Wine varied in price and privilege throughout the Roman empire. There were several well known varieties and vineyards such as the Falernian wine, which was reserved for the aristocratic classes and for special occasions. In Pompeii there is a tavern with a price listing still present on the wall. Inscribed is "For one as you can drink wine; for two, you can drink the best; for four, you can drink Falernian." (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/wine.html)

As for the colours, both white and red were present, with white being more expensive and limited almost exclusively to the upper classes. (R. Phillips A Short History of Wine pg 46–56)

Also yes, they did produce different wines from various parts of the empire, especially in gaul and hispania. Here's a good article on the wine trade in ancient Rome if you're interested. (http://www.jstor.org/stable/300648)

(edit for spelling)

It's hard to overstate the importance of wine in Ancient Rome. According to some estimates, Romans drank on average 100 liters of win per person per year, which would necessitate 640 shiploads of wine per year to supply the whole city. Source Indeed, the earliest extant Latin prose work, Cato's De Agri Cultura, discusses techniques for large-scale wine production, which shows the importance of wine even in the 2nd century BCE.

During the early Empire, Roman tastes preferred a sweet, strong wine. Keep in mind that this would not be a strong drink by modern standards. Wine maxes out at around 15% ABV; any more alcohol than that and it kills the yeast, stopping any further fermentation. And the Romans, for all their advances, never discovered distillation. So, wine would have been the most alcoholic drink they knew. They rarely drank it straight, which was seen as uncultured and boorish. They watered it down, usually at a ratio of two parts water to one part wine. They also added other ingredients—honey to mask the acidity of wine turning to vinegar, and herbs, spices, resin, and even sea water to cut the sweetness.

One type of wine of Ancient Rome was called mulsum, and it was wine mixed with honey right before drinking. It would often be given away to the plebeians in order to garner their public support, and so it was seen as a cheaper alternative. Martial, however, mentions a mulsum made with the finest wine and finest honey, suitable to be poured by Ganymede to Jupiter himself, so it was not exclusively a lower-class drink.

When it comes to winegrowing regions, there were several which were renowned throughout the Roman Empire. Caecuban from Latium, Rhaetic from Verona, the wines of the Alban Hills southeast of Rome, and Surrentine and Massic (among others) from the Campania, Mamertine from Messina. However, the most famous wine was Falernian wine, from the slopes of Mount Falernus. It was a white wine, very full-bodied and sweet, and aged for 10-20 years until it was amber-colored. The Romans also had the concept of vintages: the Falernian vintage of 121 BCE was said to be exceedingly good, and 200 years later Pliny reports that amphorae of this wine still existed.

Source

Whether it was rougher on the palate and /or stronger then wine today is open to debate But what isn't is that the common practice amongst civilised company was almost always to water it down.

[Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2. 63a-b :] (http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/DionysosGod.html#Drinking)

"Mnesitheus [a Greek physician] said that the gods had revealed wine to mortals, to be the greatest blessing for those who use it aright, but for those who use it without measure, the reverse. For it gives food to them that take it, and strength in mind and body. In medicine it is most beneficial; it can be mixed with liquid drugs and it brings aid to the wounded. In daily intercourse, to those who mix and drink it moderately, it gives good cheer; but if you overstep the bounds, it brings violence. Mix it half and half, and you get madness; unmixed, bodily collapse. Wherefore Dionysos is everywhere called Latros (Physician).’ The Delphic priestess, too, has directed certain persons to call Dionysos Hygiates (Health-Giver). Euboulos makes Dionysos say: ‘Three bowls only do I mix for the temperate – one toe health, which they empty first, the second to love and pleasure, the third to sleep. When this is drunk up wise guests go home. The fourth bowl is our no longer, but belongs to violence the fifth to uproar, the sixth to drunken revel, the seventh to black eyes. The eight is the policeman's, the ninth belongs to biliousness, and the tenth to madness and hurling the furniture. Too much wine, poured into one little vessel, easily knocks the legs from under the drinkers.’"

hi! you may find some interesting examples in these posts

• Sunday AMA: The History of Wine, Beer, Cider and Mead

• How do the wines of history stack up against what you can readily buy today?

• What did wine and beer taste like in ancient times? Did it resemble the beverages we know today?

• What is the difference between modern day wine and its ancient (BC and first couple hundred years of AD) counterpart?

• How is the wine we drink today different from ancient and classical wine?

• How good was ancient Roman and Greek wine compared to todays norm? Would an average wine today be high class for them?

• What was wine like in Classical Roman or Greek times? How does it compare to present day?

• Alcoholic consumption in the Byzantine Empire

• Is there any way to estimate the alcohol percentages of beer/wine brewed in ancient times?

Has anyone made one of these ancient wines recently to see exactly how they tasted?

Mead is a known alcoholic drink which was drunk by the Romans. There is a known Roman recipe out there (http://www.meaderylab.com/article/340) which is occasionally reproduced. Whether mead is actually wine depends on your wine standards, but that's a discussion for /r/mead and not for here.

Mead is basically honey+water+yeast. There are endless variations out there with fruit, tea or anything that can be thrown in water. I have heard about fish-poop variations and the craziest things. In modern times it's quite an alternative drink, and with alternative drinks come alternative people and alternative methods.

Mead is probably the oldest known alcoholic beverage, with various sources dating back between 7000BC and 40000BC. This is probably because it is the easiest alcoholic beverage to make, and a flooded beehive is potentially all it takes to create.

There are some problems with the recipe linked that makes reproducing hard/unsafe. It relies on wild yeast and the way it is made is quite unsanitary which can cause all sorts of nasty infections.

Sources:
http://www.skyriverbrewing.com/Mead/mead-history.html
http://www.medovina.com/history.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mead#History
http://www.meaderylab.com/article/340

Also my first historical reply in this subreddit, because I actually know something about the topic.

Also how often did people drink wine?

I'm on my phone so can't link to the thread but there was a previous similar question on this sub where it talks about how wine until just a few hundred years ago was very different than wine now because modern bottling didn't exist. So pine pitch/tar was used as a preservative. So wine was very thick and by modern standards pretty gross. Not only would you want to water it down for strength but to also make more viscous. It all tasted like pine. Sounds horrible to me.

I've read that Julius Caesar drank "vinegar" or maybe a tart vinegar wine. Was that a staple of the soldiers and Caesar was showing he was one of them? Were there supposed health reasons? Was sour wine that needed burnt bread standard?

Did they make wine in a similar fashion to the stereotypical Italian ladies mashing grapes with their feet in a barrel?

I heard Romans were diluting their wine with water.... true or rumor?