The Roman poet and politician Decimus Magnus Ausonius (310-395) was born in Burdigala (Bordeaux) in Rome to a wealthy family. He was the tutor of the later Roman Emperor Gratian (359-383), who later appointed him consul in Augusta Treverorum (today's Trier), the Roman administrative capital of Gaul. It was here that the Romans established viticulture. Ausonius owned a vineyard of about 1,100 acres in Lucaniacus on the Garonne in what is now the Saint-Émilion area. It is possible that the Château Ausone named after him is located there today, or perhaps the Château La Gaffelière, which also claims this place. He also wrote a detailed description of the wines of the Gironde. He also praised the wines from the Burgundian Mâconnais.
A well-known work is a description from the year 371 of the Moselle landscape and the city of Trier in 483 hexameters. In it, he describes a boat trip on the Moselle and describes this river with its tributaries, the beauty of the landscape with the surrounding mountains and the wine in today's German Moselle wine-growing region in the following words: How does the river colour its flowing waters with a shimmering glow, when Hesperus weaves dawning shadows into the glittering evening red. How finely the Moselle adorns itself in the shining green of its hills. How the crests sway in the waves, glistening with golden light. From afar, the vine leaves tremble at the sight of the departing glow, and the grape shines swelling in the Spiegel crystalline tide. His fellow poet Venantius Fortunatus (530/540-610) expressed himself in similar terms.
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