Intro to Wine Business

By Lochlan Bainbridge

RomansAnd their influence on wine, wine movement and wine sciences.

IntroductionThe trading of wine has existed for thousands of years with archaeological evidence of wine first being produced around 8000-9000 years ago (“Wine”, 2015). Throughout the ages wine has gone from being used as an instrument of spirituality to being a very important part in trade. The trade of wine has also played a very important part in developing other trade like glass blowing and cooperage for example. It also has had an important part in war of the centuries. Financing war and sedating troops before they went into battle (Pellechia, 2006)

HistoryDuring the 8th century B.C wine was brought into Italy (“Ancient Roman Wine”, n.d). At first wine was not such a heavily consumed drink for the Romans. Wine may have been initially restricted to religious ceremonies such as funerals. Also it could have been consumed more for nutritional needs then for pleasure (“Ancient Roman Wine”, n.d

HistoryAt this time, viticulture was only a small portion of Roman agriculture with Roman people only consuming homemade wine while higher ranking Romans drank Greek wine. Greek wine was thought highly of due to its superior quality. The Greeks (to the South of the Romans) had a very successful wine trade. The Romans saw this and the possibility for them to produce and trade wine, so they began to study Greek documents about winemaking and wine trade (Pellechia, 2006).

HistoryOver the next few centuries as the Romans power grew, Rome had taken control over the Greeks in Southern Italy by 270 BC. This helped boost the development of Roman viticulture as they would integrate viticultural techniques of the lands that they conquered (“Ancient Rome and Wine”, 2015). Greek wine was of higher quality so this would have only improved Roman winemaking. The Romans then set out to invade and conquer Carthage, which was located on the coast of North Africa (Pellechia, 2006). Carthage was also, at the time, an advanced viticultural society.

HistoryAfter decades of fighting the Romans were victorious. With the victory came a very important series of books written by a gentleman farmer from Carthage named Mago. These books were translated into Latin and Greek and introduced the Romans to Carthage’s advanced viticultural techniques. Since then many Roman agricultural writers referenced these books in their own writings (Pellechia, 2006).

HistoryWith subsequent Roman writings on viticulture and winemaking and improvement on Greek winemaking techniques, the Romans were unbeaten in production. It had become an everyday beverage. Everyone was allowed to drink it. Cato, a Roman senator and farmer, wrote a viticultural manual which included recommended yearly wine allocations for slaves who worked the vineyards (300 bottles). It is estimated that 180 million litres of wine was being consumed by the Romans. That equates to a bottle a day for every citizen (“Ancient Rome and Wine”, 2015).

Roman Winemaking- Influential WritersThere were many Romans that wrote about viticulture and winemaking. Most notable were Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder, Columella, and Pliny the Elder (“Ancient Rome and Wine”, 2015).

Marcus Porcius Cato the ElderCato wrote about vineyard equipment and maintenance, the working calendar, propogation, grafting, pruning, making the wine and recipes for different wine, and the handling of slaves (Pellechia, 2006). He had the belief that grapes ripen the best when exposed to maximum sunlight (“Ancient Rome and Wine”, 2015). This is something that holds true today with scientific backing. But unlike todays trellising methods, he believed that vines should be trained up trees. He then advised for the leaves of the vine to be plucked to expose the fruit to the sun which is a common practice today. He was also a big advocate of hygiene and other standard winemaking practices we use today. Practices like ensuring vessels storing wine are sealed shut to ensure no oxygen contact and that wine should not be kept on ullage to help prevent oxidation (“Ancient Rome and Wine”, 2015).

ColumellaLike Cato, Columella discussed practices in the vineyard and in winemaking. But instead of training vines up trees, he wrote about trellising systems similar to what we used today. Instead of trees, stakes around 5 or 6 ft. high were used to train the vines with a uniform pacing of 2 paces spacing from each other. He also discussed about what Roman regions could grow what grapes the best. He noted the potential of Spain and Bordeaux. Though he wrote about many useful aspects of grape growing and winemaking, he also talked about using lead in the production of wine to help enhance sweetness (as sweet white wines were most desirable) (“Ancient Roman and Wine”, 2015). This would presumably cause wine to become a source of lead poisoning for the consumer.

Pliny the ElderPliny the Elder talked wrote about how the vineyard site was one of the biggest influences on wine quality. He stated it was very important and continued on to write about a concept similar to that of terroir – that different places produce their own unique wines. (“Ancient Rome and Wine”, 2015). This idea is a huge part of the wine industry today. Many famous regions around the world have built their name on the fact that their land produce such iconic styles of certain varieties. Many wineries even produce single vineyard wines to emphasise this idea.

Other Wine Making InfluencesThe Romans would add various ingredients to their wine in hopes to improve the taste and sweetness of the wine. Things like saltwater, honey, herbs, and chalk (which was an early form of de-acidification) were added (Jordon, 2015). These could be thought of as early forms of the additions (like chaptalisation) and finings that we do today.

Other Wine Making InfluencesRomans were even more revolutionary in their wine production with the use of barrels, corks and glass vessels (Costill, 2010). These things are used 2,000 years later and have developed into their own form of trade. Romans went beyond simply crushing grapes with their feet and developed an early form of the basket press (“Ancient Rome and Wine”, 2015). This development of the press helped the Romans press larger volumes of juice compared to treading. This is due to its size. A consequence of its size meant that it was labour intensive and wasn’t effective to use on smaller batches press (“Ancient Rome and Wine”, 2015).

Effect of Roman Wine TradeWhen the Empire was expanding, the Roman army would likely find Roman wine traders already established in the lands they were aiming to conquer. The traders would always be keen to do business with friend or foe. With the Romans always came the influence of their wine. The expansion of the empire brought new trade routes for wine trade and new areas for wine production. New Roman colonies would plant grapes and start to produce their own wine (“Ancient Rome and Wine”, 2015). This meant that a lot of the now connected world were exposed to wine which could have only boosted wine trade and encouraged other lands to start producing their own wine.

Effect of Roman Wine TradeRomans where one of the first to distinguish the varying quality of their wine. They had low quality wine for mass consumption and would be transported large distances. They had small batch wine that would be consumed locally. Finally, they had their high quality wine which would be aged and drunk by the higher ranking Romans (“Ancient Roman Wine”, n.d). These wines would have been produced by “grand cru” style vineyards (“Ancient Rome and Wine”, 2015). So Romans could have been the first to introduce a tiered system for their wines and vineyards which would have fetched different prices and added variability into the wine trade.

Conclusion• Romans have had a huge role in the development of the wine

industry. With small beginnings in wine, they eventually became the largest producer and consumer of wine. They made great advancements in grape growing and winemaking, some of which we still use today. The influence of their wine even spread quicker than the influence of the Empire itself. With such a vast empire, the Romans expanded the wine trade throughout the world and undoubtedly have had a massive influence on today’s wine industry.

References• Ancient Rome Wine. (n.d.) Retrieved from

http://www.mariamilani.com/ancient_rome/Ancient%20Roman%20wine.htm • Ancient Rome and Wine. (2015). Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome_and_wine.• Costill, A. (2010). The Romans and Wine: A Look Back at the Early History of Wine.

Retrieved from http://www.wineclub.org/2010/11/romans-history-of-wine/• Jordon, J. (2015) Wine and the Roman Empire. Retrieved from

http://www.savoreachglass.com/articles/wine-and-the-roman-empire• Pellechia, T. (2006). Wine: The 8,000 year old story of the wine trade.

Philadelphia, PA: Running Press.• Wine. (2015). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine