THE ETRUSCANS - PART 2: VARIETIES, TRADE AND THE CELTS

As far as the areas and the varieties the Etruscans grew, some texts by Pliny testify in a quite specific way wine-production in Etruria. In Populonia, Gravisca (Tarquinia's ancient port) and Statonia (in Vulci's territory), already in 540-530 B.C. vineyards were able to provide a production sufficient to assure a relevant foreign trade.

Pliny, in his inventory of the Italian grape varieties, also speaks about the ones present in the Etruscan territory. There is Sopina, with its upside down branches; Etesiaca, an early vine which is also a deceiver since its wine is of a better quality when the plant produces more grapes; then Talpana, black variety which gives a white must; Alpiana that gives a very sweet, inebriating wine perfect for the production of "passum" (passito) if you "let grapes gildening for a long time on the plant, or put them into boiling water"; and finally, Conseminia, late black variety which is probably an association of different plants, its wine has a very poor preservation capacity, while its grapes are very resistent and very often is used as a table product. Anyway, it's very difficult to identify ancient varieties comparing them with modern ones, since through the centuries there have been many evolutions due to crossbreed and genetic changes.

The first must they obtained from fermentation was usually consumed at once, while the rest was put into terra-cotta containers whose internal walls had been covered with pitch or resin. The liquid was left there to rest, it was skimmed for about six months and finally, in spring, they filtered it and put it into transport amphorae. Then the wine was mixed with water and honey, inside the "cratere", and decanted into guests' cups.

The wine Etruscans used to drink was of course very different from the current one: it was dense, strongly aromatic and with a high alcoholic content. It seems that at that time people particularly loved sweet wine, quite similar to modern muscatel, which they obtained adding honey. Instead, adding pitch they got "vinum picatum" (spicy wine), while on the occasion of special banquets they used to mix wine with particular drogues that transformed it in a powerful aphrodisiac.

The Etruscan oenological production was very important for the dealings they undertook between 625 and 475 B.C. beyond the Alps, since wine was considered kind of exchange money, fundamental for getting raw materials (metals, salt, coral) and slaves. Trade was mostly by sea and amphorae were a perfect container to transport wine through the Mediterranean sea. As a matter of fact, between the end of the 7th and the end of the 6th century B.C., in Vulci's territory a flourishing amphora industry started. They were made exclusively for trade purposes. The production of wine intended for transportation was in the hands of landowners, who probably used to trasport the product on their own ships. Etruscan amphorae for wine trasportation were found in Latium, Campania, Sicily and -in large quantities- in Southern France. The result of this trade for Etruria was, first of all, an internal economy highly specialized in the sector of viticulture and metallurgy, and then a guarantee of supply, both of raw materials and foodstuffs.

The Celts (the inhabitants of ancient Gaul) were particularly keen on Etruscan wine. Even Plutarch wrote about the love this people felt for wine. It seems that, after tasting it for the first time, they were so enthusiastic about its intoxicating flavours as to decide to move with their families, heading for the Alps. They wanted to settle in the land which would yield such marvellous fruit, and in comparison with this place the rest of the world looked only a sterile and wild site. Anyway, from that moment on, the Etruscans started trading with Gallic populations. In noble Celtic tombs, archaeologists found a lot of Etruscan objects. During banquets, Celtic princes used the same wine crockery people used in Etruria. Vases which contained vinum picatum were then used as cinerary urns, where limed bones and Etruscan wine were voluntarily mixed together.

Another curio: already during Etruscan times, people used wine as a cooking ingredient. According to the testimony of the historians, even if at that time people still did not know any cooling techniques, wine was very much used also as a preserving liquid, especially in the case of meat. They used to keep meat soaked in wine for many hours -sometimes even for days- and in this way it would undergo a particular gastronomical technique we still know today: marinade. Very soon people started cooking with wine in order to add flavour to their dishes. Many recipes we still prepare today, were born at that time! For example, think of braised beef...

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