9,000BC may have been fine wine vintage

FARMERS who grew wheat to make the first loaves of bread 11,000 years ago may have even enjoyed wine with them.

It was thought that grapes were not grown until 6,500BC, but scientists have found that vineyards were being cultivated 2,500 years earlier.

Yunnan Agricultural University in China studied thousands of grape types and traced their genetic ancestry. There were two hotbeds of grape cultivation – western Asia and the Caucasus region. Grape farming occurred at the same time, independently, in both places despite them being separated during the last ice age, the study published in Science found.

Evidence also suggests that vineyards first appeared at the same time as wheat farming is known to have origi- nated, in around 9,000BC, some 2,500 years before previous research found evidence of Paleolithic wine.

Wine and table grapes were also found to have been cultivated at the same time – not the wine grapevine first, as previous studies have shown. Genes related to the domestication of grapes were also identified which could be used to enhance flavour and taste.