Heyyyyyyy… you’re alright there, you know? Fugetaboutit! 
Dana
As her focus appears to be bioarchaeology, I shudder to think what suggestions she might come up with, lol. But she is creative. I might be getting back to you 
Ha! That’s the first I’ve heard of pine resin being used to combat piracy (although some Retsina’s are certainly “weapons grade!”) ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
You’re right on that the introduction of pine resin not only helped seal ceramic amphorae from leaks, etc, but helped stabilize and preserve the wine for long distance trade.
The practice has even earlier roots in New Kingdom Egypt, around the 14th Century BCE! Archaeological and iconographic evidence show Egyptians used terebinth resin (which they called SNTR) to line wine jars. Some of these jars, found in palaces and tombs, even had hieratic inscriptions, noting the year, vineyard, winemaker, and quality of the wine! The Egyptian triliteral hieroglyph “NFR” means “good” - some jars were labeled more that once, even NFR-NFR-NFR, or “Really Really Good!” I’ve personally adopted the original Egyptian scoring system- Robert Parker, eat your heart out!
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We are still thinking doing a club on Wines of the Druids in the future!
Good Morning Berserkers! We’d love to have you continue the conversation with us on Thursday, December 2nd, 7-8PM PST, when we’ll be hosting our regular bi-monthly guided tasting and discussion of our club wines and their historical, archaeological, and mythological contexts.
As it happens, the December 2 tasting will focus on the wines in Pack A of our offer, “Roots of the Vine: The Ancient Origins of Wine.” Why not grab a pack and taste through it with us?
If you’d like to be on the list for future tastings and events – whether you’re in the Ancient Wines Club or not – send us a PM or an email! We send out an email before each tasting with the opportunity to purchase the wines, along with 2-3 special offer wines, à la carte.
I don’t know which wines the British Druids would have consumed, but there was a robust trade in wine between continental Celts and the Greeks. Apparently a fair number of Celts were literate in Greek, which, among other things, would be useful in the wine trade.
And speaking of Greeks, the wines associated with Dionysus and Dionysian rites would be an interesting theme for you to explore, if you could track down anything specific. I suspect that the best way to do this, would be to travel to Dionysian sites in Greece, and talk to local vintners and farmers. Someone might know something, family lore passed down through generations.
I have an acquaintance who now lives in California, but whom I met in Texas back in the 1970s. He is of Croatian descent, and when the news broke about the source of Zinfandel grapes, he and his father decided that it would be fun to travel to Croatia and see if they could find the vine whose DNA was used to determine the origin of the grape, as it was reported to be in the region of their ancestral village. So they went to Croatia, and began asking around, but failed to find it. On their last day there, feeling defeated, they decided to have lunch in a local tavern and enjoy some local wine. They struck up a conversation with the proprietor, and, lo and behold, he knew where that vine was. It belonged to a local policeman, and the tavern keeper gave them directions to his house. They went to the house and knocked on the door, and the owner came out, and was happy to show them the vine…which they were standing under, as the huge old vine sprawled out all over the sides and roof of his front porch!
If I bought a pack and subscribed will I get an email invite for the tasting?
Absolutely! We’ll be sending an invite to the tasting for all Berserkers who signed up for the club and also to those who purchased Pack A. We’ll also be shipping all orders of Pack A this Monday and Tuesday so that they arrive in time for the tasting.
You got me down but you sent me completely different wines. 4 matched the offer (Pack A and the eMeis)
I was also sent the B Pack Italians instead of the D Pack Dalmatians.
I’ll live but I was especially looking forward to the Dalmatians.
That reminds me, who won the 2008 Palari Faro?
Hey Brian,
I’m really sorry that there was a mixup with the wines!
We’ll get you sorted out right away and of course get the Dalmatians to you! I’ll send you a PM to coordinate and we’ll get the wines in the mail to you next week.
Of course you can keep the extra wines – our mistake, but we really hope you enjoy those too!
Hi Guillermo,
Sorry we didn’t post this earlier! The Winner of the beautifully aged bonus Palari Faro was… Rich K.! For transparency, the winner was randomly selected by number randomizer, with each unique individual assigned a number.
Rich, you’ll find your bonus wine in your shipment! Definitely let us know how it’s showing!
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Wow, super thrilled!
Was happy to just have the wines coming in and this is quite unexpected. Thrilled, and now I’m even more anxious. I’ll be sure to post notes.
And I’ll still be moving to Sardinia, at some point. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I just want to say I’ve had 3 wines from the 6 pack I ordered and I’ve liked all three. And the story pages are just a great bonus. (I do wish they were online too.) Put a good deal up for Berserker Day guys. I’ll certainly vouch for you.
Thanks so much, Guillermo! We’re glad you like the wines and the write-ups. We’re super excited for Berserker Day on Thursday and we’ll be featuring an offer on three great new three-packs!