In Armenia, Scientists Find Oldest Known Winery

[n2doc]

By ROBERT LEE HOTZ

Scientists have discovered the world's oldest known winery, secreted amid dozens of prehistoric graves in a cavern in Armenia, an international research team said Tuesday.

Outside a mountain village still known for its wine-making skill, archaeologists unearthed a large vat set in a platform for treading grapes, along with the well-preserved remains of crushed grapes, seeds and vine leaves, dating to about 6,100 years ago—a thousand years older than other comparable finds.

On three pot shards, researchers from the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, found a residue of malvidin, a pigment that gives grapes and wine a dark red hue.

The ancient seeds belonged to a domesticated grape variety, known as Vitis vinifera vinifera, that is still used to make red wine today, the team reported.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704458204576074141252276326.html

[aquart]

1. So cool.

I'm glad they said "oldest known." That domesticated grape says wine-making is way older.

So how come we're none of us drinking Armenian wine?

[Wilms]

2. There's a few listed here.

http://www.bestinwine.com/shop/Armenian-orderby0-p-1-c-5.html

[damntexdem]

3. Ooh, find the cellar -- that wine must be really well-aged.

;-)

[Odin2005]

4. The word for wine seems to have originated in the ancestor of the Geogian language

And then spread like wildfire through borrowing throughout western Eurasia. it's one of the best examples of a "Wanderwort" word.

[Thor_MN]

5. But where is the world's oldest wino?

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Boy, those ancient Armenians sure got around, didn't they?

First, the world's oldest leather shoe
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100609-worlds-oldest-leather-shoe-armenia-science/

now this.

:toast: