A new study on the prehistory of wine has provided a clearer understanding of how and when grapevines were cultivated to make wines around the world. The study collected and analyzed DNA from domesticated table and wine grapes as well as wild grapevines. The results overturned commonly accepted narratives about the origins of grapevines. It was previously believed that wild grapes grew in central Asia and spread westward as humans migrated. However, the genetic data from the study indicate that grapes grew naturally across the western and central Eurasian continent 300,000 to 400,000 years ago. The study also revealed that humans domesticated table grapes in western Asia around 11,000 years ago, and that the grapes were then gradually transformed into different wine grape varieties in regions such as the Balkans, Italy, France, and Spain. The study couldn’t explain why people in the Caucasus region, who already had wine grapes, did not bring them to Europe. The study concludes that tracing the origins of current grape varietals to western Asia or the Caucasus is almost impossible due to centuries of crossbreeding and destruction of prior vine varieties.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wines-true-origins-are-finally-revealed/