Theophrastus (c.370–c.287 bc) remarked that there were as many kinds of grapes as there were kinds of soil (Historia plantarum 2. 5. 7; also De causis plantarum 4. 11. 6). He does not elaborate, but his remark shows how difficult it is to discuss vine varieties in the classical world. Are varieties that classical authors describe as different really different varieties, or are they examples of the same variety behaving differently in different conditions? Soil is only one factor; climate and winemaking methods are others. We cannot resort to tasting samples or nursery specimens; all we possess are classical texts written by authors who were not modern, scientifically trained ampelographers.
The Greeks did not write systematic treatises on wine so we must turn to the Latin writers on agriculture and natural history, particularly virgil, pliny, and columella. Virgil’s treatment, in Georgics 2. 98–108, is the briefest and least systematic of the three, and he does not distinguish different wines, such as Lesbos, from different grape varieties, such as Aminean and Bumastus (the latter primarily a table grape). There are so many varieties, he concludes, that no one knows the number.
Only Democritus knew how many grape varieties existed, Pliny says (14. 20), but his account does not survive. Pliny himself announces that he will give us only the most important vine varieties. Pride of place among the Italian grapes goes to the Aminean, which has five subvarieties, then to the Nomentan, and third comes the Apian, which has two subvarieties and is the preferred grape of Etruria. All other vine varieties, Pliny asserts confidently, are imports from greece. Of these, the Graecula, from Chios or Thasos, is as good as the Aminean. Eugenia is good but only when planted in the colli albani. Elsewhere it does not produce good wine. The same goes for Rhaetic, which grows well in a cool climate, and the Allobrogian, which apparently ripens well in frost. These last three grape varieties produce wines which go lighter with age. The remaining varieties Pliny mentions are ones that he judges to be without distinction as wine grapes.
Columella agrees with Pliny for the most part but there are differences (3. 2. 7–31). He regards the Aminean as the best grape and puts the Nomentan second. He also recommends the Eugenian and Allobrogian wines, with the same reservation as Pliny, and the Apian. Then he mentions other varieties which are noted for their productivity rather than their flavour. He does not think highly of the Rhaetic, and he does not rank the Graecula with the Aminean.
Vines were still being imported: Columella mentions three grapes which have only lately come to his notice so that he cannot give an opinion on their wines and also another grape which he says is a recent Greek import named Dracontion. Columella’s aim is not to give a long and comprehensive list, for that would be impossible (he quotes Virgil’s words, Georgics 2. 104–6). One should not quibble about names, he concludes, and, knowing that a variety can change out of all recognition if it is planted somewhere new, one should not approve a new grape until it has been tried and tested.
Columella’s remarks indicate that farmers were prepared to experiment with new varieties, some of them imported from Greece. Some varieties were probably brought over with the Greek colonists from the 8th century bc onwards, others were growing in Italy long before they arrived. A Greek name is not a guarantee of Greek origin: some Greek names may be names given to Italian grapes which the Greeks of Sicily and southern Italy used when they started producing wine in their colonies. If so, these names reflect no more than the fact that the Greeks exploited the potential of these grapes commercially before the natives did.
Written by Hanneke Wilson in "The Oxford Companion to Wine", edited by Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding, Oxford University Press,UK,2015. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.