Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 



A But to retiirnc againe to our hmikbg and rophifticatioh of wines, tliey that \^ould fceme to 

 be cunningetjor at leaftwifc more curious than their fellowes^doe mingle therewith blacke Ma- 

 fticke/which is engendred in Pontus^and is like to Bitumen, and thereto addeiheroot of Iris or 

 the flower de LucCjand oile.For this is found by experience^That if the veiTels befered with waxj 

 the wines therein will not hold^but turne foure quickly. Moreoverjwe daily fee^^thac better it is to 

 put up wine into thofe veflelsj wherein vinegre hath been kept afore^than into fiich as had dulcet 

 or honied wnc»Cato letteth down a receit to trim and concinnate wine(for that is the very tearm 

 which he ufgth) in this manner:Take of lie afhes (bdden with cuit boiled to the halte.oRe fortie; h 

 paftitemper it with a pound and a halfe ofpeniroialljOrfalijand otherwhiles wit' i marble braied 

 and beaten into ponder among. Hee maketh mention alio of brimftoiiejbut rofm hce namerh 



B with the laft.But above all he willeth to refrefli & renue the wine when it nowbeginncth to coi ne 

 unto maturitie & perfe61:ion,with new wine which he calleth Tortivumj & 1 take it^that he niea- 

 neth that which ran laft out of the wine-prefle : which hee prefcribcth alfo tobee put unto nev? 

 wines for to get them a frcfher colour^as the very tindure of wine : and Co it will be aifo of a more 

 faitie fubftance^and goedownc more glib and merrily. See/eejhow many devifes of medicines 

 and ilibber-faucesthe poore wine is forced to endure^ and alltopleafe ourpallat^ oureie^and 

 otherfences; and yetywis wemarvcll thatitis fo hurtfullto our bodies. Vveil, wouldyouhave 

 an experiment to know when wine isgoing jorcncliningtobedeadandfourepdip therein a thin 

 pLitc of lead 3 if it chaunge colour, take it for a fignej that it is in the way of decaying . Of ail li- 

 quorsjwine hath this propertie to vinew, to pall^and to change into vinegrc.But a tliouland ir.e- 



C dicines it doth affoord^and bookes of Phylicke are full thereoflMoreoverswine lees being dried,* 

 will ferve as a match to keepefe:and without any other fewcli to feed icjyeclball have it burns 

 and flame of itfelfe. The aflies thereof is of the nature of Nitre, and hath the fame vcrtues: and 

 in this regard fomcwhat more/or that it is found to be more fattie and uncteous. 



Chap, XXi, 

 "^of tvine-cellars, 



NOw vghen wine is made and tunned up in manner aforefaid,there is as great difference and 

 diverfitie in the bellowing of it in cellars. They of Piemont about the Alpes,doe put up 

 u their wines in woodden barrels^bound well with hoopes/or warmth : and moreover Jx- the 



winter be very cold,they make fires in their cellars or butteries, to keep them for being frozen. I 

 will tell you a ilrange wonder ,yet true and to be verified,noc by hearefay but plain eiefighr.There 

 were fecne upon a time whole heapes and huge lumpes of wine congealed into ice, by occafion 

 that the hoopes of thehogfneads burd that contained the wine: and this was held for a prodigi- 

 ous token. For indeed wine of it ownc nature will notcongeale and freeze, onely it wilUooie the 

 lirengthjand become appalled in cxtrcmitie of cold. In warmer climates and more temperate, 

 tJiey fill their wines into great ifandsand ileanes of earthjwhich they fet into the ground, either 

 over the head all wholcjor els by halfe; deeper or iliallower, according to the fituation and tem- 

 perature of the region. Likewiie they give the wine open aire in fome places: whereas in other 

 E ' they keepe it dole within houfe in tavernes and cellars . And thereto belong thefe and fuch like 

 rules. Firft, that one fide of the wine-cellar, or at leaftwife the windowes.ought to fland open to 

 the North, ortothe Eafl in any wife, where the Sunne rifethatthetimeof theiEquino^tiall. 

 Jtem^xhii there beno muckhils nor privies neare :no roots of trees,nor any thing ofa ft rong and 

 ftinking favor: for that wine is of this naturs,to drawany fii)ell very quickly into it.' and above all. 

 Fig- trees (as well the wild as the tame) be hunfull to wine- cellars. /^i^/w, as touching the order of 

 placingthewine veflcls,they oughttoftand apretiediftance one from another: for feare of con- 

 tagion, for that wine is alwaiesmoff apt to catch infed:ion very foone. Moreover, it mattereth 

 much of what proportion and fafhion the pipes,tubsjand fuch velTels be made.Thofe with great 

 bellies and wide mouths,are not fo good. Alfo they muft bee nealed with pitch^preiently upon 

 J the riling of the dog ftarre : afterwards doufed and wafhed all over either in the lea or els fait wa- 

 ter, thentobeefeaioned and ftrewed with vine afhes or cley: and when they bee fcoured, they 

 ought to fweeten theiri witli a perfume of Myrrhej which were good to be done alfo unto the very 

 cellars oFcentiines.Furthermore,if the wines be weake and fiuali,thcy had need to be kept in tubs 

 a,nd hogfheads,ietdowne within the ground: but the ftrong and mightic wines may lie above 



Oo iij ground 



