PREVIEW

Scientists have discovered the oldest wine still in existence - dating back almost 2,000 years to the First Century AD. In 2019, the discovery of a Roman tomb in Carmona set them on course to identify the ancient tipple. The tomb, which belonged to Hispana, Senicio, and four other individuals, contained a glass funerary urn with the skeletal remains of a man immersed in a reddish liquid. This liquid has now been confirmed by a team led by Professor José Rafael Ruiz Arrebola from the University of Cordoba's Department of Organic Chemistry to be wine, making it the oldest known wine, surpassing the 4th-century Speyer wine bottle, discovered in 1867. Despite the passage of 2,000 years, the tomb's exceptional conservation conditions kept the wine intact ruling out damage from floods, leaks, or condensation. The critical identification was made through polyphenols, biomarkers found in all wines, that matched those in contemporary wines from the region. The presence of wine in the man's urn, but not in the woman's, highlights ancient Roman gender divisions. Women were prohibited from drinking wine in Roman society, which was considered a man's drink.