Monte Kronio and its caves, the theater of the recent explorations of La Venta in collaboration with the Commissione Grotte Eugenio Boegan of Trieste, made a new unexpected result: in the cracks of the Copper Age found in them was found and studied the oldest wine in the world that has been discovered to have nearly 6,000 years.

Its remains have been studied by an international research group co-ordinated by the archaeologist Davide Tanasi of the University of South Florida, who also participated in the National Research Council (Cnr), the University of Catania and the experts of Superintendence at the Cultural Heritage of Agrigento.

The discovery was published on the Microchemical Journal and shows that viticulture and wine production in Italy have not begun in the Bronze Age, as suggested so far, but over 2,000 years earlier.

To confirm it are the chemical residues left in one of the huge jars dating back to the beginning of the 4th millennium BC: the terracotta, unmalted, has kept traces of tartaric acid and its sodium salt, substances naturally found in grape berries And in the winemaking process.

It is very rare that it is possible to determine the exact composition of such residues, because in order to do so, the pottery must be extracted completely intact.

Researchers now intend to continue their studies in order to determine whether this first ancient Italian wine was red or white.