Long before Robert Parker or Wine Spectator magazine, long before the prestigious Bordeaux classification of 1855, an ancient Roman naturalist, Pliny the Elder, created the world’s first recorded wine rankings. Almost 2,000 years ago, Pliny’s work marked a turning point when wine became more than just a beverage—it became a social statement.
In the first century A.D., Roman society was rapidly changing. Wine was no longer just nourishment; it was becoming a key marker of social status. Pliny captured this new fascination by categorizing approximately 30 different Roman wines into four distinct quality “tiers” based on reputation, quality, and popularity.
Some names from this ancient classification resonate even today: Cecubum, Setinum, Surrentinum, and especially Falernum—wines associated not just with places but with luxurious living and social distinction. His monumental work, Naturalis Historia, systematically recorded these wines, immortalizing them as the first “Grand Crus” of history.
Among Pliny’s rankings, Falernian wines stood out as particularly remarkable. Produced near Campania, these wines came in three distinct variations, each named for its unique growing region. The most celebrated was Falernum Faustianum, famed for its strength and ability to mature gracefully—at least fifteen years, according to Pliny. Yet even back then, popularity had its downside. Falernian became a victim of its success, its quality diluted in an early pursuit of quantity over excellence.
Nevertheless, Falernian’s fame endured. Throughout the Middle Ages and even into the 19th century, esteemed authors like Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo still invoked “Falernian” to represent an exceptional bottle of wine.
Why did Romans begin identifying their wines by geographical origin at the cusp of the Roman Empire rather than by the merchants who sold them or the vineyards’ owners? Until then, most wines from Greece, Egypt, Persia, and the Levant were nameless commodities or labeled by exporters’ stamps. Only a select few Greek wines—like those from Thasos, Lesbos, or Chios—were distinguished by their place of origin. However, as Rome transitioned from a republic to an empire, geography began to matter profoundly.
The reason was social. By the first century B.C., Rome was a metropolis of one million inhabitants, thirsty for immense quantities of wine—around 1.5 million hectoliters annually (roughly 200 million modern-day bottles!). With rising wealth disparities, the rich demanded not just wine but wines that distinguished them socially. Hence, the rise of geographical labeling.
As historian André Tchernia puts it succinctly, “While an increasing number of consumers demanded more vineyards, increasingly wealthy drinkers demanded quality wines. Social hierarchy and vineyard hierarchy became deeply entwined.”
In his detailed ranking, Pliny divided wines into four categories. At the top were wines from regions like Pucinum, Setia, and Cecubum, prized as the ultimate luxury beverages. Next were Falernian wines, followed by wines produced around Rome, including Massicum, Surrentinum, and Veliternum. At the fourth rank were regional wines from across the Italian peninsula—Mamertine from Messina, Praetutian from the Adriatic, and even Rhaetic from Verona.
Pliny went beyond mere ranking: he created a sophisticated system that foreshadowed today’s wine appellations, specifying regions, terroirs, and styles.
Not just origins but also vintage years began to matter. Cicero praised wines from 160 and 121 B.C. Pliny himself admired a century-old Falernian, transformed over time into a luxurious, honey-like substance that enhanced younger wines. The intellectual elite of Rome no longer accepted wines merely as beverages—they began viewing them as cultured expressions of their taste and wealth.
Roman aristocrats didn’t merely consume top-ranked wines; they sought to own and produce them. Wealthy Romans built luxurious villas near their favorite vineyards and adopted refined lifestyles—private baths, sumptuous dining, and exclusive wines, notably the acclaimed Falernian.
Lucius Licinius Crassus, a wealthy consul and influential orator, famously promoted these luxurious lifestyles alongside his associates. They popularized thermal baths, sophisticated gastronomy (notably oysters from Lake Lucrine), and the ranking and collecting of fine Italian wines.
The lavish lifestyle of Roman elites became legendary. Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, an influential conservative Roman statesman, reportedly amassed a cellar of tens of thousands of amphorae, meticulously collected from the best vineyards worldwide. Alexandre Dumas, exaggerating slightly for dramatic effect, described Scaurus’s legendary cellar as containing nearly 300,000 amphorae from nearly 200 distinct wine types. Even today, historians consider Scaurus one of history’s earliest wine collectors, setting the stage for modern connoisseurship.
Thus, ancient Rome birthed the idea of wine classification and established wine as a cultural and social benchmark. Pliny’s wine rankings remind us that our modern passion for fine wines, terroir, and vintage dates back thousands of years and is closely tied to society’s changing tastes and social ambitions.
The tradition continues. Today’s wine enthusiasts and collectors, like ancient Rome’s wealthy elites, eagerly seek bottles with illustrious terroirs and vintages. In that sense, little has changed—great wine remains, as it was in ancient Rome, a potent marker of social distinction and cultivated taste.