The ancient Romans planted vineyards near garrison towns so wine could be produced locally rather than shipped over long distances. Some of these areas are now world renowned for wine production. The Romans discovered that burning sulfur candles inside empty wine vessels keeps them fresh and free from a vinegar smell. In medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church supported wine because the clergy required it for the Mass. Monks in France made wine for years, aging it in caves. An old English recipe that survived in various forms until the 19th century calls for refining white wine from bastard—bad or tainted bastardo wine. The process of making wine in ancient Rome began immediately after the harvest with treading the grapes (often by foot), in a manner similar to the French pigeage. The juice thus expressed was the most highly prized and kept separate from what would later come from pressing the grape. This free-run juice was also believed to have the most beneficial medicinal properties.
Cato described the process of pressing as taking place in a special room that included an elevated concrete platform containing a shallow basin with raised curbs. The basin was shaped with gentle slopes that led to a runoff point. Horizontally across the basin were long, wooden beams whose front parts were attached by rope to a windlass. The crushed grapes were placed between the beams, with pressure applied by winding down the windlass. The pressed juice ran down between the beams and collect in the basin.
As the construction and use of a wine press was labor-intensive and expensive, its use was generally restricted to large estates, with smaller wineries relying on treading alone to obtain grape juice.
If grape pressing was used, an estate would press the skins one to three times. Since juice from later pressings would be coarser and more tannic, the third pressing normally made wine of low quality called lora. After pressing, the grape must was stored in large earthenware jars known as dolia. With a capacity of up to several thousand liters, these jars were often partially buried into the floors of a barn or warehouse. Fermentation took place in the dolium, lasting from two weeks to a month before the wine was removed and put in amphoras for storage. Small holes drilled into the top allowed the carbon dioxide gas to escape.
Waroma wa kale walipanda mashamba ya mizabibu karibu na miji ya askari-jeshi ili divai iweze kutengenezwa mahali hapo badala ya kusafirishwa kwa meli kwa umbali mrefu. Baadhi ya maeneo hayo sasa yanajulikana ulimwenguni pote kwa uzalishaji wa divai. Waroma waligundua kwamba kuwasha mishumaa ya sulfuri ndani ya vyombo vya divai vilivyo tupu huzifanya ziwe safi na zisizo na harufu ya siki. Katika Ulaya ya enzi za kati, Kanisa Katoliki la Roma liliunga mkono divai kwa sababu makasisi walihitaji divai hiyo kwa ajili ya Misa. Watawa wa kiume wa Ufaransa walifanya divai kwa miaka mingi, wakiikazia katika mapango. Kile kichocheo cha zamani cha Kiingereza ambacho kiliendelea katika aina mbalimbali hadi karne ya 19 kinahitaji kusafisha divai nyeupe kutoka kwa divai mbaya au iliyoharibiwa ya bastardo. Katika Roma ya kale, mvinyo ulitengenezwa kwa kukanyaga zabibu mara tu baada ya kuvunwa, mara nyingi kwa miguu, kwa njia kama ile ya kuoka njiwa wa Ufaransa. Juisi iliyotokezwa kwa njia hiyo ilikuwa yenye thamani zaidi na ilihifadhiwa tofauti na ile ambayo baadaye ingepatikana kwa kushinikiza zabibu. Mchuzi huo uliotengenezwa bila malipo ulidhaniwa pia kuwa na sifa zenye manufaa zaidi za kitiba. Cato alieleza kwamba kazi ya kusindika ilifanywa katika chumba cha pekee kilichokuwa na jukwaa la saruji lililokuwa juu na bonde lisilo na kina kirefu lenye mipaka iliyoinuka. Bonde hilo lilikuwa na mteremko laini uliopelekea kwenye eneo la maji. Upande wa mbele wa beseni hilo kulikuwa na mihimili mirefu ya mbao ambayo sehemu zake za mbele zilikuwa zimeunganishwa kwa kamba na kamba ya upepo. Zabibu zilizovunjwa ziliwekwa kati ya mihimili hiyo, na shinikizo lilifanywa kwa kugeuza-geuza mviringo wa upepo. Mchuzi uliosongwa ulitiririka chini kati ya mihimili na kukusanywa ndani ya beseni. Kwa kuwa ujenzi na matumizi ya vyombo vya kusagia divai yalikuwa ya gharama kubwa na ya kazi nyingi, kwa ujumla matumizi yake yaliwekwa kando na mashamba makubwa, na mashamba madogo ya divai yalitegemea kusagia peke yake ili kupata maji ya zabibu. Ikiwa shinikizo la zabibu lilitumiwa, shamba lingeshinikiza ngozi mara moja hadi tatu. Kwa kuwa maji ya mchuzi wa baadaye yangekuwa makali zaidi na yenye rangi nyangavu zaidi, kwa kawaida mchuzi wa tatu ulitokeza divai ya hali ya chini iitwayo lora. Baada ya kushinikizwa, msukumo wa zabibu ulifungwa katika mitungi mikubwa ya udongo iitwayo dolia. Kwa kuwa vyombo hivyo vilikuwa na uwezo wa lita elfu kadhaa, mara nyingi vilizikwa sehemu fulani kwenye sakafu ya ghala au ghala. Mvinyo huo ulichemshwa katika dolium, na kwa muda wa majuma mawili hadi mwezi mmoja, kisha ukaondolewa na kuwekwa katika amphora ili kuhifadhiwa. Mashimo madogo yaliyochimbwa juu yaliruhusu gesi ya kaboni dioksidi kutoroka.