What did Ancient Wine Taste Like?

By Jack Costa

An article published by the VinePair website recently claimed that scientists had officially discovered what ancient wine tasted like:

“Archaeologists Uncover How Wine Likely Looked, Smelled, and Tasted in Ancient Rome.”

Unbeknownst to them, a Princeton University student had already discovered the taste and smell of ancient wine well before the archaeologists. In fact, the thesis of this student was to produce a wine from the ancient recipe of Cato the Elder, who reportedly used ingredients like marble dust, seawater, vinegar, and a long list of other additives.

You may now be wondering: what did ancient wines taste like? 

It tasted nothing like today’s Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, or Moscato—for reasons you’ll soon understand. A modern wine drinker might be hard-pressed to even recognize it as wine. But before we talk about taste, we have to ask: how was ancient wine made?

Cato’s De Agri Cultura

Cato the Elder was a Roman politician living during the days of Hannibal and the Carthaginian Wars. He was a farmer, soldier, and statesman who famously ended every speech with, “Furthermore, I consider Carthage must be destroyed.”

Perhaps more famous than his speeches, though, was his book De Agri Cultura—think of it as the Roman version of Farming for Dummies.

The guide reads more like a scattered notebook than a polished manual, but it’s one of the main sources for what we know about Roman food, agriculture and winemaking. For those interested, you can still get the modern translation “Cato: On Farming – De Agricultura”.

Romans didn’t use barrels. We do.

While Cato didn’t have the luxury of French oak barrels, he did use dolia—large earthenware vessels buried underground. These ovular clay containers were common in the ancient world, ranging in size from small household jars to enormous six-foot-tall vessels capable of holding hundreds of gallons.

Modern winemakers use stainless steel tanks or wooden barrels to ferment and age wine, but some still draw inspiration from ancient times. Local Umpqua Valley wineries like HillCrest Vineyard and Winery use concrete fermenters that resemble the ancient fermentation pits carved from stone in the ground. Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards has its own version of a dolia—a giant egg-shaped concrete vessel used for aging white wine. 

The ancients added herbs, spices, and even flowers to wine

Some Roman wines were infused with all kinds of aromatics. A famous recipe called conditum paradoxum includes honey, dates, black pepper, mastic resin, bay leaves and even saffron.

Ancient winemakers blended everything together

Unlike modern new world winemakers, the Romans didn’t separate grapes by variety. Today, new world winemakers typically vinify by grape type and may create blends for stylistic reasons. In the ancient world, every cluster from every vine was thrown together into one massive blend. Many of these wines may have appeared orange, brown, or dark purple, but none were made as a single varietal like Tempranillo, Syrah, or Pinot Grigio.

They added many… weird ingredients

In modern winemaking, flavor additions are rare. The only extra flavor usually comes from oak barrels, which can lend toasty, smoky, or vanilla notes.

Cato the Elder—and much of the ancient world—took a different approach, often adding a variety of herbs and ingredients to their wines.

Boiled must (defrutum or sapa)

Ancient winemakers often boiled their grape juice before fermentation, reducing it into a thick syrup. This syrup, called defrutum or sapa, was added later to sweeten or balance bitterness.

Dilution

Romans rarely drank wine undiluted. It was mixed with water, and sometimes honey was added to make it more drinkable. Drinking straight wine was perhaps considered improper on most occasions.

Cato even includes a recipe for wine preserved with seawater or brine, intended to help it last longer. It’s safe to say this isn’t the kind of flavor most people expect from a Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc.

Pitch & resin

Modern winemakers wouldn’t dare add pitch or resin to wine, but for the Romans and Greeks, it was standard. The insides of their clay vessels were lined with pine resin to seal them, before the resin slowly infused into the wine.

Today, Greeks still make Retsina–a wine flavored with pine resin in much the same way. Chunks of resin are added to the fermentation, where they eventually break down and form an oily film on the surface of the liquid. Interestingly, this creates a natural seal, protecting the wine from oxygen while also adding a strong pine character.

So, what did it actually taste like?

In short, ancient wine tasted like alcoholic Gatorade with a hint of seawater, pine sap, and spiced syrup. Not exactly what you’d want to pair with your charcuterie board.

Thankfully, modern winemakers have left many of these methods and flavors behind. So the next time you open a bottle of Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon, thank the winemaker for producing a wine free of resin, grape syrup, or rancid seawater.

Aroma: The smell of the wine. It can be fruity, floral, spicy, or even earthy.

Body: The weight or fullness of wine in your mouth (light, medium, full).

Tannin: Naturally occurring compounds from grape skins, seeds, and stems that give wine structure. Wines with a lot of tannin (Cabernet Sauvignon) create a drying sensation in the mouth/gums.

Acidity: The crispness or freshness of a wine.  Higher acidity makes a wine taste tart.

Balance: When all components (tannin, acid, alcohol, sweetness, etc.) are harmoniously integrated.

Finish: How long the flavor lingers after swallowing.

Varietal: The type of grape used to make a wine (e.g., Chardonnay, Pinot Noir).

Vintage: The year the grapes were harvested.

Fermentation: The process by which yeast converts sugar into alcohol and CO₂.

Terroir: The combination of soil, climate, and terrain that affects grape-growing and wine character.