Everyone knows France is famous for its wine. The country’s rise to prominence as a wine-producer in the 1100s has been well-documented, but what is less clear is how wine got to France. Recently, multiple Etruscan amphora and a limestone pressing platform (above) were unearthed in a merchant’s quarters at the ancient coastal port site of Lattara in southern France. They are now the earliest archaeological evidence of wine-making in France, dating to between 525 and 475 BCE.
When trace remains from inside three amphorae were tested, all contained tartaric acid / tartrate – the biomarker or fingerprint compound for the Eurasian grape and wine in the Middle East and Mediterranean, as well as compounds deriving from pine tree resin. When the limestone pressing platform was tested it also came back positive for tartaric acid. Nearby were found thousands of domesticated grape seeds, grape flower stalks, and grape skins.
When you add it all up, the new finds are pretty convincing evidence that viniculture was happening in France during pre-Roman times, thanks to southern France’s contact with Etruscans.
