Did Cretan Winemakers Scam Their Roman Customers?

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

[SunkenCiv]

A recent investigation by University College Dublin archaeologist Conor Trainor posits that ceramic beehives found at the site of Knossos may be evidence that merchants on the island of Crete sold counterfeit products to their Roman clientele, The Conversation reports. Crete specialized in the production of a particular raisin wine sometimes known as passum. 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 may not have had. Trainor believes that there may have been a duplicitous reason behind the presence of beehives found at a wine-producing site in Knossos. To keep up with demand, winemakers may have been mixing honey with their wine to artificially sweeten it, a much swifter and less expensive option than having to wait months for grapes to dry out. Given the large volume of empty Cretan wine amphoras found in Rome, however, this did not seem to spoil the city's thirst for the island specialty.

[AndyJackson]

Not recommending anything, but here is one seller of Cretan sweet wines. https://www.mycretangoods.com/category/114350/Drinks/Sweet-Wines/

I have had some. It is a very deep rich flavor and almost syrupy in mouthfeel. Not especially to my taste, but it is certainly a good wine for those who like that kind of thing.

[carcraft]

Using raisins to make wine is a trick used in prisons

[SunkenCiv]

I’ve never visited, but that is a common conclusion. I first encountered it in Wunderlich’s “The Secret of Crete” which I found compelling.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6483103-the-secret-of-crete

https://www.thriftbooks.com/browse/?b.search=secret%20of%20crete

[SunkenCiv]

• Grog of the Greeks [ barley beer, honey mead, retsina wine ] [10/20/2008]
• Making Merry at Knossos or their's a sucker born every minute [01/03/2013]
• Making merry at Knossos [05/15/2009]
• Medieval Bee Hive Discovered Which Will Allow Scientists to Compare With Modern Day Bees [12/09/2024]
• Study confirms Egyptians drank hallucinogenic cocktails in ancient rituals [11/16/2024]
• 2,500-Year-Old Booze Brewed Up From Recipe Found In Iron Age Burial: Would you dare drink the forbidden brew? [03/13/2023]
• Ancient Beverage Brewed In Milwaukee [10/28/2016]
• World's oldest alcoholic drink, Lithuanian Mead, returning to India [11/28/2013]
• A friend in mead is a friend indeed. [11/29/2011]
• A White House Brewery? White House Honey Ale [02/07/2011]
• Mead, drink of vikings, comes out of the Dark Ages [12/29/2010]

[Red Badger]

Of course! They were CRETANS!...................

[Red Badger]

They were just playing passum.......................

[Joe 6-pack]

"A recent investigation by University College Dublin archaeologist Conor Trainor..."

Of course, watered down spirits are a matter of grave concern to the Irish.

[trebb]

Per one of my school teachers - many of them suffered brain damage because they stored wine in lead containers because it made the wine taste sweeter - and the lead made them “Caligula crazy”....

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, that’s a myth.

[ChessExpert]

I had the same thought. However, the word Cretan is not the same as cretin. It is possible that some Cretans were cretins.

‘Epimenides of Gnossus, a seventh-century BC poet, prophet, and native Cretan characterized his own people as liars:
“Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”’

That sounds like an exaggeration.

[Vigilanteman]

If they successfully pulled off the scam, would that make the Cretan winemakers NOT cretans?

[SunkenCiv]

Sounds like they were freakin’ geniuses! :^)

[SunkenCiv]

“Three Irishmen walk out of a pub.

Hey, it could happen.”

[GreenHornet]

This deception was eventually exposed by an ancient Greek bar rescue specialist named Jonus Taffercus - “YOU PEOPLE DIGUST ME! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH THIS?”

[DeplorableTrumpSupporter]

Is the statue of limitation in effect for consumer fraud? If not, let’s sue them. 😀

[SunkenCiv]

The proprietor immediately fired the whole taff.

[SunkenCiv]

I’m thinkin’, reparations.

[trebb]

“Yeah, that’s a myth.”

Proof?

A quick search about the topic brought me this at a Wine Enthusiast site....

“The highly toxic element was, for millennia, included frequently in winemaking and storage. The metal was used as a sweetener and preservative, as well as for its ability to impart brilliant clarity to glassware. Its role in wine history dates to at least 2000 B.C., and even extends to today.”