We are in Tain l’Hermitum, 2767 years after the Rome’s fundation and the roman wines still exists !!! No, it’s not an erratum…just a meeting with a passionate of Ancient Rome, the friendly Jérémium, finding the Mas des Tourelles !
Not satisfied to be a history teacher, this bon vivant has founded an association, , to make some historical reconstruction, “Roman Empire” period ! And who says roman, says WINE ! That is when, in the course of wild boar…sorry of a delicious pogne, he informes me about the Mas des Tourelles ! Put away the cervoise, the winum is coming !
It must be said that the Roman attibuted to their wines, some medicinal properties and then were prescribed for some diseases ! If the idea is seductive, the Secu would have a chasm and not only a hole ! Hermitage instead of aspirin…the DREAM 
But before to come to that, in the 1990’S, the owner of Mas des Tourelles, Henri Dunand decided to reproduce the taste of the Roman wines in his domain, located at Beaucaire (Gard) ! The process: to rebuild a Gallo-Roman cellar, to read again the text of Roman authors and to go them by the bookum ! Result: 3 surprising vintage…
For this first roman experience, the Turriculae follows the instructions of an agronomist: Lucius Columelle. It’s the discovery of the dry wine, version “Empire”, with the originality to add during the vinification an herbaceous wine (the fenugrec), the defrutum (grapevine juice concentrated in sugar by boiling) and the seawater ! Yes, you read well: SEAWATER !
They are truly silly these Roman ! Not really Obélix, because it served to stabilize the wine to avoid the proliferation of bacterium, as our current sulphites. But what’s about the taste ? It develops some surprising walnuts aromas, lightly salted, even few dry tobacco. This famous wine was served with an other luxury product: the oysters. And honestly, it’s still true !
With the vintage Carenum, we have to read a treatise about agriculture from Palladius. Here, it’s the dessert wine: a sweet one with a beautiful amber coloured ! The secret ? Some grapes very ripened fermented with plants and defrutum again, flavoured with quince ! It’s creamy, delicate, elegant with apricot and caramel aromas…a true Falabala’s wine !
Unfortunately, the only red wine, Mulsum, missed, flavoured with honey and used like a gustatio, it means an aperitif in the Roman orgies time…there’s never been anything better !
But I can only urge to you to take the way of Beaucaire to visit this unusual process with games, documentary and tasting ! Babaorum ou Laudanum like if you were there…but waiting that time, if you are not far from Tain l’Hermitum, the friendly Jérémium will show with pleasure his jousts of gladiator of !
