King Tut Liked Red Wine

One sample came from the tomb of King Tutankhamun, discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter in Western Thebes, Egypt. The inscription on the jar reads: “Year 5. Wine of the House-of-Tutankhamun Ruler-of-the-Southern-On, l.p.h.[in] the Western River. By the chief vintner Khaa.”

“Wine jars were placed in tombs as funerary meals,” Guasch-Jan says. “The New Kingdom wine jars were labeled with product, year, source and even the name of the vine grower, but they did not mention the color of the wines they contained.” Scientists and oenophiles have long debated the type of grape that ancient Egyptians used in their wines.

Using a new method for the identification of grape markers, Lamuela-Ravents and her coworkers determined that the wine in this jar was made with red grapes.

Tartaric acid, which is rarely found in nature from sources other than grapes, has been used before as a marker for the presence of wine in ancient residues, but it offers no information about the type of grape.

Malvidin-glucoside is the major component that gives the red color to young red wines, and no other juice used in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean region contains it. As wine ages, malvidin reacts with other compounds forming more complex structures. The researchers directed their efforts toward developing a tool for breaking down these structures to release syringic acid.

Analysis of ancient samples requires a very sensitive method to minimize the amount of sample that needs to be used. To detect syringic acid, the researchers used a technique called liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry in tandem mode, which is known for its high speed, sensitivity and selectivity. This method has never before been used to identify tartaric acid or syringic acid, nor has it been used on any archaeological sample, according to the scientists.

Lamuela-Ravents and Guasch-Jan plan to use the new technique in more extensive studies of wine residues from other archaeological samples.

The Spanish Wine Culture Foundation and Codorniu Group provided funding for this research.