On July 6, 2012, it was reported in
China's earliest wine unearthed in NW tomb, that a bronze wine vessel had been found in Shaanxi province from the West Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC - 771 BC) containing a liquid.
The container wasn't opened, however.
I'm not sure, but I think the significance of this news is that --once open if it proves to be wine -- it is the oldest real, potentially drinkable wine, rather than simply a wine residue, since in 2004, archaeochemist Patrick E. McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology found residue of wine that was 9,000-years old in pottery jars from the Neolithic village of Jiahu, in Henan province, Northern China. [See Oldest Wine Comes From China - 9,000 Years of Wine-Making]
Related:
- A Greek Wine Jar
- Which Were the Popular Roman Wines?
- The Origins of Wine, From Archaeology at About.com
- Dionysus the Wine God
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