By Tom Allan

Then with water fill the pitcher
   Wreathed about with classic fables;
 Ne'er Falernian threw a richer
    Light upon Lucullus' tables.

  Come, old friend, sit down and listen!
    As it passes thus between us,
  How its wavelets laugh and glisten
    In the head of old Silenus.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The excerpt above, from the poem Drinking Song (inscription for an antique pitcher) by Longfellow, mentions a wine that no living person has ever tasted: Roman Falernian.

I don't assume to be a scholar of Longfellow, but I can't help but question his theme in this poem (I have only quoted the last two of a dozen stanzas). At first reading it seems to praise the legacy of wine through history, but upon further study the message is a bit more mixed. The Lucullus mentioned was an extravagant Roman general of the first century BC, known among other activities for his conquest of Armenia.  If you look up the variant lucullan in the dictionary you'll find the words lavish and luxurious as definitions. These sentiments are often associated with the noble Falernian in historical passages, so it's no surprise to see such references here.

The last stanza tells a different story, if only for the mention of old Silenus. Silenus, the mythical son of Pan (not Peter) who was raised by the god Dionysus, was a none-too-glamorous character. Silenus was a pudgy, ever-sotted, jolly fellow who rode an ass and probably often imitated his noble steed. Replace the donkey with a reindeer, add some snow and hide the flask in a pocket and I think we have the original inspiration for the modern St. Nick. The poem seems to either celebrate or ridicule the practice of man searching for eternal youth in liquids of one kind or another.

The Wine

Roman Falernian was made from the Aminean grape in the Campania Felix (blessed country) region of Italy. The vineyards occupied the hillsides of Mt. Falernus south of the city of Naples. A white wine (at least early in life) with an alcohol content in excess of 15%, it had an impressive capacity for aging. The grapes were generally harvested late (preferably after a freeze) and were then allowed to partially dry in order to concentrate the sugar and flavors. After an open fermentation, the wine was stored in 7 gallon clay amphorae sealed with wax or sap and cement. Falernian was generally allowed to age 15-20 years, but there are published accounts of much older wines being consumed with pleasant results.

The Customers

The limited growing region, the long aging process, and the cost of transportation to the various corners of the empire meant that Falernian was usually beyond the means of the average citizen. Indeed, this was a wine of poets, centurions, merchants and aristocrats. The names of scholars and poets referencing the beverage in their writings include Gaius Valerius Catullus (late Roman poet), Horace, Varro (1st century BC), Pliny (1st century AD), Petronius (who was partial to 100-year-old vintages, and reports on a Falernian-soaked Roman orgy), and even Conrad in Heart of Darkness (the 1899 basis for Apocalypse Now. It's possible Brando is the only living person to have tasted the wine).

A Roman soldier in Britain in the first and second centuries AD would have to part with 1-3 weeks pay for a cup of this wine, depending on rank. It was a bit cheaper closer to the vineyards, though. A 79 AD "menu" scratched into the wall of a pub in Pompeii reads, "You can get a drink here for an 'As', a better drink for two, Falernian for four." An "As" was a copper coin minted by Caesar Augustus worth 1/16th of a Denarius (if that helps). The sign suggests that the same Roman soldier in Britain could enjoy a cup of his hometown libation for only a days pay when back home in Campania on holiday.

It seems clear that legionnaires, foot soldiers and local rabble were more likely drinking barley water or brown wine mixed with seawater than Falernian wine. Such libation was reserved for the likes of Caesar, Cleopatra, Pliny, Marcus Aurelius and Caligula (who tasted the vaunted 121BC vintage in 39 AD). One reported unwilling consumer of Falernian was England's Duke of Clarence (George Plantagenet, 1449-1478). The Duke, after having tried the patience of his brother Edward IV once too often, was put to death in the Tower of London in February of 1478. Shakespeare and many historians write that the ultimate fate of this medieval party-boy was drowning in a butt of malmsey, but one source claims it was Falernian. This story (of Falernian) is unlikely considering the year of the execution and the type of container used.

It has even been suggested by historian Mario Fregoni that the Romans were the original inventors of sparkling wine, using Falernian and a raisin must to induce secondary fermentation. In A History of Sparkling Wines he relays a story by a Roman poet of Caesar and Cleopatra enjoying this drink at a banquet held in their honor. It likely wasn't as finely effervescent as Dom Perignon's creation, but the concept was the same.

So, where did it go?

The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius destroyed many of the best vineyards. The farmers replanted aggressively, but with new varieties imported from other regions. This initial dilution of the Aminean plantings was exacerbated in AD 92 when Emperor Domitian banned the planting of any new grapes and ordered half the vines of the province ripped out to alleviate a grape glut. This edict was not removed from the Roman books until AD 280. Other factors surely contributed to the demise of this wine, but the record is not clear about the details.

Will we ever truly know if Roman Falernian was as tasty as early oenophiles report? Will a 21st century tongue taste the legendary wine? Stranger things have happened. Marine archaeologists working in the Mediterranean Ocean and Black Sea are finding tons of amphorae on sunken trading vessels. We can only hope that some of these intrepid explorers know to keep a sharp eye out for clay amphorae with their wax seals intact. Perhaps they should keep some crackers and strong cheese in the galley, just in case.

Falernian Wine

Serving-boy fill for me stronger cups
of old Falernian, since Postumia,
the mistress's, laws demand it,
she who's juicier then the juicy grape.
But you water, fatal to wine, away with you:
far off, wherever, be off to the strict.
This wine is Bacchus's own.
-Gaius Valerius Catullus

 

References: Encyclopaedia Romana (2001) by James Grout; Catullus: The Poems (2001) edited by A.S. Kline; Aging Gracefully (Winter 2001) by Erik Matthews, Winemaker Magazine; Ancient money connects holder to Christ's era (9/29/2000) by Gerald Tebben, The Columbus Dispatch; A Brief History of Wine in Italy (2001) an essay by Fiorentino Iantosca; Shakespeare's Kings (1999) by John Julius Norwich;mytholoria.com;WineSpectator.com;Expedia.com

Tom Allan is a Contributing Advisor for WineSquire.com