Overview
- Researchers, in a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications, report a 15th-century seed from a Valenciennes hospital toilet that is genetically identical to today’s pinot noir.
- The team sequenced 54 archaeological grape seeds dating from the Bronze Age to the Late Medieval period, mostly from France with two from Ibiza, to compare them with modern varieties.
- The DNA shows vegetative propagation beginning by the middle Iron Age, meaning growers used cuttings to clone favored vines so the same grape could persist for centuries.
- Genomes from Roman-era seeds point to long-distance movement of domesticated varieties from regions such as Spain, the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East, along with mixing with local wild vines in northern France.
- The authors caution that DNA alone cannot show whether the medieval grapes were eaten fresh or used for wine, though the genetic links help historians and vintners track how specific varieties spread and endured.