loeb Classical Library) (23 AD –
79 AD)

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.,
http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0978.phi001.perseus-eng1:14.4

Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff, Lipsiae, Teubner, 1906,
http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0978.phi001.perseus-lat1

Robinson, Jancis, Copyright © 2014 Jancis Robinson, Muscat,

http://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/grape-varieties/white/muscat, Retrieved September
6, 2014

Robinson, Jancis, the Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd Edition, Oxford University Press; 3rd
Edition (October, 2006), ISBN 0-19-860990-6

Rodgers, R.H. (ed.) (2010). L. Iuni Moderati Columellae Res rustica; Incerti auctoris Liber de
arboribus (in Latin). Oxonii [Oxford, England]: E Typographeo Clarendoniano.
ISBN 978-0-19-927154-2

Romanus, K., ET. Al, Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 900–909,

http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas

Villa of Mysteries – Pompeii – Italy,

http://www.mmdtkw.org/ALRIVes0524WineryVillaMysteries.jpg
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http://www.mamilius.com/roman.php

Varro, De Re Rustica (116 BC – 27 BC)

Cato – De Agri Cultura – 160 BC.
Varro - Rerum rusticarum libri III (116 BC – 22 BC)
Pliny the Elder – (23 AD – 79 AD)
Columella – (4 AD – 70 AD)