In recent years, contemporary historians have debated whether to open the Speyer wine bottle, the oldest known bottle of wine.
The 1,650-year-old bottle sealed with wax and containing a white liquid is on display at the Palatinate Museum in Germany. Generally, the older the wine bottle, the better the wine tastes. However, in this case, the Speyer wine bottle is so ancient that many experts doubt whether the wine inside is drinkable.
The Speyer wine bottle at the museum. (Photo: The Local Germany).
This wine bottle dates back to around 325 – 350 AD. A Roman noble was buried with this locally produced wine bottle in 350 AD. When his tomb was excavated near the city of Speyer, Germany, in 1867, researchers were shocked to find that there was still liquid inside the wine bottle.
Although a chemist analyzed it during World War I, the bottle has never been opened. Olive oil and a wax seal have preserved the white wine for 1,650 years since its production. Despite the bottle being in the museum’s display for over a century and sparking curiosity, no research team has dared to open it.
Over the years, the academic community has debated the issue, with many microbiologists suggesting that opening the bottle could be dangerous. According to Ludger Tekampe, the curator of the museum’s wine exhibition, they do not know if the wine inside the bottle could withstand exposure to air. They speculate that if the wine were to be consumed, it might taste like chewing gum. Furthermore, according to Professor Monika Christmann, a wine researcher at Geisenheim University, from a microbiological standpoint, the wine bottle may not be spoiled, but it would not be pleasant in terms of taste. It seems the question of whether to open the wine bottle will continue to puzzle scientists and wine experts for many years to come.
Although the oldest evidence of wine production was found in Armenia dating back to around 4100 BC, the tradition of producing and consuming wine in the West likely originated in Greece, where people drank wine for breakfast. The Romans, influenced by the Greeks, loved wine and expanded wine production and consumption throughout their vast empire. Centuries later, wine production and consumption surged in most parts of the world, particularly from the 15th century onward.
The period from 1810 to 1875 is referred to by modern historians as the golden age of wine. In Northern Europe, the Industrial Revolution and wealth from overseas colonies provided the middle class with the resources to own luxury goods, including wine.
