Bosco de Medici Winery, Pompei, Campania

Ancient Romans cannot claim to have invented wine, but they certainly advanced it a significant amount during the reign of the Roman Empire. At its height, it was estimated that each citizen of the civilisation consumed, on average, a bottle of wine per day. While that civilisation spanned 20 per cent of the globe at their peak, one small region was extremely important to them for viticulture: Campania - more specifically the slopes of Vesuvius.

Bosco de Medici, a winery in the region, looks to Roman traditions to influence its own winemaking techniques. The Vesuvius line which produces ‘Lacryma Christi’ is one such tradition, being a historic wine made from the grapes indigenous to Vesuvius’s slopes. While the name ‘Lacryma Christi’ (translating to “tears of Christ”) came later, the style’s origins go back fall the way to the Greeks, who first planted vineyards in Campania. Taking a passion for viticulture from the ancient Greeks, it was the Romans who described Bacchus’ tears blessing the land and vines in Campania - monks later changed this story to Christ’s tears - after weeping over Lucifer’s fall from heaven he subsequently blessed the vines growing there.

Lacryma Christi Vesuvius DOC can come in different forms, specifically: red, white and rosé, and Bosco de Medici produce two of those styles within their Vesuvius line: ‘Lavaflava’, which uses the indigenous grapes Caprettone and Falanghia to create strong flavours of green apple and citrus fruits then rounded off with a slightly autolytic character; and ‘Lavarubra’, a blend of Piedirosso and Aglianico with juicy cherry, raspberry and plum flavours, plus a slight peppery spiciness on the palate. Both examples, in typical Lacryma Christi style, are easy drinking and accompany the region’s famed spaghetti alle vongole and pizza (respectively) very well.

Lacryma Christi dates back centuries, but the more modern winemaking technology of temperature control and stainless steel tanks are definitely a luxury that the Roman Empire did not have had access to. The civilisation relied much more on the use of amphorae, a winemaking apparatus that has seen a resurgence in recent years - possibly due to the romantic images it conjures up, but it is also noted for imparting unique flavours into our wines.

At Bosco de Medici, terracota amphorae is used for a proportion of the wine in the Pompeii Line. While the ‘Pompeii Bianco’ uses the same grape (Caprettone) from ‘Lavaflava’, the colour in the glass immediately reveals a difference between the two, with the more intense, deeply coloured hue showing more developed fruit flavours, with pronounced apricot and peach fruits, complemented by lighter floral notes. Similarly, ‘Pompeii Rosso’ is a single varietal wine using Piedirosso, also used in the ‘Lavarubra’ blend, and the fruit takes on more jammy flavours with this wine, more spice also comes through adding to the complexity.

The winery clearly does not like to alienate modern wine drinkers who have a taste for easy-drinking varieties and a Local Line offers entry-level wines that pair Vesuvius’ indigenous grapes with modern winemaking technology to suit those, but experimentation with ancient methods is important in the Archaeological Line. With this line Bosco de Medici fully embraces amphorae in the production of ‘Dressel 19.2’ as 100% of the Caprettone is fermented in the terracotta pots and ancient viticulture is brought into the vineyard with the line’s red, ‘Agathos’, using Piedirosso cultivated in the way the Greeks’ farmed in this area centuries ago.