4 ms·
If they were interested in increasing sweetness, they likely would have been adding the honey after fermentation, not before. But either way, I suspect the sup
by technothrasher 1y ago
If they were interested in increasing sweetness, they likely would have been adding the honey after fermentation, not before. But either way, I suspect the supposition at the end of the article is the correct one, whether they were getting the sweetness from raisins or honey, the consumers wouldn't have cared. I went down an exploration of trying to approximate Roman wine a little while ago, and what I discovered reading a bunch about it (and subsequently creating and tasting the best replica I could), Roman wines were by and large some really nasty swill. They didn't fully understand how fermentation worked, the pine pitch the used to seal the amphoras leeched into the wines, and they typically attempted to hide the bad character of the wines by watering it down and then adding all kinds of sweet and spicy additives to it.
- ahoka 1y agoIf the wines were sweetened after fermentation, then how were they stabilized? Something needs to be added to stop fermentation (or it must be fermented very strong).
- _nalply 1y agoOr add spirits. Another way: Let ferment it to the max. If fermentation doesn't consume all the sugar, then it's somewhat stable. Ancient wines also had resins added. Today these would probably have tasted almost medicinal, but often they are diluted before serving. Wine dilution is still a custom in some parts of Italy. I was invited to a party in Tuscany and they served a lot of Lambrusco amabile and for the children they diluted it and because Lambrusco amabile is rather sweet it was a little bit an oldfashioned soft drink. I tried it, too, and it's refreshing. I don't know whether it's sacrilegous but as one says, in Rome do as Romans do.