The famous ancient Roman city was located at the foot of Vesuvius in Campania. It was the center of a flourishing wine culture around the southern bay of Naples, with vineyards from the slopes of Vesuvius to Sorrento. When the Greeks colonized the area around 1000 BC, they named it Oinotria (land of the vine-trained grapes). They brought their vines with them, including the Murgentina from Sicily, which thrived particularly well on the volcanic slopes and was called the "Pompeian grape." The vineyards of Pompeii were the main source of wine for Rome. The wine was exported there in amphorae. In 79 AD, the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Oplontis were completely destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius and the subsequent rain of ash and rock. The image on the left shows the massive volcanic cloud over the affected cities, while the image on the right shows the excavated large amphitheater. Many wine artifacts were preserved by the lava. Today, over 200 taverns and inns can still be recognized in the ruins; on one street near a large public bath, there are eight in a row. In one of them, the painted "wine list" can still be seen on the wall - the most expensive wine is a Falerner advertised for four asses. Other walls depict motifs of winemaking and wine enjoyment. A fresco shows the wine god Bacchus next to the stylized Vesuvius. The painting depicts the "last day of Pompeii." In Boscoreale on the southern slope of Vesuvius, 18 sunken clay barrels, a large wine press, and an underground reservoir with a volume of 10,000 liters of wine were found. Numerous villas have been discovered around Pompeii, about 30 of which were wineries. In some, pressing devices were found, from which pipelines led to the dolium (fermentation vessel). The image shows the panorama of the forum with the still-active 1,281 m high Vesuvius in the background. Since the last eruption in 1944, it has been in a phase of dormancy. The eruption of Vesuvius put an end to all this, and overnight the wine supply to Rome collapsed. A significant portion of the wine came from the Vesuvius area, located about 25 km away. Therefore, many vineyards were established around Rome at the expense of grain fields. In a few years, many small wineries emerged, much to the displeasure of the large entrepreneurs. Presumably, this is why Emperor Domitian (51-96) issued a ban in 92 AD on establishing new vineyards in Italy. Pliny the Elder (23-79), who died in connection with the eruption of Vesuvius, reports on the wines from Pompeii and the drinking habits of the inhabitants. He mentions a local grape Holconia. After its rediscovery in the 18th century, Pompeii became a central object of archaeology and the study of the ancient world. Today, Pompeii is one of the best-preserved ancient ruin cities. Since 1997, the "Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei" has been collaborating with the Mastroberardino winery to cultivate wine again on one hectare of vineyard within the excavation site using Roman cultivation methods and also process it using ancient pressing methods. Since wine was one of the most important export goods of the Pompeians, this aims to research cultivation and production processes in the 1st century AD.
