Cato's Republic

Balsamic Moon

"Harvest grapes when they are dry, as soon as the new moon comes, if you want good wine and fleshy fruit; if you want small grapes, harvest when the moon has waned and shrunk: for the less moon you have, the less wine you will obtain and the paler it will be; so that at the bottom it will appear watered. Do not harvest grapes between the two moons, either at the waxing or the turning, or the wine will play the same trick on you...In those two phases of waxing and turning, never pour wine into casks or transfer it."

Leone Battista Alberti, poet and painter (1404-1472). Balsamic phase or waning crescent of the moon in the Napa Valley.

On Vox: Signs of fall

"Corn is crammed in every corner and many a wine jar is fragrant with ancient vintages. Here, when Novembers are past and winter soon to come, the rugged pruner brings home the tardy grapes."

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Res rusticae: the vintage

As to the vineyards, the vintage should begin when the grapes are ripe; and you must choose the variety of grapes and the part of the vineyard with which to begin. For the early grapes, and the hybrids the so-called black, ripen much earlier and so must be gathered sooner; and the part of the plantation and the vineyard which is sunnier should have its vines stripped first. At the vintage the careful farmer not only gathers but selects his grapes; he gathers for drinking and selects for eating.. So those gathered are carried to the wine-yard, thence to go into the empty jar; those selected are carried to a separate bucket, to be placed thence in small pots and thrust into jars filled with wine dregs, while others are plunged into the pond in a jar sealed with pitch, and still others go up to their place in the larder. When the grapes have been trodden, the stalks and skins should be placed under the press, so that whatever must remains in them may be pressed out into the same vat. When the flow ceases under the press, some people trim around the edges of the mass and press again; this second pressing is called circumsicium, and the juice is kept separate because it tastes of the knife. The pressed grape-skins are turned into jars and water is added; this liquid is called lora, from the fact that the skins are washed (lota), and it is issued to the laborers in the winter instead of wine.

Written by Roman Marcus Terentius Varro in his 80th (approximately 37 B. C.) year for his wife, Fundania, who had just purchased a farm. It is intended as a practical manual of husbandry. His work is usally coupled with de Agri Cultura written by Cato the Elder. At present the whole of the Napa Valley smells of wine as the harvest is on.

On Vox: The vintage

XXIII. Have everything that is needed ready for the vintage; let vats be cleaned, baskets mended and pitched, necessary jars be pitched on rainy days; let hampers be made ready and mended, spelt be ground, salt fish be bought, and windfall olives be salted. Gather the inferior grapes for the sharp wine for the hands to drink, when the time comes. Divide the grapes gathered each day, after cleaning and drying, equally between the jars. If necessary, add to the new wine a fortieth part of must boiled down from untrod grapes, or a pound and a half of salt to the culleus. If you use marble dust, add one pound to the culleus; mix this with must in the vessel and then pour into a jar. If you use resin, pulverize it thoroughly, three pounds to the culleus of must, place it in a basket, and suspend it in the jar of must; shake the basket often so that the resin may dissolve. When you use boiled must or marble dust or resin, stir frequently for twenty days and press down daily. Divide the must of the second pressing and add equally to each jar.

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De agri cultura

1. 

   Recipe for Coan wine: Take sea-water at a distance from the shore, where fresh water does not come, when the sea is calm and no wind is blowing, seventy days before vintage. After taking it from the sea, pour into a jar, filling it not fully but to within five quadrantals of the top. Cover the jar, leaving space for air, and thirty days later pour it slowly and carefully into another jar, leaving the sediment in the bottom. Twenty days later pour in the same way into a third jar, and leave until vintage. Allow the grapes from which you intend to make the Coan wine to remain on the vine, let them ripen thoroughly, and pick them when they have dried after a rain. Place them in the sun for two days, or in the open for three days, unless it is raining, in which case put them under cover in baskets; clear out any berries which have rotted. Then take the above-mentioned sea-water and pour 10 quadrantals into a jar holding 50; then pick the berries of ordinary grapes from the stem into the jar until you have filled it. Press the berries with the hand so that they may soak in the sea-water. When the jar is full, cover it, leaving space for air, and three days later remove the grapes from the jar, tread out in the pressing-room, and store the wine in jars which have been washed clean and dried. From De Agri Cultura the first surviving work of Latin written by Cato the Elder in 150 B.C. Grapes from the Oakville Appellation, the Napa Valley, California, circa 2006, awaiting harvest.