Did Cretan Winemakers Scam Their Roman Customers?

Archaeology Magazine ^ | June 13, 2025 | editors / unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

[The Conversation]

Dan Henson/Shutterstock

[SunkenCiv]

[Jonty30]

I don’t drink. But I wouldn’t mind trying it once. Can that stuff be bought?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Honey wine is called mead and you can get that.

[Jonty30]

I wouldn’t mind trying it. I will look it up and see if I can buy a cooler sized bottle.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Did Cretan Winemakers Scam Their Roman Customers?

Were they selling something that was difficult or time consuming to make and thus had a high price tag?

Then of course, at least some of them were.

Fashions and taste come and go, people stay the same.

[alexander_busek]

Did Cretan Winemakers Scam Their Roman Customers?

"Drying out grapes before fermentation and making wine from raisins produces a sweeter vintage that was popular across the ancient Mediterranean world, especially with the Romans. However, this process requires time and patience, two things that Roman consumers winemakers may not have had."

Regards,

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If you click on the word mead in my previous post it is a link to a search.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Now days it is called Passito di Pantelleria and goes from anywhere from $30 a bottle to about $150.

It packs a kick so serve in small glasses.

[Hebrews 11:6]

One of Crete’s own prophets has said it:
“Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”
This saying is true.
Titus 1:12-13

[ConservativeMind]

Those Cretans!

[Mr. Blond]

There’s no stoppin’ the Cretans from hoppin’.

[11th_VA]

“The Cretans are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies” ( Titus 1:12 ).

[madison10]

Probably. They had a bad reputation.

[Secret Agent Man]

Not a fan of sweet wines to drink, maybe to use in a pasta sauce.

[Organic Panic]

Anyone who has visited Knossos knows it is a fantastical creation of a self promoting archeologist. Indeed it is a wonderful visit. But seems quite absurd.

That said. A fantastic place to visit considering the achievements in sewage and I irrigation infrastructure. And if you go Xania is a wonderful vacation spot. L

[mbrfl]

As long as it tasted good and had the expected alcohol content, no harm done, I suppose. For all we know the honey might have been a known ingredient prized by consumers that gave the Cretan passum a distinctive taste that customers desired.

[Bob434]

Might be good in a number of dishes that could benefit from added swetness

[Charles Martel]

I don’t drink. But I wouldn’t mind trying it once. Can that stuff be bought?

I've seen an Italian dessert wine with the word "Passum" on the bottle; didn't know about the use of raisins. A lot of the sweet dessert wines are sold in smaller (375ml) bottles (the one I saw was tall and skinny, like a bottle you might find balsamic vinegar or similar sold in).

[Adder]

You can also buy Amarone wines, made from dried grapes.

True Amarone style wines are expensive, an issue that has ever been [and the point of the article].