Wine's Chemistry

"With regard to the rest of their equipment-'the mute,' a term that includes baskets, dolia (wine vats), and the like...nothing should be bought which can be raised on the place or made by the men on the farm...." (Varro, On Agriculture I.xxii)

First you need a little technology, a simple understanding on the process by which wine is made. Bear in mind that Roman taste, at least during the Republican and early imperial eras, was for sweet wines, to the extent that they would often add honey to sweeten it even more.