Culture for the Roman Wine

Although it is possible to grow grapes for wine throughout the Mediterranean region, it took several centuries for vines to be introduced in most areas. We can, in fact, trace the introduction of grapes first by the Phoenicians, then by the Greeks and finally by the Romans as each civilization engaged in trade, established trade routes, and created colonies. Greek wine jars can be found on the Italian peninsula as early as the 8th century BCE; grape vines planted by Romans in Gaul and Spain were used for wine exported back to Rome by the 2nd century CE.

The spread of grape vines for making wine also meant the spread of wine culture — as well as the development of wine culture. Vines transported from one region to another often didn't make wines that tasted exactly the same as they did in their original homes. At the same time, the culture surrounding wine making and wine drinking also wasn't always the same abroad as it was at home. Just as we can trace the growth of wine making and the wine trade around the Mediterranean, we can also trace developments in how different cultures treated wine.Usually, people want to get a nice gift package for the wine products, just like this,

The ancient Romans are a great example to look at because while they borrowed an awful lot from ancient Greece, they didn't borrow everything. Sometimes it's the things they did slightly differently which are most revealing about both civilizations. Their cultural practices surrounding wine, for example, differ in a number of important ways which continue to have relevance today.

There appear to have been clear differences between Greek and Roman wines. The former produced vintages that were praised and much enjoyed. ...Ancient Greek wines are not normally identified by year, nor narrowly by place. Rather, they are said to be Thasian or Chian or Lesbian. ...The enjoyment of such wines in Athens is attested both in poetry and in the archaeological record, where buildings apparently for the sale of wine have remains of amphorae from overseas. ...From a very early date a certain proportion of consumption moved from undifferentiated ‘wine’ to wines identified by their place of origin; even in Homer guests may be offered ‘Pramnian’ wine.And for the all human being, wine stands for the specaial meaning, for veryone, for all.

Greek wines also appealed to the Roman palate. Cato, of all people, has recipes for making Greek-style wines in his treatise on agriculture. The Romans meanwhile set about the creation of a very different wine trade. In addition to cheap local wines – the Sabine wine enjoyed by Horace on his farm is a famous example – vintage wines were produced, especially on the fertile hillsides of Latium and Campania, between Rome and Naples. Here small areas came to have brand names similar to ‘appellation controllée’, and vintages such as Falernian, Fundian, and Caecuban were marketed at great price.

It's really not a surprise that the earliest wines were not created with "vintages" or even regions in mind. Although wines were not "just another beverage," they were also a beverage and who thinks about the "vintage" of fruit juice or the region where milk came from? It remains quite interesting, though, that importance or where a wine came from might have first developed among the Greeks and that the importance of when a wine was created then developed with the Romans.What a nice wine package for your friends, when they get the products, they will very happy about that.