[Sca-cooks] Wine Question
Terry Decker
t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net
Tue Feb 12 14:54:19 PST 2008
Rheinwein and Burgundy have a fairly long history, but the real question is
are those wines in period the same as they are today. The fact is, there is
no way to be sure. There is however, probably a continous process of
improvement from the Roman period through today.
We know from Tacitus's Germania that in the 1st Century wine was imported
into France and Germany and that this is supported by the numbers of wine
amphorae that have shown up in various archeologcal digs. Viticulture in
the region probably began in the last half of the 1st Century and was well
established by the 4th Century.
The city of Augustodunum was established in the Burgundy region in the 1st
Century. The first known reference to wine being produced in Burgundy is
from an account of a visit by Constantine to Augustodunum in 312 CE.
While there is no direct evidence (that I've found) for Rhine viticulture in
the Roman period, Mosel (a tributary to the Rhine) viticulture is mentioned
in Ausonius's Mosella (370 CE). Rhenish Rieslings can be dated to the 15th
Century and are likely to have been cultivated much earlier. You might
check out this paper on the Rhenish wine trade in the 14th to 16th
Centuries: http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers3/Weststrate.pdf
Interesting stuff. Thanks for asking the question. I haven't located the
account of Constatine's visit or Mosella yet, but I have no reason to think
the references aren't valid.
Bear
> Anybody out ther have a good resource for cheing on wine types etc... and
> their "periodness"... I'm looking specifically for info on Rhine and
> Burgundy.
>
> -Ardenia
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