White wine found in a Roman tomb urn turns brownish-red after 2,000 years, still drinkable and has a salty taste.
During the excavation of a Roman tomb in the town of Carmona, Seville, Spain, archaeologists discovered a glass urn containing a unique mixture, as reported by Smithsonian on June 18. Submerged in nearly 5 liters of brownish-red liquid within the urn were the cremated remains of a man and a gold ring adorned with the two-faced Roman god Janus.
The tomb discovered in 2019 (left) and the urn containing the wine (right). (Photo: Juan Manuel Román).
The Roman tomb was first uncovered in 2019 during the construction of a nearby house. According to a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the Romans likely built this structure in the first half of the first century.
After laboratory analysis, the research team concluded that the brownish-red liquid was once white wine, but had changed color to the point of being unrecognizable after 2,000 years. This is also the oldest liquid wine ever recorded.
“This is the first time something like this has been discovered. Until now, all the urns found only contained cremated remains and related offerings,” said organic chemist José Rafael Ruiz Arrebola from the University of Córdoba, a co-author of the study.
In the laboratory, the team found the liquid had a pH of 7.5, similar to water. However, its chemical composition resembled that of wine.
“We searched for biomarkers – chemical compounds that clearly identify what a substance is. In this case, we looked for polyphenols found only in wine and discovered 7 types. We compared them with the polyphenols in wines from this region and found a match. This helped confirm it was wine,” explained Ruiz Arrebola.
Due to the absence of syringic acid – a byproduct of the decomposition of red wine – the research team determined that the wine in the urn was made from white grapes.
The white wine in Carmona turned brownish-red after 2,000 years. (Photo: Juan Manuel Román).
Prior to this discovery, the title of the world’s oldest liquid wine belonged to a wine vessel found in another Roman tomb near Speyer, Germany, discovered in 1867. Dating back to around 325 AD, this wine vessel was buried with the deceased to quench their thirst in the afterlife. The oldest traces of wine date back about 8,000 years, but these are merely chemical traces extracted from Georgian ceramics.
Researchers stated that technically, the liquid wine in Carmona is still drinkable. “It is not toxic at all. We conducted microbiological analysis,” Ruiz Arrebola said. However, he still refused to taste it due to the wine having been in contact with the cremated remains of a Roman for 2,000 years.
Meanwhile, co-author Daniel Cosano, an organic chemist at the University of Córdoba, tasted the ancient wine and noted that it had a salty flavor. “This is not surprising given the chemical composition of the liquid, specifically the high concentrations of potassium and sodium,” Arrebola stated.
