A particular archaic blend of wine, beer, apple juice and honey. This is the composition of a sort of Grog, as Patrick McGregor says, an archaic drink that has been recently market in USA and named 'Midas Touch'. McGovern, professor at the Pennsylvania University, Philadelphia, studied the evolution of viticulture in the East and West, finding some earthenware along the Tigris river showing traces of tartaric acid - an element which is characteristic of the grape fermentation - honey, apple juice and brew barley, a sort of beer ante litteram. It is noteworthy that probably this grog was drunk also by Etrurians, as it can be infer by analyzing some pottery from South Tuscany (Italy). As a matter of fact, it is assumed that the domestication of vine in Etruria was previous than the diffusion on Greek wine in the South coastlines.
     According to Osvaldo Failla, researcher at the Milan University, it is possible that the wild vine domestication took place in circumscribed areas, and not only after the introduction of external vines. This was probably possible thank to the care that men took to their environment, improving in this way the genetic variability and plant breeding. In the context of the Vinum research project, it was analyzed the genetic characteristics of various wild vine found at different archaeological places in Maremma (Tuscany) with some vines present in non anthropized places. These studies demonstrated that, where the men were in contact with wild vines, the local genetic variability grew. It was also possible to genetically distinguish the populations of wild vines deriving from anthropized zones in respect to non-anthropized areas.

Source: Teatro Naturale (6 April 2009)