The origin of grapevines is a tangled vine itself
But genetics is untangling it
According to the Bible, Noah was the first man to make wine. He was also, not unrelatedly, the first man to drink to excess, be found naked in his own vineyard, and wake up with a hangover. But, certain colourful details aside, this legend of the most premier of crus is not too far off the standard picture of the birth of viticulture: a single domestication that happened thousands of years in the past.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Of vino, veritas”
From the March 4th 2023 edition
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