Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Oldest bottle of wine unearthed

Long time readers will recall that awhile back I posted about a bottle of Roman wine from around 325 AD.  Well, that discovery has just been pushed back by three centuries:

In 2019, a glass cinerary urn containing a reddish liquid was discovered in a 1st century Roman mausoleum in Carmona, southern Spain.

...

Researchers from the University of Córdoba analyzed samples of the liquid to determine its composition. They found that it had a PH 7.5, close to neutral, and contained biomarkers that are exclusive to wine. High-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) identified seven wine polyphenols all of which matched those in modern wines produced in this area of Andalucía, including dessert wines from Montilla-Moriles, sherry-type wines from Jerez, and manzanilla from Sanlúcar. 
Cool.



3 comments:

danielbarger said...

Was anyone brave..or stupid.... enough to taste it?

libertyman said...

Don't forget to "Let it breathe" before tasting it.

I am reminded of Steve Forbes who paid thousands for a bottle of wine from Thomas Jefferson's wine cellar only to find the cork had dried out and fell in.

Maybe if someone tasted it, they would create a list of nine or ten flavors, nuances and characteristics that the oenophiles like to list when they taste wines.

Glen Filthie said...

What does a museum curator DO with something like that? It’d have to be whatever vinegar becomes when it dies and putrifies…