As wine was the strongest alcoholic drink available to the Romans (distillation was not invented until the Middle Ages) great care was taken to insure that the grapes were able to get as ripe and sweet as possible without spoilage; the sweeter the grape, the higher the alcohol after fermentation. As such, the majority of grapes in Pompeii were grown on the south facing slopes of Mount Vesuvius to insure maximum sun exposure. Grapes were brought down in baskets to be crushed by foot or pressed in the wine press. Ancient Rome preferred the wine made from trodden grapes and considered press wine to be of inferior quality. Lighter wines were fermented in "dolia", large clay pots which were buried in the ground to protect the wine from the elements. Fuller bodied, more alcoholic wines were fermented above ground in open air containers to promote the oxidative characteristics the Romans prized as "mature". Wines which did not have sufficient sugar to produce high alcohol wines were often fortified with boiled and concentrated grape juice (and often dangerous lead residue from the pot). Once fermentation was complete, the wines were transferred off their sediment into amphorae (pictured left, bottom row) and sealed with a cork which was then covered in plaster. Each amphora holds about 27 liters. The volume of wine in the vessel, the narrow opening at the top and the use of cork and plaster contributed to these wines surviving long periods of storage and ageing. In fact, Pliny speaks of a 160 year old Falernian wine being served to Caligula at a banquet.

  

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