The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3 (of 6)Pliny, the Elder
History
The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 3 (of 6)
Pliny, the Elder
Natural history -- Pre-Linnean works
Among the other wines, we find mentioned upon the Upper Sea those of
Prætutia and Ancona, as also those known as the “Palmensia,”[1276]
not improbably because the cluster springs from a single shoot.[1277]
In the interior we find the wines of Cæsena[1278] and that known as
the Mæcenatian,[1279] while in the territory of Verona there are the
Rhætian wines, only inferior, in the estimation of Virgil, to the
Falernian.[1280] Then, too, at the bottom of the Gulf[1281] we find
the wines of Adria.[1282] On the shores of the Lower Sea there are the
Latiniensian[1283] wines, the Graviscan,[1284] and the Statonian:[1285]
in Etruria, the wines of Luna bear away the palm, and those of
Genua[1286] in Liguria. Massilia, which lies between the Pyrenees and
the Alps, produces two varieties of wine, one of which is richer and
thicker than the other, and is used for seasoning other wines, being
generally known as “succosum.”[1287] The reputation of the wine of
Beterræ[1288] does not extend beyond the Gallic territories;[1289] and
as for the others that are produced in Gallia Narbonensis, nothing can
be positively stated, for the growers of that country have absolutely
established manufactories for the purposes of adulteration, where they
give a dark hue to their wines by the agency of smoke; I only wish I
could say, too, that they do not employ various herbs and noxious drugs
for the same purpose;[1290] indeed, these dealers are even known to
use aloes for the purpose of heightening the flavour and improving the
colour of their wines.
The regions of Italy that are at a greater distance from the
Ausonian Sea, are not without their wines of note, such as those of
Tarentum,[1291] Servitia,[1292] and Consentia,[1293] and those, again,
of Tempsa, Babia, and Lucania, among which the wines of Thurii hold
the pre-eminence. But the most celebrated of all of them, owing to the
fact that Messala[1294] used to drink it, and was indebted to it for
his excellent health, was the wine of Lagara,[1295] which was grown not
far from Grumentum.[1296] In Campania, more recently, new growths under
new names have gained considerable credit, either owing to careful
cultivation, or else to some other fortuitous circumstances: thus, for
instance, we find four miles from Neapolis the Trebellian,[1297] near
Capua the Cauline,[1298] wine, and the wine of Trebula[1299] grown in
the territory so called, though but of a common sort: Campania boasts
of all these, as well as of her Trifoline[1300] wines. As to the wines
of Pompeii,[1301] they have arrived at their full perfection in ten
years, after which they gain nothing by age: they are found also to
be productive of headache, which often lasts so long as the sixth
hour[1302] of the next day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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