Hidden message reveals ancient soldiers’ thirst for wine
Scientists have revealed a hidden message on a fragment of ancient pottery on display in Israel, shedding more light on who was drinking wine 2,500 years ago in the region.
Scientists from Tel Aviv University used ground-breaking image technology to uncover an eroded message on the shard of pottery, found near the site of an ancient fortress and dating to around 600 BC. Their research revealed an order for wine, oil and flour, most likely from soldiers stationed at the fortress, located near to the modern-day Israeli city of Arad.
For the wine world, the discovery adds to evidence of widespread wine consumption in the region at the time. It is also a victory for multispectral imaging, which was successfully used by researchers to recover the message that had gone unnoticed despite the clay pot fragment being on display at an Israeli museum for half a century.
‘The text bears more than 50 characters, creating 17 new words,’ said researchers in a paper published on Public Library of Science (PLOS) One.
‘It begins with a request for wine – “If there is any wine, send [quantity]” – as well as a guarantee for assistance if the addressee has any requests of his own,’ researchers said. It’s quite likely that the fortress was occupied by soldiers of the Kingdom of Judah, which was facing a tumultuous period that would ultimately lead to its demise in the same era.
Historians and archaeologists are building a picture of wine drinking and production in the region at this time. Local wines were believed to have been dark and rich, although many had extra herbs and spices added, according to Dr Patrick McGovern, known as the ‘Indiana Jones of ancient wines’ and who is scientific director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Project at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in the US.
Freak hail storm hits Napa Valley vineyards
Hail stones the size of walnuts peppered north California over the weekend, causing bewilderment and consternation among Napa Valley winemakers.
Thunderstorms brought lightning, wind, rain and hail—as well as snow in the Sierras—and temperatures fell by as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Some observers in the Bay Area reported hail stones the size of walnuts. Such weather is distinctly unusual for this time of year and it caught many winemakers by surprise.
‘This was the most intense hailstorm we have seen in our 31 years on this property’, said Carole Meredith, of Lagier Meredith, who grows varieties including Zinfandel, Mondeuse and Syrah on Mount Veeder. Lagier Meredith survived with only torn leaves, and no damage to fruit or shoots, but not everybody was so fortunate.
Daniel Ricciato, who manages grower relations and quality control across Northern California for consultant winemaker Thomas Brown, said there had been ‘about 5% damage in Beckstoffer To Kalon’ — where grapes sell for as much as $35,000 per ton.
Turley Wine Cellars was among the hardest hit. Its winemaker and vineyard manager, Tegan Passalacqua, estimated losses as severe as 50-70 % in some parcels.
In Oakville, Graeme MacDonald cautiously estimated his losses at around 10%. ‘We’ll thin off any damaged fruit’, he said. Others fared better.
‘It seems variable based on factors such as row direction and canopy coverage, but so far it seems like we have been quite lucky,’ Harlan Estate’s Cory Empting told Decanter.com.
Dunn Vineyards on Howell Mountain was also largely spared. ‘Leaves weren’t damaged, but some of our Cabernet Sauvignon hadn’t finished flowering, so we’ll see what the consequences are down the line,’ said Mike Dunn. The story was the same at Kongsgaard on Atlas Peak, and at Spottswoode in St. Helena, where Aron Weinkauf saw damage to ‘neither leaves nor clusters, even on our most exposed Sauvignon Blanc’.
In Carneros, the hail storm was very brief and similarly did ‘no damage at all’, according to Stéphane Vivier, of Hyde de Villaine.
Rioja introduces ‘single vineyard’ category
The Consejo Regulador of Rioja has announced plans to introduce a ‘Vinedos Singulares’ single (or more exactly singular) vineyard designation – but some producers question whether it goes far enough...
To use the new Rioja single vineyard classification, producers will have to justify the ‘natural delimitation of the vineyard’ and be entirely hand harvested. Yields will have to be at least 20% lower than the usual DOCa level, full traceability is in place and wines will have to be vinified and aged separately.
The stated intention is to extend this to include village and other sub-zone designations in the future. The move follows years of lobbying from key winemakers, and an official tasting committee will oversee the process.
Thomas Perry, a wine marketing consultant and ex-managing director of the Rioja Wine Exporters Association who has lived in the region for 34 years, told Decanter.com that the possibility only came into effect in 2003, when a new general Spanish wine law created the category of ‘Vino de Pago’ – essentially single vineyard wines.
At the time it was not taken up by Rioja, but the region has come under increasing pressure ever since to do so. The new designation will exist alongside the current system where Rioja wines are labelled according to their length of barrel and bottle ageing with Joven, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva.
Wines that qualify in these categories can now be labelled ‘Crianza from a single vineyard’, for example. ‘It reconciles the interests of winemakers… as well as those of opinion leaders and end consumers who demanded more information on the label’, the DOCa said in a statement last week.
The trade and producers have largely welcomed the move, although doubts remain as to how far it goes. In January 2016, over 150 merchants and producers signed a so-called Terroir Manifesto demanding greater recognition of Spain’s terroir in its vineyard designations.
Although Vinedos Singulares is seen to go some way to addressing that issue, many producers worry that it will stall further progress towards a true pyramid system – seen in places such as Burgundy – that clearly explains location and terroir of vines.
Peter Sisseck, winemaker in Ribero del Duero and one of the signatories to the Terroir Manifesto, said, ‘The worry is that this benefits the big farmers once again, because there doesn’t seem to be an upper limit for what constitutes a single vineyard in size. The fear is that the Consejo will think that this has gone far enough, and the more important reforms of introducing a true pyramid system indicating regional and village wines will not go ahead. It’s a move in the right direction, and clearly it has been difficult to get a consensus on reforms, but we need to go further.’
‘It’s a move in the right direction, and clearly it has been difficult to get a consensus on reforms, but we need to go further’.
