The wine of the ancient Romans is reborn, following the instructions of the “oenologists” of those times. The aim of the project “Archaeology of wine in Italyt”, created by the Institute of Archaeology CNR together with the University of Catania.

The relationship between wine and history is one of the most fascinating topics in the world of Bacchus - not to mention one of those that gets the most attention: and there are many examples of wine-related archaeology around, with more than a few research institutes and winemakers trying to make wines in historical areas, like Mastroberardino in the area of Pompeii, or trying to use varieties that were used in ancient times. But here comes the next step in that logical progression - that is, making wine exactly as it was made in ancient Rome, following the instructions of the “oenologists” of those times. This is the aim of the project titled “Archaeology of wine in Italy: a Sicilian experiment”, created by the Institute of Archaeology National Research Centre CNR together with the University of Catania. Following the instructions found in the works of Virgil and Columella - such as the use of scotch broom to tie the plants to their tutor - the project will try to re-enact winemaking as it used to be, in order to not only rediscover a part of winemaking history, but also to see if some of those techniques might inspire new, and previously undiscovered, solutions for producing wine.