It is no secret that Ancient Romans loved their wine. Its consumption has been depicted in ancient texts as well as drawings and other archaeological finds. But the intricacies of its production have so far been a mystery.
To discover more, researchers Dimitri Van Limbergen from Ghent University and Paulina Komar from the University of Warsaw compared ancient dolia—a type of vessel or vase used to hold wine back in Ancient Roman times—with similar containers used in modern-day winemaking. Dolia were utilized not just for holding the wine but for producing and aging it.
Their findings, which are published in journal Antiquity, included that Roman wine likely tasted slightly spicy and had aromas similar toasted bread and walnuts.
"The results of our study force us to question several long-held assumptions about Roman winemaking," Van Limbergen told Newsweek. "[Firstly], by using the techniques we describe in our paper, the Romans were able to make much better, more tasty and much more stable wines than is commonly assumed.
"The widespread nature of wine cellars with earthenware containers (dolia) in the Roman world between the 3rd or 2nd century AD and the 3rd or 4th century AD suggests the development of a wine industry on a scale never attained before, and with a level of expertise and a sensory profile long obscured," Van Limbergen said.
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