Aging of wine that is aged is rarely aged for long; it is estimated that 90% of wine is meant to be consumed within a year of production, and 99% of wine within 5 years. The Ancient Greeks and Romans were aware of the potential of aged wines. In Greece, early examples of dried "straw wines" were noted for their ability to age due to their high sugar contents. These wines were stored in sealed earthenware amphorae and kept for many years. In Rome, the most sought after wines—Falernian and Surrentine—were prized for their ability to age for decades. In the Book of
The Old Woman and the Wine-jar and applied it to education. The poems of Phaedrus began to be translated into English during the 18th century. He himself had been reticent about the story's application, simply stating "People who know me will be able to say what this fable is about". In Thomas Bewick's "Fables of Aesop and Others" (1818), the commentary takes this to mean that the effect of education shows in this production of his old age. At the end of his own version, George Fyler Townsend gives it the moral, “the memory of a good deed lives”. The Old Woman and the Wine-jar The