The oldest vineyard in the world was discovered by archaeologists on the Georgian-Armenian border. During excavation work near the border town of Areni a team of researchers found a wine cellar with a grape press dating from between 4000 and 4100 BC as early as 2010.
According to the results now published in a study in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the researchers have thus obtained a "complete picture of the wine production of the time", said Gregory Areshian of the University of California (UCLA) in Los Angeles. The archaeologists excavated a vat about 60 centimetres deep and a basin about one metre long, in which the grapes were probably pressed with their feet. The must flowed directly into the vat and was therein open fermented
The wine was in the cellar stored at cool temperatures and low humidity in ceramic jugs, the remains of which the researchers also found like grape seeds and chemical traces of the former grape processing.
(uka)