Ancient grape seeds reveal 3,000 years of Italian wine evolution

By Stephen Beech

Italians have spent over 3,000 years perfecting grape cultivation for their famous wines, according to new research.

Ancient grape seeds show "gradual domestication" from the Bronze Age through to the Middle Ages, say scientists.

Today, annual worldwide grape cultivation produces around 80 million tons of fresh grapes and 26 billion liters of wine, with Italian vintages featuring prominently.

While the deep history of viticulture is well-studied in parts of Asia and Europe, scientists explained that data was lacking in the western Mediterranean region.

For the new study, an international research team analysed more than 1,700 grape seeds from 25 archaeological sites around Italy spanning seven millennia from the Neolithic Period to the Middle Ages.

Analysis, published in the journal PLOS One, revealed that in sites older than 1000 BC, nearly all of the grape seeds share the size and proportions of modern wild grapevine, suggesting that those fruits were gathered from the wild.

But, from around 1000 BC to 600 AD, the majority of grape seeds are more akin to modern domesticated varieties, although there is "considerable" variation in seed size and proportions, as well as the ratio of domestic to wild grapes from site to site.

And in sites from the Middle Ages, starting around 700 AD, domestic grape seeds are abundant and highly similar to modern cultivated grapes.

Study author Dr. Mariano Ucchesu of the University of Montpellier in France said, "These results indicate that grape cultivation in Italy likely began during the Late Bronze Age, followed by many centuries of gradual domestication, likely involving the mixing of wild and cultivated vines to produce new domestic varieties."

The research team noted that the results align with previous genetic and archaeological research, but stress the importance of further studies at a wider range of archaeological sites to fill in the picture of grape cultivation across the Mediterranean.

Dr. Ucchesu added: “This research has made it possible, for the first time, to trace the history of the origins of viticulture in Italy.

"The appearance of the first domesticated grapes during the Bronze Age, in Italian archaeological contexts, points to a long-standing tradition of Italian wine heritage within the broader landscape of Western Europe.”