Origins of Viniculture: Oldest grape wines

To date, the earliest chemically attested instance of grapes being used in a fermented beverage is at the Neolithic site of Jiahu in the Yellow River in the central plains of ancient China during the 7th millennium bc. Yet, the probable native wild grape was only one of several other fermentable ingredients in this mixed beverage. (With upwards of 30 native wild vine species, China accounts for more than half of the vine species in the world, some of which produce berries containing as much as 19% sugar by weight. No evidence, however, has yet been found to show that any of these species were ever domesticated until recent times.)