Roman Wine History: Vines Across Europe

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When you uncork a bottle of Bordeaux, pour a crisp German Riesling, or even sample a sparkling wine from the South of England, you are not just drinking fermented grape juice. You are tasting history. Specifically, you are tasting the enduring legacy of the Roman Empire.

While Rome is famous for its roads, its laws, and its legions, its most lasting conquest was arguably agricultural. The Romans did not just conquer land; they transformed it. Wherever the Roman eagle flew, the grapevine followed. They turned wine from a luxury of the Mediterranean elite into a staple of European daily life, laying the foundations for the world’s most famous wine regions.

This guide explores how soldiers, engineers, and farmers of the ancient world spread their vines across Europe, changing the landscape—and our drinking habits—forever.

Part 1: The Roots of the Vine

To understand how Rome spread wine, we must first understand that they didn’t invent it. The story begins long before the first stone of the Colosseum was laid.

Borrowing from the Neighbours

The Romans were master adapters. They learned the basics of winemaking from two main sources:

The Greeks: The Greeks had colonised southern Italy (known as Magna Graecia) and brought their vines with them. They viewed wine as a civilising force.
The Etruscans: These were the people living in central Italy before Rome rose to power. They were skilled farmers who taught the early Romans how to train vines to grow up trees.

However, the Romans took these local traditions and applied their famous efficiency. They didn’t just want to make wine for a village; they wanted to make it for an empire.

Wine as a Necessity, Not a Luxury

In the modern world, we often think of wine as something for a nice dinner or a celebration. For the Romans, it was a caloric necessity. Water in the ancient world was often unsafe to drink. Mixing it with wine killed bacteria and made it palatable.

Wine was:

Medicine: Used to clean wounds and settle stomachs.
Currency: Used to pay taxes and trade for slaves.
Fuel: Vital for the calories needed to work the fields or march in the army.

Because it was essential, the Romans couldn’t rely on importing it all from Italy. As they expanded, they had to plant.

Part 2: The Legions—Soldiers and Farmers

The primary engine for spreading wine across Europe was the Roman army. It is a strange image to conjure—a hardened legionary holding a gladius in one hand and a pruning hook in the other—but it is historically accurate.

The Logistics of Thirst

A single Roman legion consisted of about 5,000 men. Each soldier was issued a daily ration of wine (often a sour, vinegar-like drink called posca). If you do the maths, a legion needed thousands of litres of wine every week just to function.

Transporting heavy clay jars (amphorae) full of liquid from Italy to the frontiers of Germany or Britain was a logistical nightmare and incredibly expensive. The solution was simple: grow it where you drink it.

Planting the Frontier

When a legion settled in a new province to build a fort (castrum), they immediately surveyed the land for agriculture. Retired soldiers were often given land grants in these conquered territories. These veterans planted vineyards to supply their former comrades still in active service.

This created a “wine belt” that followed the Roman frontier. From the banks of the Rhône in France to the steep slopes of the Mosel in Germany, the map of Roman conquest is almost identical to a map of modern Europe’s classic wine regions.

Part 3: Mastering the Earth—Roman Viticulture

The Romans were not haphazard farmers. They were scientific in their approach. Writers like Columella and Pliny the Elder wrote massive encyclopaedias on farming that are still surprisingly accurate today.

Understanding Terroir

The French word terroir describes how the soil, climate, and landscape affect the taste of wine. The Romans understood this concept perfectly, even if they didn’t use the word.

They knew that vines struggled in rich, flat soil (which produced lots of leaves but watery grapes).
They sought out rocky, hillside slopes where the vines had to struggle to find water. This produced smaller, more flavourful grapes.
They identified which grape varieties grew best in different climates.

Technological Leaps

Rome brought engineering to the vineyard.

The Screw Press: Before Rome, grapes were mostly crushed by foot. The Romans adapted engineering used for olive oil to create massive beam presses and screw presses. This allowed them to extract every drop of juice, increasing production on an industrial scale.
The Barrel: This was actually a Celtic invention. When Romans pushed into Gaul (France), they saw locals storing beer in wooden barrels bound with iron hoops. The Romans realised wood was lighter and less fragile than clay amphorae. They adopted the barrel, which also happened to improve the flavour of the wine by allowing it to age and breathe.
Trellising: They developed complex systems of stakes and wires to lift grapes off the damp ground, preventing rot and exposing the fruit to the sun.

Part 4: The Conquest of Gaul (France)

France is viewed today as the heart of the wine world, but it was Rome that got the heart beating. When Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, he opened the floodgates for Italian merchants and, eventually, local production.

Provence and the Rhône

The first area to be fully cultivated was the south, known as Provincia (modern Provence). It was close to Italy and had a perfect Mediterranean climate. The Romans planted extensively in the Rhône Valley. If you drink a Châteauneuf-du-Pape today, you are drinking from land first scouted by Romans.

Bordeaux (Burdigala)

The story of Bordeaux is fascinating. The Romans established the city of Burdigala as a trading hub. Initially, they imported wine there. But the locals, specifically a Celtic tribe called the Bituriges, were quick learners. They began planting a grape variety known as Biturica—which geneticists believe is an ancestor of today’s Cabernet Sauvignon.

By the 1st century AD, Bordeaux was producing so much wine that it became a rival to Italian producers. In a fit of protectionism, Emperor Domitian actually ordered many vines in Gaul to be ripped up to protect Italian farmers. Thankfully, a later emperor, Probus, reversed the ban, allowing the French wine industry to flourish again.

Burgundy and Champagne

As the empire stabilised, vines pushed north. In Burgundy, Romans recognised the limestone soils were perfect for lighter reds. Even in Champagne, though too cold for the heavy reds the Romans preferred, they laid the groundwork for viticulture, mining the famous chalk caves that are still used today to age champagne.

Part 5: The Northern Limits—Germany and Britain

The Romans were stubborn. They wanted wine, and they refused to let a little thing like “bad weather” stop them.

Germany: The Mosel and Rhine

Conquering the Germanic tribes was difficult, but growing grapes there was an agricultural war. The climate was cold and frost was a killer.

To solve this, Roman engineers looked at the steep river banks of the Mosel and Rhine rivers. They realised two things:

Reflection: The river reflected sunlight back up onto the vines.
Angle: Planting on steep, south-facing slopes maximised exposure to the sun.

They planted vines on slopes so steep that workers had to be lowered down on ropes—a tradition of “steep slope viticulture” that continues in Germany today. The famous Riesling wines of today owe their existence to Roman persistence.

Britannia: Wine on the Edge of the World

For a long time, historians thought Roman Britain imported all its wine. It seemed too cold to grow grapes. However, modern archaeology has proven otherwise.

The Climate Factor: During the Roman occupation, the climate was slightly warmer than it is now.
The Evidence: Pollen analysis and trench marks found in places like Northamptonshire and the Nene Valley show expansive vineyards.There were likely vineyards as far north as Lincolnshire. While British Roman wine might not have been a vintage Grand Cru, it was fresh, available, and fuelled the province.

Part 6: A Drink for Every Class

In the Roman Empire, what you drank told the world who you were. Wine was a strict marker of social status.

The Good Stuff: Falernian

The most legendary wine of Rome was Falernian. Grown on the slopes of Mount Falernus near Naples, it was high in alcohol and white (though it darkened to amber with age).

It was the “First Growth” of the ancient world.
A vintage from 121 BC, known as the “Opimian” vintage, was still being talked about (and supposedly drunk) 200 years later.
It was expensive, sweet, and strong—often needing to be diluted with water before drinking.

The Middle Ground: Mulsum

For the middle class, or for opening courses at a banquet, there was Mulsum. This was wine mixed with honey and spices. It was the ancient equivalent of a cocktail, designed to mask the taste of mediocre wine or simply to provide a sweet kick.

The Soldier’s Ration: Posca

At the bottom of the ladder was Posca. This wasn’t strictly wine; it was wine that had gone bad and turned to vinegar, mixed with water and herbs.

While it sounds disgusting to modern palates, it was actually a brilliant isotonic drink. The acidity killed bacteria in the water, and the vinegar provided Vitamin C (preventing scurvy). It kept the Roman army marching. It is famously the drink offered to Jesus during the crucifixion.

Part 7: The Fall and the Survival

In 476 AD, the Western Roman Empire collapsed. Cities emptied, trade routes broke down, and chaos reigned. Usually, in times of collapse, luxury agriculture is the first thing to die. You cannot eat grapes, and vineyards require year-round labour.

So, why do we still have wine in Europe?

The Church as the Ark

As the political power of Rome faded, the spiritual power of the Church rose. Christianity has a unique relationship with wine. It is required for the Eucharist (Communion).

The Monks: Monasteries became the guardians of viticulture. Orders like the Benedictines and Cistercians kept the knowledge alive.
The Documentation: Monks were literate. They recorded exactly which plot of land produced the best grapes. In Burgundy, Cistercian monks essentially mapped out the “Climats” (vineyard plots) that are still used to classify Burgundy wine today.

The “blood of Christ” saved the vines of Rome.

Part 8: The Modern Legacy

The next time you look at a wine label, you are looking at Roman history.

The Names: Many modern grape names have Latin roots. Pinot comes from pinea (pine cone), describing the shape of the grape cluster.
The Law: The concept of “Appellation”—protecting wine names based on where they are grown—has roots in Roman attempts to stop fraud, where cheap wine was sold as “Falernian.”
The Taste: The Roman preference for aging wine in oak is the reason we still associate quality red wine with oak flavours today.

Conclusion

The Roman Empire did not just leave behind ruins of stone. They left behind a living landscape. From the steep slate hills of Germany to the sun-drenched valleys of the Rhône, the vines currently growing have ancestors planted by centurions and settlers two thousand years ago.

Rome civilised the grape, industrialised the process, and democratised the drink. They turned a Mediterranean luxury into a European staple. So, raise a glass. Whether it is a cheap supermarket red or a fine vintage, you are drinking to the health of the Empire.

The Roman Empire: Spreading Vines Across Europe