Unless you’re in the dark, it’s easy enough for most people to determine the color of wine grapes. But what if you only have the seeds on hand? No longer a problem! In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in April, a global research team revealed that they successfully identified the color of grapes grown in Israel 1,000 years ago, using only their pips.
Representing institutions in Israel, Denmark, France, Norway, the U.K. and the U.S., the team sourced pips from the Avdat archaeological site in Israel’s desert Negev region, carbon-dating them to 650–1000 A.D. Their work has helped flesh out details of an ancient wine industry. (Read about other recent wine findings from the Avdat site.)
And, analyzing the seeds’ DNA produced another revelation: “There were two pips that were linked to berry color,” Dr. Nathan Wales of the University of York told Wine Spectator via email. “One (called A32) was found to be likely white and the other (called A33) was black.”
Per Wales, this is the first time researchers have identified a grape’s color based on the genome of its pip, thanks to new techniques used by Dr. Pnina Cohen of Tel Aviv University. (The same team previously used a 900-year-old pip to identify a grape as a genetic clone of the white variety Savignin, which was the closest they had come before now.)
What, specifically, were the Avdat grapes grown for? One theory is that the white grapes went into Gaza wine, a sweetie made in Byzantine Empire–era Israel.
Written sources indicate that Gaza wine was white, but this is the first solid evidence that white grapes were grown in Israel at that time. In fact, while we already knew there were white grapes in the ancient world—based on accounts from Pliny the Elder, among others—the A32 pip confirms this as the oldest genetic evidence of white grapes on record, according to Wales.
Research is ongoing. “We don't yet know if there were multiple types of white grapes grown at the [Negev] sites or if one variety or different blends were used,” Wales explained.
Still, this is a watershed moment for our knowledge of ancient grapegrowing and how it connects to the modern world. This research sheds light on grapes that thrive in the desert and may even help today’s growers as they face a rapidly changing climate. “By learning from the past and considering how to retain genetic diversity in our crops, we can ensure these important species are around to support us in the distant future,” Wales observed.
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