Transport and preservation of wine in the history

: January 14 2024

Barrels and bottles: transport and preservation of wine in the history

History tells us that wine has been drunk on the planet for more than 6000 years and consequently it has always been necessary to find suitable containers forthe transport of wine, for the conservation of wine and obviously, also for serving the wine.

In ancient Greece and imperial Rome they had already reached a level of knowledge that was nothing short of astonishing, certainly they didn't have glass, at least not as we know it now, but the fine terracottas for transporting and drinking wine, were perfectly suited to the purpose. They had also already discovered the qualities of cork as a stopper for preserving wine. Archeology confirms these techniques with findings of amphorae with wine content, especially those used for sea wine transport which had a capacity of up to tens of litres.

Unfortunately, this transport technology, as mentioned already very advanced for its time, was lost throughout history until the Middle Ages, a period of obscurantism in all sectors of human knowledge and culture. Not even wine was saved from that cultural devastation. Barrels were used only for transport, but buckets, leather wineskins and vases were used for storage and serving, exposing the wine to the air, upon contact with which wine rapidly oxidised and became vinegar.

In the following centuries, attempts were made to create a container that facilitated the conservation of wine, that protected it from wine oxidation, that was easy to handle and that did not require keeping the container always full so as not to allow air to enter.

The first stone jugs for wine were therefore made which were used to take the wine from the barrel and serve it, subsequently they moved on to jugs with a narrower neck in the most varied materials, from tin to pewter, up to wood. In fact, these containers, in shape and size, were the ancestors of modern glass bottles for wine.

In reality glass already existed, namely the blown glass. (from the 1st century a.C) Unfortunately, however, given the very high production cost and its excessive fragility, it was only used to preserve the wine perfumes or was found as crockery on noble tables. It was not yet suitable for modern use. This technology persisted until around the 17th Century.