Researchers at the University of York have extracted DNA from 2,000-year-old grape seeds found in an archaeological well in Tuscany. The results create a genetic link between the wines that Romans drank and the grapes we grow today, according to University of York and EurekAlert reports published on 11 June 2026.

The discovery includes a surprise: the ancient Chianti region had white wine grapes in it, even though modern Chianti is almost entirely made from red grapes.

Why These Seeds Were Preserved

Cetamura del Chianti is the remains of an ancient settlement in Tuscany. When archaeologists dug there, they found sealed wells — underground shafts that had been closed off and forgotten for centuries. These sealed spaces created conditions without oxygen, like a freezer for the past. That's why grape seeds buried in these wells still had intact DNA after two thousand years.

Getting DNA out of ancient seeds is tricky. The genetic material breaks down over time, dirt can contaminate it, and seeds contain only tiny pieces of DNA compared to fresh tissue. Scientists need special equipment and careful techniques to extract readable information from such old, fragile material.

What the DNA Told Them

The ancient grape seeds belonged to the same family as grapes we plant today across Europe. That's remarkable, given that European vineyards faced disaster after disaster over two thousand years — wars, famines, plagues, and a major disease in the 1800s that killed almost every vineyard on the continent.

Genetic similarities between the Tuscan seeds and ancient grape seeds found in southern France suggest that Roman farmers deliberately shared vine cuttings across their empire. They weren't just farming independently in different places — they were actively trading and spreading grape varieties.

Most interesting to wine experts: the ancient Chianti seeds contained genetic markers for white grapes alongside the red ones. This suggests that long ago, the Chianti region grew a mix of white and red grapes. Over time, growers concentrated on red varieties, until today almost all Chianti wine is red. The ancient DNA shows a richer history than modern regulations acknowledge.

Opening New Doors for Science

The University of York has been working on ancient grape DNA for years. This new study is larger and covers more ground than earlier work.

The breakthrough matters beyond wine history. If scientists can pull DNA out of waterlogged wells, they can study ancient plants at many more archaeological sites. Mediterranean archaeology has plenty of old wells. This research could become a template for understanding how ancient agriculture worked across an entire region.

For Italy's wine industry, the findings complicate the story the region tells about itself. Wine regions claim authenticity based on long tradition. But when ancient genetics show that the past was messier and more mixed than modern wine labels suggest, it raises a real question: which traditions are we actually preserving?