Before the advent of artificial sweeteners, natural products like honey and dried fruit satisfied cravings for sweetness. Among these, raisin wines—produced by drying grapes prior to fermentation—were especially popular. Historical accounts reveal that such wines, known as passum, were enjoyed throughout the Roman Empire and medieval Europe. The most renowned variety was Malmsey, produced widely across the Mediterranean.
In modern times, raisin wines have largely fallen out of favor, though some remain highly esteemed. Italy’s appassimento wines, such as Amarone from the Veneto region, are notable contemporary examples. These wines undergo a painstaking process where grapes dry for approximately three months before pressing and fermentation, reflecting a lengthy production timeline.
Ancient sources describe comparable methods. Roman agricultural writer Columella noted that drying and fermentation combined required at least a month. Pliny the Elder detailed a technique where grapes were partially dried on the vine, then further dried on racks before pressing eight days later.
For the past decade, archaeological investigations at Knossos, Crete, have shed light on the production of raisin wine in the Roman period. Although Knossos is famous for its Minoan past, Crete was renowned throughout the Roman Empire for its high-quality sweet raisin wines, which were traded extensively.
Excavations reveal that winemakers at Knossos may have diverged from traditional methods. Studies of wine production sites and pottery kilns have uncovered a distinctive pattern: a cluster of artifacts including amphorae for wine transport, amphora stands for filling, large mixing bowls, and ceramic beehives. This suggests an interconnection between winemaking and honey production during the Roman era.
Crete, strategically positioned between Greece and North Africa, has a deep history of viticulture dating back to at least 2170 BCE, as archaeological evidence from Myrtos indicates. After a violent three-year campaign, the Romans conquered Crete in 67 BCE, establishing a colony at Knossos and expanding wine production significantly. The discovery of numerous amphorae points to large-scale wine exportation.
Roman demand for Cretan wine was fueled not only by trade routes—where shipments to Rome often paused in Crete—but also by the wine’s esteemed reputation. Considered a luxury item, Cretan raisin wine was valued similarly to Italy’s appassimento wines and reputed for medicinal benefits. The Roman army physician Pedanius Dioscorides, in his Materia Medica, credited the wine with curing headaches, expelling worms, and promoting fertility.
The surge in demand during the early Roman Empire may have pressured producers to accelerate winemaking processes. Pliny the Elder described a shortcut involving boiling grape juice, yet no evidence of heating was found in mixing basins at Knossos. Instead, the presence of ceramic beehives hints at the addition of honey to wine before packaging, offering a faster and cheaper alternative to lengthy grape drying.
This practice raises questions about authenticity: if honey was substituted for traditional drying, was the resulting product genuine raisin wine? The widespread importation of Cretan wine to Rome suggests that consumers either were unaware or indifferent. The vast quantities of empty Cretan amphorae found across Roman archaeological sites imply that authenticity mattered less to Roman drinkers than modern standards would dictate.
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