Spice

• It is alleged that Roman winemakers had to mask their products’ flaws by adding spices, herbs and other ingredients to the freshly pressed grape juice, which is known as must.
• Many of the longstanding misconceptions surrounding Roman wine come from a lack of insight into one of the most characteristic features of Roman winemaking: fermentation in clay jars or dolia.
• In our research, we compared Roman dolia with traditional Georgian production vessels, called qvevri, which are still in use today.

Porous eggs buried in the ground

• Unlike the metal or concrete containers used in modern winemaking, clay jars are porous, meaning the wine is exposed to air during fermentation.
• The Romans used pitch from pine resin, while nowadays, in Georgia, neutral beeswax is applied.
• By burying the vessels in the ground, winemakers can control temperature and provide a stable environment for wine to ferment and mature during its many months inside the jars.

Macerated wines

• In clay jar winemaking, however, white wines regularly undergo long macerations with the grape solids (skins, seeds, and so on).
• This wine – increasingly popular today – is similar to descriptions of some of the most prized wines in antiquity.

Protective yeast: the miracle of flor

• Many of these are what we call “flor” yeasts, a thick white foam layer that protects the wine from contact with the air.
• Flor produces several chemicals, including sotolon, which gives wine a spicy taste.

Roman wines revisited

• By varying the size, shape and the position of dolia, Roman winemakers were able to have great control over the end product, as Georgian winemakers do today.
• It not only debunks the alleged amateurish nature of Roman winemaking, but it also uncovers common traits in millennia-old winemaking techniques.

Dimitri Van Limbergen no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.