A archaeological team from the Carmona City Council and the University of Córdoba uncovered the oldest wine in the world discovered in a Roman tomb in the Severian town of Carmona, sealed in a glass urn with the skeletal remains of one of the four people buried.
The wine, at first white, has turned into a reddish liquid over time but has been preserved since the 1st century BC, as confirmed by a team at the University of Córdoba’s Department of Organic Chemistry.
The discovery replaces a wine bottle from the 4th century AD found in Germany, making the findings in Carmona the oldest in the world. The wine has only undergone minimal changes due to outstanding preservation conditions in the tomb.
The researchers identified seven polyphenols, biomarkers indicating the wine’s authenticity, which correlates with wines from Montilla-Moriles, Jerez and Sanlúcar. Although the wine’s origin cannot be pinpointed due to absent comparative samples, mineral salts analyzed match those found in white wine types produced in the former Bética region
The wine was associated with the skeletal remains of a man while the remains of a woman were void of wine, but contained amber gemstones, a perfume bottle with amber fragrance, and silk fabrics. The likely family tomb, situated next to Rome’s Carmo-Hispalis road, was marked by a historical tower.
