AFF/Experimental Recreation of 16th Century Wine: Palynological and Enological Characteristics

Resource added
How to Cite: Dozier, C. A., & Tsai, G. E. (2022). Experimental Recreation of 16th Century Wine: Palynological and Enological Characteristics. Archaeology of Food and Foodways, 1(1), 16–33. https://doi.org/10.1558/aff.17752

Full description

This project recreated 16th century wine following Charles Estienne’s recipe in L’agriculture et Maison Rustique (1570). The primary goal was to better understand enology from this period, through scientific analysis of wine made in a historical manner. The resulting wine had an ABV of 9.74%, 216.7 kcal per 12 fl. oz., and a pH of 3.8, with volatile aromas common in modern young white wine. A secondary goal was to compare pollen profiles from the wine and the vineyard from which the wine was produced. The wine contained Vitis as a major pollen type, unlike sedimentary samples from the vineyard. Together, we conclude that a wine produced in a traditional manner may be enologically compared to modern wines, and that the palynological characteristics will include Vitis but may not reflect vineyard conditions. The implications for the archaeological record as well as our understanding of 16th century European wine traditions are discussed.

  • type
    Image
  • created on
  • file format
    jpg
  • file size
    85 KB
  • container title
    Archaeology of Food and Foodways
  • creator
    Crystal A. Dozier; Grace E. Tsai
  • issn
    2514-8389 (Online)
  • issue
    1.1
  • publisher
    Equinox Publishing Ltd.
  • publisher place
    Sheffield, United Kingdom
  • rights holder
    Equinox Publishing Ltd.
  • doi