Changing perspectives on roller presses in Late Antique Northern Syria

Abstract

There has long been a widespread view that the economy of the North Syrian limestone massif in Late Antiquity was largely based on the production of olive oil. Over the years, however, it has become clear that the archaeological evidence to support this view is ambiguous in all senses. While certain installations are definitively large oil presses, a particular category of presses that used stone rollers in processing was most likely involved in the production of wine, rather than olive oil. The archaeological and literary evidence hereby points in particular towards the existence of a large-scale industry of sweet wine made from semi-dried grapes; a beverage whose production in the region was facilitated through particularly favorable environmental conditions and the practising of low-lying vine growing.

Making wine in earthenware vessels: a comparative approach to Roman vinification

“…On the other hand, dolia (and qvevri) were made in specialised workshops, using specific clays and firing procedures aimed at obtaining ideal air permeability for wine fermentation, and hence flor formation. In addition, many Roman high-quality wines were made from raisined grapes, which produced musts with high sugar levels ideal for flor building (Van Limbergen 2017, 2020; Dodd 2020: 59–64). These surface yeasts produce several chemical compounds, including acetaldehyde and acetoin, but most notably sotolon, which is responsible for the slightly spicy taste of flor wines (and indeed many qvevri wines), and imparts aromas of toasted bread, apples, roasted walnuts and curry (Robinson 2006).…”

Historical and Heritage Sustainability for the Revival of Ancient Wine-Making Techniques and Wine Styles

“…Concerning grape mechanical crushing, early winemakers should have also been aware that the use of stone rollers would break seeds and increase wine's unpleasant astringency. The technology was at hand in comparison with ancient olive-oil extraction process, crushing olives in stone mills [44], but it does not seem to have been used, with the exception of sun-dried grapes in Israel and in Northern Syria [46,64]. In this case, heightened astringency would not matter because the output was wine where the sweetness masked the rougher mouthfeel perception [65].…”

“…Probably, the sweet variants corresponding to ice wines and botrytized wines (e.g., Tokaji, Sauternes) were the single ones that did not exist in Antiquity. Indeed, Van Limbergen [46] emphasized the attention given to discard rotten grapes during the drying process, which indicates that it would be unlikely to find the predecessors of sweet wines, obtained from noble rot grapes in antiquity. However, it is possible that the wine saprias from Chios was obtained from rotten grapes [98].…”

“…These wineries could also have the space to dry grapes [45]. Alternatively, drying the berries could be done on the vine plant by twisting the stems [6,46], which is still practiced today.…”

“…In both sites, the juice, probably partially fermented and would be transported to a storage cellar. Interestingly, Van Limbergen [46] described in northern Syria (4th-7th centuries AD) semi-open installations, where stone rollers were used to crush the dried grapes, explained by their harder texture. However, this strong crushing was not evidenced elsewhere and Palladius described, instead, the use of loosely woven baskets where grapes were beaten with rods before pressing [4].…”