Coan wine is wine from the Greek island of Kos

Kos

Kos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...

, and in particular a style of wine invented there in classical antiquity

Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...

 that was known for its saltiness.

History

This distinctively salty style of wine was, according to Pliny

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

, invented accidentally by a slave, who added sea water to the must

Must

Must is freshly pressed fruit juice that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace; it typically makes up 7%–23% of the total weight of the must. Making must is the first step in winemaking...

 to meet his production quota. The result apparently became popular, and was imitated by neighboring wine makers, such as those on Rhodes

Rhodes

Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

. From about the 4th century BC, it began to be exported in large quantities. Since the addition of salt water tended to mask any local distinctiveness, other regions even began manufacturing amphora

Amphora

An amphora is a type of vase-shaped, usually ceramic container with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body...

e in the Coan style in which to ship their imitations of Coan-style wine, meaning that by some point "Coan wine" became a generic term for a style of wine that was in fact made in many different locations.

The wine's reputation was quite good in classical Greece

Classical Greece

Classical Greece was a 200 year period in Greek culture lasting from the 5th through 4th centuries BC. This classical period had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and greatly influenced the foundation of Western civilizations. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, such as...

—Strabo

Strabo

Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...

 mentions it alongside the well-regarded Chian

Chian wine

Chian wine is wine from the Greek island of Chios. It was among the most prized wines of classical antiquity, and, according to Theopompus and Greek mythology, was the first red wine, then called "black wine".-Greece:...

 and Lesbian

Lesbian wine

Lesbian wine is wine made on the Greek island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea. The island has a long history of winemaking dating back to at least the 7th century BC when it was mentioned in the works of Homer. During this time the area competed with the wines of Chios for the Greek market...

 wines. The connoisseurs of ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

, however, preferred wines without sea water added, and both Pliny and Galen

Galen

Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...

 strongly recommend unadulterated wines such as those of Chios.

Production

Two accounts of the production of Coan-style wine survive, one given by Cato the Elder

Cato the Elder

Marcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...

 in De Agri Cultura

De Agri Cultura

De Agri Cultura , written by Cato the Elder, is the oldest surviving work of Latin prose. Alexander Hugh McDonald, in his article for the Oxford Classical Dictionary, dated this essay's composition to about 160 BC and noted that "for all of its lack of form, its details of old custom and...

, and the other, attributed to Berytius, in the Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 collection Geoponica

Geoponica

The Geoponica is a twenty-book collection of agricultural lore, compiled during the 10th century in Constantinople for the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus...

. Two alternate recipes are attributed to Berytius. The first prescribes boiling 3 parts must and 1 part sea water down to two thirds. The other prescribes starting with 2 metretai white wine and mixing into it: 1 cup salt, 3 cups hepsetos, 1 cup vetch flour, 100 drachmai

Greek drachma

Drachma, pl. drachmas or drachmae was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history:...

 melilot

Melilot

Melilotus, known as Melilot or Sweet-clover, is a genus in the family Fabaceae. Members are known as common grassland plants and as weeds of cultivated ground. Originally from Europe and Asia, it is now found worldwide....

, 16 drachmai apples, and 16 drachmai Celtic nard

Spikenard

Spikenard is a flowering plant of the Valerian family that grows in the Himalayas of China, also found growing in the northern region of India and Nepal. The plant grows to about 1 m in height and has pink, bell-shaped flowers...

.