Researchers at the University of York have extracted and sequenced ancient DNA from 2,000-year-old grape seeds recovered from archaeological wells at Cetamura del Chianti in Tuscany, mapping the most extensive genetic history of grapevines yet assembled from archaeological material, according to University of York and EurekAlert reports published on 11 June 2026.

The findings connect those Roman-era seeds to modern cultivars still cultivated across Europe — a direct genomic line from antiquity to the bottle. Among the more counterintuitive results: the research turned up evidence that white wine genetics underlie the ancestry of modern Chianti winemaking, a region today almost synonymous with Sangiovese red.

Seeds, Wells, and What They Preserve

Cetamura del Chianti is a hilltop Etruscan and Roman-period settlement in the Florentine hills. Its ancient wells, sealed for centuries, created the anaerobic, stable conditions that allowed organic material — including charred or desiccated grape seeds — to survive with extractable DNA intact. The site has been the subject of long-running archaeological investigation, and the York team's work draws on that accumulated material record.

Ancient DNA from plant remains is methodologically demanding. Degradation, contamination from soil microbiota, and the comparatively small genome fragments recoverable from archaeobotanical material all complicate sequencing and downstream population genomic analysis. Getting clean, interpretable results from seeds two millennia old requires both careful extraction protocols and robust reference databases of modern Vitis vinifera genetics to map ancient sequences against.

What the Genomes Reveal

The core finding is phylogenetic: the ancient Tuscan seeds cluster with, and in some cases are direct ancestors of, grape varieties still cultivated in Europe today. That continuity across twenty centuries is notable given the viticultural disruptions — Roman imperial collapse, medieval agricultural reorganisation, repeated plague cycles, and the 19th-century phylloxera crisis that destroyed most of Europe's vine stock — that intervened.

One specific genotype identified in the Cetamura material, referred to in the research as the Cetamura clone, was found to be closely related to two ancient grape seeds previously tested from southern France, according to EurekAlert. That cross-regional genetic affinity points to deliberate viticultural exchange or shared cultivation traditions across what was then Roman Gaul and Roman Italy — not independent parallel domestication events.

The white wine ancestry finding is the result that will draw the most attention from viticulture specialists. Modern Chianti is a red wine appellation built almost entirely on Sangiovese, itself a deeply studied cultivar with contested parentage. The York data adds a layer to that debate, suggesting that the genetic substrate of the Chianti region's ancient vineyards was more heterogeneous — and included white-fruited lineages — long before the consolidation around red varieties that shapes the region's contemporary identity.

The Longer Arc

The York team's work extends a line of research the university has been pursuing for years; a 2019 study from the same group examined ancient DNA from both Roman and medieval grape seeds, establishing methodological groundwork that the new Tuscan dataset builds upon. The 2026 results represent a scaling-up in both sample volume and geographic resolution.

For archaeobotanists and historical viticulture researchers, the significance lies partly in method. Demonstrating that interpretable whole-genome data can be recovered from waterlogged well contexts — not just charred or desiccated seeds from drier depositional environments — broadens the range of sites where this kind of analysis is viable. Mediterranean archaeology is rich in well deposits. The Cetamura results may be a proof of concept with wide applicability.

For the wine industry and the denominazione di origine controllata system that governs Italian viticulture, the genomic record introduces a more complicated historical argument. Appellations are partly legitimised by appeals to terroir and ancient tradition. When the ancient genetic record turns out to be more diverse than the modern regulatory framework acknowledges, it raises questions — not answers — about which traditions are actually being protected, and which were themselves later simplifications of a richer viticultural past.