Old Asian honeyed wine is mentioned (4)
I believe the answer is:
mede
'old asian' is the definition.
(inhabitant of ancient Media)
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mede that I've seen before include "One of the old people" , "Lawmaker" , "Old Indo-European" , "who proverbially laid down the law" , "Ancient Persian inhabitant" .)