Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire had an immense impact on the development of viticulture and oenology. Wine was an integral part of the Roman diet and wine making became a precise business. Vitruvius' De architectura (I.4.2) noted how wine storage rooms were built facing north, "since that quarter is never subject to change but is always constant and unshifting."

As the Roman Empire expanded, wine production in the provinces grew to the point where the provinces were competing with Roman wines. Virtually all of the major wine producing regions of Western Europe today were established by the Romans.

Wine making technology improved considerably during the time of the Roman Empire. Many grape varieties and cultivation techniques were developed and barrels, invented by the Gauls, and later glass bottles, invented by the Syrians, began to compete with terracotta amphorae for storing and shipping wine. Following the Greek invention of the screw, wine presses became common on Roman villas. The Romans also created a precursor to appellation systems, as certain regions gained reputations for their fine wines.

Wine, perhaps mixed with herbs and minerals, was assumed to serve medicinal purposes. During Roman times the upper classes might dissolve pearls in wine for better health. Cleopatra created her own legend by promising Mark Antony she would "drink the value of a province" in one cup of wine, after which she drank an expensive pearl with a cup of wine. When the Western Roman Empire fell around 500 AD, Europe went into a period of invasions and social turmoil, with the Roman Catholic Church as the only stable social structure. Through the Church, grape growing and wine-making technology, essential for the Mass, were preserved.

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