Egypt's Queen Cleopatra was said to be more than just a beauty. Her looks were not overwhelmingly unrivaled on their own, but records and anecdotes say that the moment one spoke with her, she possessed an irresistible allure. She knew how to command not only intellect but also the senses. Each time she received Rome's power brokers, she is said to have spread tens of thousands of roses across the floor and filled the entire vessel with fragrant smoke, waging a sophisticated psychological campaign that captivated sight and smell.
To win the queen's heart in 48 B.C., Rome's hero Julius Caesar chose a strategy of "fragrant wine." Caesar packed wine produced in Italy into leather skins and sent it all the way to distant Egypt. To ship wine from Rome to the palace in Alexandria required traveling more than 3,000 km by land before it could be loaded onto a boat, a grueling journey. Historians speculate that the wine Caesar sent then was likely the Brachetto variety now grown in Piedmont in northern Italy.
The Brachetto variety has firm berries, deep color, and high sugar, making it ideal for producing sweet red wine. Above all, its most notable feature is an overwhelming aroma. Walking through a Brachetto vineyard, intense rose petal scents and fresh strawberry and raspberry notes burst forth.
This is because it is rich in geraniol, one of the aromatic organic compounds. The more sunlight the berries receive, the more actively this compound is synthesized in the skins, releasing a stronger fragrance. Since ancient Roman times, this scent has been known to elevate mood and ease tension.
Among Brachetto wines, Roman nobles especially valued those produced in Acqui, calling them "Vinum Acquense." Historians widely agree that Caesar, who grasped the queen's intellectual and sensory tastes, would have chosen this wine with its lavish rose aroma.
Today, a representative wine carrying on that legend is "Tre Secoli Brachetto d'Acqui." The winery name, Tre Secoli, means "three centuries" in Italian and symbolizes the history of the regional farmers' cooperative dating back to the 19th century.
Its roots go back to a cooperative winery founded in 1887 in Mombaruzzo. A cooperative in Ricaldone was established in 1947, and in 2008 the two organizations merged and were reorganized under the current name Tre Secoli. Today, more than 300 farms participate as members, and it is a major producer organization in Piedmont, managing about 1,000 hectares of vineyards.
The winery collects grapes carefully grown by each farm and handles the winemaking and bottling. Their Brachetto d'Acqui has earned Italy's highest wine classification, DOCG, gaining global recognition for its quality.
Tre Secoli Brachetto d'Acqui strives to preserve its aroma throughout vinification. After crushing, the grapes undergo a brief two-day maceration. Because Brachetto is sweet and highly aromatic, a long maceration can extract bitterness. Fermentation also proceeds at low temperature in temperature-controlled tanks, as higher heat can cause aromas to dissipate easily.
In the glass, it shows a medium-deep ruby red with a subtle garnet hue. On the nose, scents of old wild roses and intense musk surge forth. On the palate, fresh roses and red fruit flavors come together in sweet harmony.
This wine pairs beautifully with cream desserts or dark chocolate. It won the grand prize in the Old World red wine category at the "2025 Korea Wine & Spirits Awards." The domestic importer is Zennihon Liquor.