"Romans’ introduction of wine culture" Top 5 Page for this destination Speyer Local Custom Tip by Trekki

Wine was the Romans’ most preferred liquid, that’s why they started to cultivate it in Palatine region with its mild climate (ah, thanks dear Romans!). But – bad news for wine gourmets: Romans’ wine drinking habits have been quite… uuhm.. horrible in our terms. They preferred sweet wine (brrr) and made it by preparing sweet must. They had been quite advanced though to create several other tastes, like using rosin and pitch to make it tart, or aromas like cinnamon, fir or myrrh.
Wine was thinned down with water before consuming. They even thinned with hot water when they had dinner or banquets; the wine was prepared, i.e. cleaned from solids or sediments with the sieves, which are shown in the museum as well.

As a lot of wine was given to the dead for their final journey, very ancient wine was found in Roman tombs. Some of these are on display in Speyer’s museum, in the museum area (which is downstairs and to the left after leaving the atrium).
It is fascinating to stand in front of these showcases and imagine the age of these wines. Haha, of course they are no longer wine, more something solid with an oily liquid. The first photo shows the famous “Roman wine from Speyer” and is dated 4th century. The second photo shows even older wine, from Donauwörth (Germany) and Syria, dated 2nd century. There are also other old wines, but mostly from 16-18th century, bavarian ones from Würzburg.

All these old wines are on display in a nice room – suggesting a wine cellar with the vaulted ceiling and coat of arms of wine region towns.