BOOK XIV. IV. 22-25 



ceptional strength ; the smaller of these ' twins ' is 

 damaged by a south wind, but the other winds give 

 it nutriment, for instance on Mount Vesuvius and 

 the hills of Sorrento, but in all other parts of Italy 

 it only flourishes when trained on trees. The fifth 

 kind is the * woolly ' grape — for, to prevent our being 

 very much surprised at the Chinese or the Indians,'' 

 it is covered with a coat of down. It ripens first of 

 the Aminaean grapes, and decays the most quickly. 



The next rank belongs to the vines of Mentana, the Nextthe 

 wood of which is red, in consequence of which some ^°"^('^^^- 

 people have called them the ' ruddy vines.' These 

 produce less wine, as they have too much husk and 

 lees, but they are very strong in resisting frost, and 

 they suffer worse from drought than rain and from heat 

 than cold, and consequently they hold the first place 

 in cold and damp locaUties. The variety with a 

 smaller berry is more productive, and the one with a 

 cleft leaf less. 



The ' bee-vine ' ^ is so called because bees are The 

 specially fond of it. It has two varieties, which also '""^'^'^'- 

 are covered with down in the young state ; the 

 difference between them is that one ripens more 

 quickly than the other, although the latter also ripens 

 fast. These vines do not object to cold situations, 

 and nevertheless no others rot more quickly from 

 rain. The wines made from them are sweet at first 

 but acquire roughness in the course of years. In 

 Tuscany this vine flourishes more than any other. 



So far we assign the chief distinction to the vincs ForHgnvines 

 pecuHar and indigenous to Italy . The remaining kinds I>^ naiy!^ 

 have come from abroad. From Chios or Thasos is 

 imported a Greek Hght wine not inferior in quahty to 

 the Aminaean vintages ; the vine has a very tender 



201 



