Adaptation of Ancient Techniques to Recreate ‘Wines’ and ‘Beverages’ Using Withered Grapes of Muscat of Alexandria

Abstract

The production of wines using ancient techniques is a present trend with commercial interest among consumers valorising their historical background. Therefore, the objective of the present work was to recreate wines and piquettes produced from dehydrated grapes, vinified according to the techniques described in classical Roman agricultural manuals. Muscat of Alexandria grapes were harvested and subjected to greenhouse drying under ambient temperature for 7 days, during the 2020 and 2021 harvests. When weight loss was approximately 30%, grapes were processed according to different protocols, including a rehydration step using saltwater or white wine (2020 harvest). Fermentation was conducted with the addition of commercial yeast without sulphur dioxide supplementation. The piquettes were obtained from the pressed pomaces diluted with water solution (5 g/L tartaric acid). The 2020 wines showed alcoholic content and residual sugar ranging from 14.8 to 17.0% (v/v), and 0.8 g/L to 18 g/L, respectively. Volatile acidity was less than 1 g/L (as acetic acid) in all wines, except for the fermentation of crushed grapes alone, which yielded 2.3 g/L volatile acidity. The fermentation of dehydrated crushed grapes in the semi-industrial trial run in the harvest of 2021 yielded 1.1 g/L volatile acidity. The piquettes analysis showed ethanol ranging from 10.2% (v/v) to 16.0% (v/v), reducing substances less than 2 g/L and volatile acidity less than 0.8 g/L. Overall, the physicochemical analysis showed that it was possible to recreate ancient winemaking techniques that may be further improved to produce commercially and legally acceptable wines.

Consumer acceptance of sweet wines andpiquettesobtained by the adaptation of Ancient Wine‐making Techniques

“…Their appreciation may be similar to wines produced from overripe grapes (Sancho‐Galán, Amores‐Arrocha, Palacios, & Jiménez‐Cantizano, 2022), raisins (Ruiz‐Bejarano, Durán‐Guerrero, Castro, Barroso, & Rodríguez‐Dodero, 2020), withered grapes (Tomasi et al, 2021; Zapparoli et al, 2018), or partially dehydrated grapes (Kelly et al, 2018; Kelly, Inglis, Dowling, & Pickering, 2022; Kelly, Inglis, & Pickering, 2020). However, the wine production techniques and grapes reported in these works differ from the recreated ancient wines described by Harutyunyan et al (2022).…”

“…Color browning (BI) was determined by absorbance at 420 nm (Abs 420 nm), whereas the measurements of the chromatic characteristics T A B L E 1 Characterization of the samples, described by Harutyunyan et al (2022). of white wines were determined according to the CIELab color space (L*a*b*).…”

“…The data were imported into R, where all data visualizations were carried out. In particular, the visuals were designed using the "ggplot2" R T A B L E 2 Wine and piquette physicochemical characterization (Harutyunyan et al, 2022). and, of course, a logarithmic transformation was applied to fix the problem.…”

“…Sweet wines were among the most praised in antiquity and may be regarded as the archetypes of the present passito ‐style wines common across the Mediterranean (Mencarelli & Tonutti, 2013). These wines could be obtained by drying grapes under the sun, creating products likely to attain 16% ( v/v ) alcohol and a high level of residual sugar supplemented by the addition of honey, boiled juices, or fruit juices (Harutyunyan et al, 2022). One of the grape varieties used was the Apiana or Psithia , probably corresponding to varieties similar to the present Muscat of Alexandria (Harutyunyan & Malfeito‐Ferreira, 2022b).…”

“…The field of experimental archeology as a subfield of archeological research, which aims to recreate ancient wine‐making techniques, has led to the production of wines that are expected to be close imitations of their ancestors (Feier, Migała, Pietruszka, & Jackowski, 2019; Indelicato, 2020). In particular, previous research yielded several styles of wines obtained following different Roman protocols (Harutyunyan et al, 2022). Their appreciation may be similar to wines produced from overripe grapes (Sancho‐Galán, Amores‐Arrocha, Palacios, & Jiménez‐Cantizano, 2022), raisins (Ruiz‐Bejarano, Durán‐Guerrero, Castro, Barroso, & Rodríguez‐Dodero, 2020), withered grapes (Tomasi et al, 2021; Zapparoli et al, 2018), or partially dehydrated grapes (Kelly et al, 2018; Kelly, Inglis, Dowling, & Pickering, 2022; Kelly, Inglis, & Pickering, 2020).…”