Wine Production

Wine production was a major industry, giving rise to an export trade throughout the Greek world. Much of the grape harvest was used for wine. The grapes were collected in large wickerwork baskets and were either trodden in a vat or squeezed on a pressing board. The latter was a flat hard wood or stone surface with a spout, on which an open basket or sack of grapes was placed. This was trodden and squashed, so that the grape juice was separated from the grape skins and seeds; the grape juice ran down from the spout and was collected in a container. Juice recovered by treading made the best quality wine. More juice was then removed by using a simple mechanical press like that used for pressing olives. Juice from a second pressing, mixed with water, produced an inferior wine that was drunk only by the very poor. The grape juice was fermented in large storage jars (pitboi), and the resulting wine was transferred to wine jars (amphorae). Perfumes and unguents were added to some wines to make them more highly flavored and increase their price.