A recent article in the Journal of Archaeological Science reports the discovery of the world’s earliest known wine-making operation by a joint Armenian-American-Irish expedition in Armenia.
The well-preserved remains were found in an Armenian cave about 60 miles from Mount Ararat, the traditional site of the Biblical Ark. A dry, consistent temperature and a layer of sheep dung in the cave formed a protective layer over the organic remains.
According to the Bible, Noah was the first viticulturist, often overlooked in the shadow of Noah’s deluge-defying ark accomplishment. However, the Bible states that, after the ark ran aground in the mountains of Ararat, “Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard” (Genesis 9:20). The wine unfortunately led to another of Noah’s famous stories — of drunken exposure.
Although many scholars might be tempted to dismiss claims of Noah’s original vineyard as lacking historical merit, scientists are discovering evidence of ancient wine-making in the region. Called the Noah’s Hypothesis, it suggests a single locality for the ancestor grape, much as the Eve Hypothesis claims that human ancestry can be traced to a single African mother.
A stunningly preserved, 5500-year-old leather moccasin was recently found in the same cave where archaeologists unearthed the wine press, fermentation and storage vessels, drinking cups, withered grape vines, skins and seeds.
In 2010, archaeologists completed the excavation of a large two-foot-deep vat buried next to a shallow, 3.5–foot-long basin made of hard-packed clay with elevated edges. The installation suggests the Copper Age vintners pressed their grapes the old-fashioned way, using their feet. Juice from the trampled grapes drained into the vat where it was left to ferment and then to be stored in jars. The cool dry condition of the cave would have made a perfect wine cellar, according to the Journal article.