Chap. 23 (19.) — What Wines It Is Not Lawful to Use in the Sacred Rites
As religion is the great basis of the ordinary usages of life, I shall here remark that it is considered improper to offer libations to the gods with any wines which are the produce of an unpruned vine, or of one that has been struck by lightning, or near to which a dead man has been hung, or of grapes that have been trodden out by sore feet, or made of must from husks that have been cut,1499 or from grapes that have been polluted by the fall of any unclean thing upon them. The Greek wines are excluded also from the sacred ministrations, because they contain a portion of water.
The vine itself is sometimes eaten; the tops of the shoots1500 are taken off and boiled, and are then pickled in vinegar1501 and brine.