🍷 Ancient Georgian wine (c. 6000 BCE)

Ancient Georgian wine holds the oldest traces of wine in the world. Around 6000 BCE, that is, roughly eight thousand years ago, people of the South Caucasus were already keeping grape juice in large clay jars. The traces were found by archaeologists at settlements linked with the Shulaveri-Shomu culture.

Scientists carried out chemical analysis of residues inside the potsherds. They found tartaric acid, a substance typical of grapes, and other compounds pointing to winemaking. The results were published in 2017 in the journal PNAS and confirmed that wine was made in the early Neolithic.

Since then Georgia has been regarded as one of the birthplaces of wine. The jars found in the ground are forerunners of the qvevri, clay vessels buried in the earth. The tradition is alive: in Georgia wine is still made in qvevri, and this practice is on the UNESCO heritage list.

The find is linked to the history of wine in general. The Caucasus is called one of the cradles of viticulture.