Et Veientani bibitur faex crassa rubelli ("and they drink thick dregs of red wine of veii"): the greek and latin terminology of ‘bad wine’ between scientific and metaphorical language

Abstract

What did the ancients mean when they said that a wine was ‘bad'? And which words did they use to indicate the bad quality of a certain wine? An answer to these questions will emerge at the end of this paper: ‘bad wine’ was either the disgusting drink that was covered by white mildew, or the sour beverage that tasted like vinegar, or even the weak drink that was made of grape‐skins; but, more often, the ancients thought that ‘bad wine’ was something dead, a drink which was not living anymore; on the contrary, good wine was considered to be alive and kicking. The works written by some of the most famous Greek and Latin technical writers do not give much help in the difficult task of discovering and analysing a real scientific language, as far as bad wine is concerned. In fact, the ancient terminology is mostly metaphorical.