Earliest Winery Yet Found in Armenia

Archaeologists have announced the discovery of the world’s oldest winemaking facility. The winery was found in an Armenian cave near the village of Areni -the same cave where the oldest shoe ever was found last year. Carbon dating shows that the winery dates back 6,100 years!

In September 2010 archaeologists completed excavations of a large, 2-foot-deep (60-centimeter-deep) vat buried next to a shallow, 3.5-foot-long (1-meter-long) basin made of hard-packed clay with elevated edges.
The installation suggests the Copper Age vintners pressed their wine the old-fashioned way, using their feet, Areshian said.
Juice from the trampled grapes drained into the vat, where it was left to ferment, he explained.
The wine was then stored in jars—the cool, dry conditions of the cave would have made a perfect wine cellar, according to Areshian, who co-authored the new study, published Tuesday in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Analysis of residue found malvidin, a plant pigment found in red wine. Read more about the discovery at National Geographic News here.

Archeologists have unearthed the oldest wine-making facility ever found, using biochemical techniques to identify a dry red vintage made about 6,000 years ago in what is now southern Armenia. Carbon dating showed a desiccated grape vine found near a wine press was grown around 4000 BC.

The cave complex, known as Areni-1, is in the Little Caucasus Mountains near Armenia's southern border with Iran. The wine press itself is a shallow clay basin about three feet in diameter, surrounded by grape seeds and dried-out grape vines.