What did the Romans actually have in their cups? Joel Butler, one of the first two US-resident Masters of Wine (a title he earned in 1990), joins host Noah Tetzner to explore the wine culture that spread across an empire and still shapes the bottle on your table today.

Joel is co-author, with biblical historian Randall Heskett, of Divine Vintage: Following the Wine Trail from Genesis to the Modern Age, winner of the 2012 Gourmand International UK Best Wine Book Award. He also wrote the entry on the Roman Empire for the Sage Encyclopedia of Alcohol, and has spent more than five decades in wine as a buyer, importer, educator, winemaker, and judge. He now writes the Substack journal The WineKnowLog and serves as a Contributing Editor for the International Wine Review.

Joel traces how the vine moved from the Near East through Greece and the Etruscans before Rome turned it into an empire-wide industry, and why Roman wine was routinely cut with herbs, spices, pitch, and even seawater. He explains why Falernian became Rome’s most legendary wine and takes on Pliny the Elder’s claim that it could catch fire. He also follows the genetic threads connecting Roman-era grapes to today’s Aglianico, Syrah, and Dureza, before confessing the 1964 Barolo that first caught his attention at his parents’ dinner table, and sharing advice for anyone chasing the Master of Wine title today.

In this episode:

• What did wine actually taste like in ancient Rome?
• Why did Falernian stay famous for centuries?
• Did the Romans rank their vineyards and vintages like we do?
• How did wine become one of the empire’s biggest industries?
• What does grape DNA reveal about Rome’s wine legacy?

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and introduction

02:46 The 1964 Barolo that started it all

05:52 A crash course in how wine came to Rome

08:42 What Roman wine actually tasted like

12:30 Falernian: Rome’s most legendary vintage

14:40 Pliny’s wine that supposedly caught fire

16:06 Did the Romans rank vineyards and vintages?

17:13 Wine as big business: from vineyard to amphora to customer

21:06 Rome’s wine legacy across Europe

23:06 Chasing Roman grapes through DNA: Aglianico, Syrah, and Dureza

28:41 What most people get wrong about Roman wine

30:31 One wine region for life

32:08 Becoming one of America’s first Masters of Wine

35:10 Advice for today’s aspiring Masters of Wine

37:38 Closing thanks and sign-off

Links and resources:

Joel Butler’s Substack, The WineKnowLog: https://joelbutlermw.substack.com/

International Wine Review (Joel’s Contributing Editor home): https://i-winereview.com/

Divine Vintage: Following the Wine Trail from Genesis to the Modern Age: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/divine-vintage-randall-heskett/1111010798

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Connect with the host: noah@profitwithpodcasting.com