[Avodah] Wine

[Arie Folger]

RJR asked about the wine in Chazal's times, which was said to be too strong
and require dilution, and yet we meanwhile know that wine did not have a
higher alcohol content back then.

Bim'hila, but I think that a common fallacy is behind the question: That
dilution was needed because alcohol content was too high. Though Rishonim
do discuss Chazal's wine being stronger, they do not speak of alcohol
content and there is no reason for us to assume that that is what was so
strong.

Instead I want to suggest that the taste was strong, not the alcohol
content. Here is an interesting blurb from an article at the Smithsonian:

https://spoonuniversity.com/school/ufl/i-ate-like-an-ancient-roman-for-the-week-and-was-always-tipsy/

> The Romans had tricks up their sleeves to make wine more palatable
> (besides adding water). Paul Lukacs, author of *Inventing Wine: A New
> History of One of the World's Most Ancient Pleasures, said in an NPR
> interview
> <https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=166186416>
> that Roman wine was rancid for most of the year.

> "...Wine would sour rapidly, and of course it could only be made once a
> year, at the harvest...So it might have tasted, to our palates, decent in
> September, but it sure would have tasted bad come spring."

> To combat this, the Romans would add lead, honey, ash, myrrh, incense,
> fresh resin and pitch from pine trees, and a slew of other spices. No
> wonder the life expectancy of Romans was so short -- they were drinking lead
> as babies. A particularly coveted drink was Mulsum, a type of wine mixed
> with honey.

> The ancient writer Apicius, author of Cookery and Dining in Ancient Rome
> <https://kitchenproject.com/history/apicius/Apicius.pdf>, has recipes for
> this honey wine, although his version also includes crushed pepper,
> saffron, roasted date stones, and charcoal.

So it had a strong flavour, but a lower alcohol content. This would also
fit well with RMB's comment that the wine may have easily turned syrupy as
the year progressed and the wine aged.


[A second email, explaining that second link. -mb]


One correction: Though I found a relevant article at the Smithsonian in
preparing for my post, what I actually linked to was from a different
website. The link is above.


Gmar chatima tova,
-- 
Mit freundlichen Gren,
Yours sincerely,

Arie Folger
Visit my blog at http://rabbifolger.net/