Pompeii Archaeological Park Wants to Revive the City's Winemaking Tradition

Naples (Italy) March 29 - The archaeological park in Pompeii, destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, wants to revive the city's winemaking tradition. It will expand the vineyards that already grow among the uncovered ruins of Pompeii, and it wants to let the wine mature in traditional amphorae and offer it to tourists. The Times reports.

Pompeii was one of the winemaking centers of the ancient Roman Empire, thanks to the fertile volcanic soil rich in minerals that nourished the vines growing on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Frescoes in local houses celebrated the god of wine Bacchus, and wine was drunk in the city's at least 200 taverns.

The Pompeii Archaeological Park is now trying to revive local winemaking techniques in collaboration with local private winery Tenute Capaldo, with whom it has agreed a 19-year partnership. The vineyards between the excavations will be expanded to 15 acres (about 60,000 square meters), the wine will be aged in traditional amphorae, and tours, workshops and tastings will give tourists a fresh perspective on the role of wine in ancient Rome.

“We will be able to introduce a new kind of archaeology to the public,” the park’s director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, told The Times. “You can’t understand the ancient world without understanding agriculture,” he added.

Three wines, two reds and one white, will be launched initially, and will be sold under a new brand that is yet to be created. Production will gradually increase and could reach 50,000 bottles a year within five years. “I think we will have a few bottles by the fall,” Zuchtriegel said.

Winemaking reached Italy via Greece and the Balkans and reached its peak in ancient Rome in the second century BC. Pliny the Elder, in his Naturalis historia, published partly in 77 AD and partly after his death in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, praised the "unrivaled Italian vine" and recorded the growing techniques of the time.

The Romans mixed red and white grapes in porous clay pots called dolia and left them to ferment for six months until a white mold formed on the surface, which gave the wine its characteristic acidity.

"Its taste was reminiscent of curry, toasted bread, apples and fruits like apricots," Dimitri Van Limbergen, an archaeologist at the University of Verona who studies ancient agriculture, told The Times. Herbs, spices and honey were sometimes added to the wine to enhance its flavour. According to Zuchtriegel, it would be "undrinkable" today.

The vines will be grown using an ancient technique, where they are woven through stakes with holes and reach a height of up to three meters. Grain and fruit will also be grown in the surrounding area to bring the taste of the wine closer to that of antiquity.

The new wines will be partly produced in the Archaeological Park. The Tenute Capaldo winery will build a cellar for aging there. But the crushing and bottling, which requires noisy modern machinery, will be done elsewhere to preserve the atmosphere of the place, said the winery’s head, Antonio Capaldo.

According to The Times, the winery will invest up to 1.5 million euros in planting and building the cellar.

Czech press agency | WT.24