🍷 Wine in ancient Greece

Wine in ancient Greece is the story of the role wine played in the lives of the ancient Greeks. In ancient Greece wine was part of everyday life. The Greeks drank it diluted with water, and undiluted wine was seen as rough. They also spread the grapevine to their colonies, from Italy to the Black Sea.

Wine was mixed in a large vessel, the krater, and scooped with an oinochoe. It was drunk from a cup called a kylix at feasts known as symposia. Wine was stored in large clay vessels called pithoi. The god of wine, Dionysus, was one of the most revered gods, and festivals were held in his honour.

Greek colonists brought the vine and winemaking customs to new places. One example is the Stari Grad Plain on the island of Hvar in Croatia, where the Greeks divided the land into plots, and their boundaries are still visible.

The history of wine in ancient Greece helps to understand how Europe's wine culture arose. Many words connected with wine came from the Greek language.