Wine and the absence of moderation has become a topic almost synonymous with Alexander and Macedonia, and partly Greeks for that matter. We have read countless authors, both ancient and modern, which tell of excessive drinking in Alexander's court and Macedonia's steady consumption of wine.
But have any studies actually found (roughly) how much wine, or the quality and alcohol percentage, was drank? The Greeks and surrounding cultures would quite often water down their wine depending on the occasion. What do we know about this practice regarding Alexander and his drinking? Is it possible that the wine that Alexander consumed was usually diluted and it may have only appeared that he drank excessively?
Outbursts have been attributed to his excessive drinking, and some are questionable, but do we know how "good" or potent the wine was? The typical wine today runs anywhere from 8 to 15 percent, usually; and that depends on fermentation, when the grapes were harvested, etc. How much cultivation knowledge did the Macedonians (or Greeks) truely know? In other words, how experienced of oenologists were they?
I'm partly asking this just for fun, sort of to play devil's advocate. But I'm curious where everyone stands on this. What are your thoughts?
Wine Consumption
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I think that you could probably get a master's thesis or dissertation out of this question because of the numerous variables! I think that you would have to start with an ancient recipe for wine, i.e., exactly how they made it. I don't know if one of those exists for Macedon. Then, I think that you'd have to consider the variety of grape used because those in existence today were not necessarily those used 2000 years ago. You could go with what modern Macedon consider "wild" grapes, but that would not guarantee that you were using the variety used by ancient Macedonians. I don't think that you should ever underestimate those peoples as far as sophisitication in the arts and sciences. The only thing you've got that's really, really easy is cup size because those are still in existance. You also know that they drank until basically they were falling down drunk. Then, you should consider their size and I would argue that they were basically little people like the size of people that you see in old Civil War photos who are little because basically, their nutrition as infants doesn't match up to modern standards. Got a horrible headache just considering all the variables and I haven't been drinking!
Seriously, though, I find the question of whether or not a modern mock up of ancient wine could be produced a really interesting question. And that hinges on stuff like the variety of grapes the ancients used and the recipe. Surely, more goes into it than stamping the grapes with your feet and letting it ferment? I'm guessing that it's possible that ancient Greeks produced some nice grapes and thus nice wines because it's not all that difficult to do with plain old horticultural techniques.
Best,
Lisa
Seriously, though, I find the question of whether or not a modern mock up of ancient wine could be produced a really interesting question. And that hinges on stuff like the variety of grapes the ancients used and the recipe. Surely, more goes into it than stamping the grapes with your feet and letting it ferment? I'm guessing that it's possible that ancient Greeks produced some nice grapes and thus nice wines because it's not all that difficult to do with plain old horticultural techniques.
Best,
Lisa