The first author to report on a wine of this name was Cato the Elder (234-149 BC), who ranked it right after Falernian in terms of quality. Other ancient authors who spoke in praise of the wine were Strabo (63 BC-28 AD), Tacitus (55-120). Virgil (70-19 BC), Columella (+70) and Pliny the Elder (23-79). According to a contemporary statement, the famous ancient wine (Vinum raeticum) was found on the tables of the rich. It is also said to have been a favourite wine of Emperor Augustus (63 BC-14 AD). It was made from a grape variety known as Uva Raetica (Uva Raetica, Uva Rhetica, Uva Rheticae, Vites Rhaeticas and also Uva Scripula). According to Pliny, this vine was allegedly brought to this area from Marseilles by the Phocians, a tribe originating from central Greece. The name derives either from the Roman province of Raetia or from the municipality of Raetia near Verona in Veneto. The province of Raetia covered a large area with parts in northern Italy, Tyrol-Austria, Switzerland and southern Germany.
The Swiss physician and botanist Johannes Bauhin (1541-1613) names a Uva Rheticae as a synonym for the variety Roter Zierfandler. According to an unverifiable hypothesis, the Rèze variety from the Valais is said to be a descendant of Uva raetica. However, a relationship to the variety Roter Veltliner was also suspected. It is no longer possible to verify exactly which variety it was, nor whether there are still descendants of it. In addition to Réze, the varieties Groppello di Revò and Nosiola are also mentioned. Presumably, however, it was not always the same wine or grape variety. At that time, wines were designated according to their origin, regardless of the grape variety. It is therefore also possible that they were different wines or grape varieties, which were often cultivated in mixed sets at that time. This is also supported by the fact that the sources speak of white and red as well as sweet Raeticum from dried grapes in the manner of a Recioto.
