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In ancient Rome, wine was drunk diluted with water, as discussed in this question.

When did it become common practice not to dilute wine, but to drink it as is?

I tried to look, and found nothing much on diluting after the Roman Empire. I know monasteries made wine, but I don't know if they drank it diluted or not. There's a scene in The Three Musketeers where Porthos is a guest at a house, and is disgusted to be served diluted wine. So by that point, (or by the time Dumas was writing,) diluting wine with water was associated with poverty/stinginess, and wine was commonly drunk undiluted. But I have nothing in between those two points in time.

(Note this question is specifically about wine, rather than other alcoholic drinks, such as absinthe.)

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    Welcome to History:SE. What has your research shown you so far? Where have you already searched? What did you find? Please help us to help you. You might find it helpful to review the site tour and Help Centre and, in particular, How to Ask. – sempaiscuba Feb 18 '19 at 22:41
  • @sempaiscuba I tried to look, and found nothing much on diluting after the Roman Empire. I know monasteries made wine, but I don't know if they drank it diluted or not. There's a scene in The Three Musketeers where Porthos is a guest at a house, and is disgusted to be served diluted wine. So by that point, (or by the time Dumas was writing,) diluting wine with water was associated with poverty/stinginess, and wine was commonly drunk undiluted. But I have nothing in between those two points in time. – Galastel supports GoFundMonica Feb 18 '19 at 23:35
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    It's still done today. "Wine-makers are not exactly eager to share the fact that they add water during the winemaking process." See here. It's not so much about changing habits or tastes but more the quality and strength of the wine. In other words, you might want to investigate the wine-making process rather than drinking habits. – Lars Bosteen Feb 19 '19 at 0:03
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    Diluting wine with water, juices or with Soda is still very common eg in Europe. If your main purpose is not to just get drunk asap, it makes sense. – Greg Feb 19 '19 at 2:10
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    @T.E.D. There were always those who didn't dilute, called drunkards, and those who didn't drink alcohol at all. Alexander vs Cato. I have sources arguing for both, arguing for 2/5–3/5 mix, sources advising for slowly increasing ethanol content during a symposion, sources complaining that others don't do it right (barbars from afar, next-door--neighbours, too weak/strong/cheap etc.) 2 cts: An answer here should mainly dissect the myths, prejudices and presumptions surrounding this topic. "We", "stop" & 753BCERome–until now is impossible to answer on an aggregate level comparable to the Q. – LаngLаngС Feb 19 '19 at 15:13
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I don't know the exact answer, but have the following conjecture.

In the old times water from many sources was not safe, and people did not know that one has to boil it to make safe. So they mostly drank wine (or beer, or vinegar diluted by water, as Roman soldiers did). Simply because there was no safe non-alcoholic beverages. If you drink only wine, you quickly became drunk. So wine has to be diluted. This also explains why they still drink diluted wine in some places in Europe. Because by tradition, in many places in Europe, wine is the main beverage. This tradition is preserved in some places in Europe, though of course nowadays many non-alcoholic beverages are available.

Once you have plenty of non-alcoholic beverages, or abundant clean water, you drink wine only for entertainment, so you can drink undiluted wine (is relatively small quantities).

Remark. Perhaps the comment of @congusbongus 5 is correct. But the fact remains that in many cultures people drank wine or beer as their main beverage. My friend came to small a Swiss village for vacation and rented a room with a local peasant. He asked the peasant: "Is water here safe to drink"? The answer was: "I don't know. I've never drank water in my life!"

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    The idea that ancient peoples drank alcohol because water was unsafe is a myth. – congusbongus Feb 19 '19 at 7:05

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