Cheese or Seawater in Your Wine?

Wine and cheese go together, but have you ever grated goat cheese into your glass? Or topped off a tipple with seawater? Emlyn Dodd says you might have done so “when in Greece” thousands of years ago.

In his work as an archaeologist, ancient wine expert, and recent presenter on winemaking in ancient Rome as part of the Bacchus Uncorked public program series at the Getty Villa, Dodd unearths the world of wine in classical times.

Speaking from London, he pulled back the curtain on a typical symposium (drinking party), what prizes could be won in ancient drinking games, and the “sneaky drinks” women poured themselves during prohibition times.

What surprising methods and tools did ancient people use to make wine?

Emlyn Dodd: Actually, the process of making wine has remained largely unchanged for 8,000 years. It still involves harvesting and crushing grapes, fermenting the juice, and storing the wine in containers. Makers in the republic of Georgia still ferment wine in enormous clay storage jars. In some parts of the Mediterranean, local producers still make wine using ancient methods, such as treading on grapes in simple rock-cut vats and allowing natural fermentation.

Why did ancient Greeks and Romans dilute their wine?

ED: Even before the Romans, in the classical Greek period, there was a notion that the so-called barbarians drank their wine neat, whereas “civilized” Greeks diluted it with water. In theory, they diluted it to have philosophical, educated conversations in their symposiums without getting too drunk. We have this idyllic image that the Greeks wanted to portray, but we also have evidence contrary to this, where they were getting extremely drunk, whether they were diluting their wine or not.

In his writings, Greek epic poet Hesiod talked about people working in the fields. A farmer would stop work in the heat of the day and dilute wine under a tree in the shade, refresh himself, and quench his thirst. It wasn’t a symposium, but it was a similar dilution ritual with more of a nutritional aspect.

Did they ever add anything to their wine besides water?

ED: We have a lot of evidence, such as in the writings of Roman naturalists Pliny the Elder and Columella, that substances were added to wine. Some Greek islanders, like those from Kos, were famous for adding seawater to their wines. It is possible they noticed that with seawater, wine could last longer. They also added honey to create a beverage called mulsum and sometimes infused wine with herbs and spices. This may have been to disguise their wine’s bad taste, but we have to be careful with that argument, because taste preferences were very different back then.

Did wine have medicinal uses in ancient times?

ED: In many treatments in the Greek physician Galen’s books, he talked about some type of wine being used to treat diseases or stomach issues. And in some famous Homeric texts, there was this bizarre drink called kykeon, which was a mixture of wine, barley, honey, and grated cheese. It was given to the heroes probably as a type of foodstuff. Essentially, it provided an enormous quantity of nutritional value and calories; it was quite a rounded meal in itself.

Can you describe a typical Greek symposium? How did these differ from other drinking events?

ED: The Greek symposium really took off as a thing around the mid-first millennium BCE. It was happening in the andron, a room separated from the rest of the house. It was male dominated, and there was a program for when you could eat, talk about philosophy, and drink your wine. Around the same time, in Etruscan culture—as well as in later Roman convivia (banquets)—there seems to have been much greater female participation in similar drinking events.

There’s a great Roman novel by Petronius called The Satyricon that describes one of these banquets. It was hosted by a man who was once enslaved but who was now an extremely successful, wealthy businessman. He had climbed the social ladder, and he was putting on this extravagant dinner party for his guests. There were ridiculous foods like hares with sewn-on wings to resemble Pegasus and whole pigs stuffed with sausages and black pudding. It was this utter extravagance and grotesque debauchery that we’re given insight into.

How did drinking practices differ between private homes and public spaces?

ED: If you visit a site like Pompeii or Ostia, just outside Rome, bars still line the streets. Tabernae were extremely common in ancient Rome. They served wine and all kinds of hot and cold food too, because much of the population wouldn’t have had kitchens in their houses. It was too dangerous, or they didn’t have space. Only the elite could afford to have cooks and a kitchen in their house. So, most of the population went out and ate in the streets.

Were there any popular drinking games in ancient culture?

ED: One of antiquity’s most famous drinking games was kottabos, perhaps invented in Sicily in the early to mid-first millennium BCE but quickly spreading to Greece. It was an activity that took place in the symposium. Essentially, you were drinking wine out of a kylix, a very shallow bowl with handles on either side. And once you’d finished drinking your wine, dregs were left at the bottom. Some sort of target, such as a disc balancing on top of a pole, was put up, and players would flick their wine dregs out of their cups to try and hit the target and knock it off. Winners would get a prize, like cakes, pastries, kisses, or other erotic acts.

How did gender roles influence wine consumption in ancient societies?

ED: There were certain periods of Roman history where we are told by ancient sources that there were bans on women drinking wine. Some of the earliest of these in the Archaic era might have been related to certain types of ritual wine used in religious events, while other types of wine were allowed to be drunk by females. There are also various arguments that during periods of prohibition for women, they were still having “sneaky drinks” in the kitchen because they used wine a lot in cooking.

In other periods of Roman history, people drank freely. There was some equality in terms of access to wine and consumption. This fluctuated over time based on the cultural values of the period. Some emperors tried to relate to Rome’s origins and bring back laws of prohibition. It changed over time based on who was in power and what society they wanted to create.

What were some of the most valued or prestigious wines in the ancient world?

ED: One of the most famous wines was the Falernian. Some ancient Roman authors described it as being a white wine. One of them talked about it being quite alcoholic. A fresco in Herculaneum, near Pompeii, has pictures of four different types of wine for increasing prices. And a graffito from Pompeii says that you can drink some wine for the price of one, or this better wine for the price of two, but for the price of four, you can drink Falernian wine.

Big political figures like the emperors also influenced when wines came into popularity. It really lined up when Augustus was emperor, and he said a certain wine was his favorite. Suddenly, everyone preferred that wine. And when a later emperor said another wine was his favorite, then everyone preferred his wine. I call it “the role of the emperor as influencer.” It’s just like influencers today shaping popular discourse.

What role did the Roman god Bacchus play in people’s lives?

ED: Bacchus evolved in part from the earlier Greek equivalent Dionysos and played various roles in ancient culture, from fertility to wine and pleasure. The Bacchanalia became known as a festival of drunkenness and debauchery with its own dramatic history. The Roman Senate even tried to ban the god’s worship at one point.

Bacchus came to be worshipped across most of the Roman Empire (and much earlier, Dionysos was worshipped across a broad area too). By then, wine was deeply embedded in Roman society and culture for myriad reasons (dietary, medicinal, economic, etc.). It was simply part of everyday life.

Thirsty for more?

Attend the next Bacchus Uncorked event, a program series that explores art, wine, and culture in the ancient world. You’ll hear experts give insightful talks about wine cultivation and drinking practices, then sip a selection of wines specially curated for the program while enjoying the picturesque outdoor setting of the Getty Villa.