Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

  • About

Pompeii, ancient Roman settlement at the centre of an area of thriving viticulture which stretched round the southern bay of Naples from the slopes of Vesuvius to Sorrento and was at one time an important wine port. There was a Pompeian wine (‘headache-inducing’ according to pliny (Natural History 14. 70)) and a local vine, the Holconia, which carried the name of one of the most prominent Pompeian families. The eruption of Vesuvius on 24 August ad 79 which destroyed Pompeii and its surrounding territory also preserved detailed evidence of all the processes involved in the production, sale, and consumption of wine. There are the farm-villas outside Pompeii, mainly excavated in the 19th century, which contained press rooms, and elaborate piping systems for running the must off into large dolia set in the ground in yards where fermentation took place. There is the more recent discovery of market vineyards within the walls of Pompeii. Then there are the incidental details: in the House of the Vettii one dining room has a painted frieze in which cherubs are engaged in what were doubtless the businesses of the owners, including working a wine press and the presentation of wine to be tasted by a prospective buyer. The local wine was widely exported in amphorae. Finally there are the numerous inns, bars, and eating places, clustered significantly mainly around the gates of the town and in the busy public areas around the forum. Once again our imagination can be fuelled by lively scenes of inn-life painted on their walls.