Archaeologists have found the oldest known wine-making facility, pinpointing a dry red wine produced in what’s now southern Armenia about 6,000 years ago, Reuters reports. Carbon dating puts a desiccated grape vine near the wine press at around 4,000 BC, making it 1,000 years older than any other wine-making facility that’s been found, according to researchers from Armenia, the U.S. and Ireland. Biochemical techniques show grape juice which, given a lack of refrigeration, would have turned into wine. The wine press was found in a cave complex called Areni-1, near Armenia’s southern border with Iran, where the world’s oldest leather shoe (about 5,500 years old) was found last year.
FILED UNDER: archaeology
