[Sca-cooks] Re: vinegar and sauerbraten

[Terry Decker]

You're wrong.  Grappa is a brandy made from the pomace of the winemaking. 
As a brandy, it has no bearing on the strength of wines and was unknown in 
Antiquity (which doesn't mean the name was not used for something else, just 
that I haven't encountered it).

If you want some idea about wines in Antiquity let me recommend a reading of 
Pliny.  The information is extensive and varied, so I won't try to repeat it 
here.

Romans drank watered wine for its healthful properties and to thin the 
thicker vintages.  They drank unwatered wine to get intoxicated.  Those who 
believed in the old Roman virtues drank their wine watered and found those 
who drank for intoxication to be abominable citizens.  Drink is one of those 
fun cultural studies from Antiquity.

Bear


> Entirely possible, as well.  However, if we consider that Grappa was made 
> by Italian winery
> workers out of the 'leftovers' of the vintinig process, and Grappa was 
> still a fairly strong drink
> (an assumption based on the strength of modern Grappa, which may be a 
> mistake), it stands to
> reason that the fresh wine was quite potent.  I am not saying that Grappa 
> is or is not a period
> libation, mind you...merely that it has been around for quite some time, 
> and may have been / may
> be a barometer by which to guage the strength of wines in Antiquity.
>
> Or I am wrong :)
>
> William de Grandofrt