Roman grape DNA maps the ancestry of modern European wine cultivars

University of York researchers extracted whole-genome DNA from 2,000-year-old grape seeds at Cetamura del Chianti in Tuscany, tracing modern European wine varieties back to Roman antiquity. Sealed wells preserved the seeds intact. The Cetamura clone matched ancient seeds from southern France, suggesting deliberate viticultural exchange across Roman territories two millennia ago—a genetic continuity that survived empire collapse, plague, and phylloxera.