- Passum
Passum was a style of
raisin wine (wine from semi-driedgrape s) apparently developed in ancientCarthage and transmitted from there toItaly , where it was popular under theRoman Empire . The earliest surviving instruction constitutes the only known Carthaginian recipe. It is a fragment from the Punic farming manual byMago (agricultural writer) in its Latin translation byDecimus Silanus (2nd century BC), and it survives because it was summarised byColumella (1st century AD):cquote|Mago gives the following instructions for excellent "passum", and I have made it this way myself. Harvest well-ripened very early bunches of grapes; reject any mildewed or damaged grapes. Fix in the ground forked branches or stakes not over four feet apart, linking them with poles. Lay reeds across them and spread the grapes on these in the sun, covering them at night to keep dew off. When they have dried, pick the grapes, put them in a fermenting vat or jar and add the best possible must (grape juice) so that they are just covered. When the grapes have absorbed it all and have swelled, after six days, put them in a basket, press them and collect the "passum". Then tread the pressed grapes, adding very fresh must made from other grapes that have been sun-dried for three days. Mix all this and put the mixed mass through the press. Put this "passum secundarium" into sealed vessels immediately so that it will not become too "austerum". After twenty or thirty days, when fermentation has ceased, rack into other vessels, seal the lids with gypsum and cover them with skins.:
Columella , "De Agricultura" 12.39.1.Later, less detailed, instructions are found in other Latin and Greek sources.
ee also
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Passito , the modern Italian wine made in this fashion. A notable "passito" comes fromPantelleria , an island in the Sicily Channel not far from the site of Carthage.
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