This material is prepared based on the original historical research from the section "Histoire de l'ampélographie" ("History of Ampelography") authored by Ch. Tallavignes, published in the first volume of the classic "Ampélographie" edited by P. Viala and V. Vermorel (Macon, 1901–1910).

The Origins of Science: The Name Tangle of Antiquity

Documents and archaeological findings that have reached us from deep antiquity demonstrate a striking fact: even at the dawn of human civilization, viticulture was at an extremely advanced, well-developed level. The methods of vine cultivation used thousands of years ago have barely been improved by us, and the number of grape varieties known back then was considerable.

However, along with the development of winemaking, the ancient world faced a serious problem — complete chaos in the naming of varieties. Due to the lack of a unified system, the exact same grape was called completely differently in various regions. This name chaos was so great that ancient authors did not even dare to approach its analysis. It was only toward the end of the 18th century of our era that scientists realized the urgent need to bring order to the names of the vine, and this complex task remains unresolved to this day.

Modern ampelography as an independent science originated relatively recently. Nevertheless, we can trace its evolution over many centuries through surviving treatises on agriculture, botany, and universal encyclopedias. Ancient researchers described grape varieties in detail, perfectly understanding the very concept of a "variety" (cépage).

Unfortunately, there is a massive time gap of several centuries between ancient and modern science. The descriptions left by ancient authors are often too vague, and the language itself has undergone radical changes over time. Because of this, linking ancient varieties directly to modern ones is extremely difficult — most such attempts in the history of science have remained merely assumptions and, at times, fantastical hypotheses.

Archaeological Evidence: The Vine of the Pharaohs

Despite the scarcity of precise textual mentions, we have good reason to believe that many ancient grape varieties have survived to this day. The main reason for this continuity lies in the methods of vine propagation. Vegetative propagation (cuttings, layering, grafting), used since time immemorial, guaranteed the accurate and unaltered transmission of varietal traits from generation to generation.

In the case of Ancient Egypt, science relies not just on texts, but on irrefutable physical evidence. While geologists only find impressions of vine leaves from the Tertiary period on stones, Egyptian tombs have preserved for us actual physical elements of cultivated plants that ripened thousands of years before the Christian era.

The rich pharaonic flora, captured on the walls of Egyptian monuments in the form of hieroglyphs and frescoes, received real scientific confirmation thanks to unique discoveries in ancient burial chambers (hypogea). Archaeologists discovered there:

  • Dried grape clusters;
  • Raisins and individual grape seeds (pépins);
  • Perfect-preserved grape leaves.

Archaeological Evidence: The Vine of the Pharaohs

The most valuable find for science was the grape leaves discovered by the Italian researcher Ernesto Schiaparelli in the tombs of Dra Abu el-Naga near Thebes. The burial conditions preserved them in such an ideal state that the prominent botanist Georg Schweinfurth was able to carefully unfurl them, place them in the herbarium of the Boulaq Museum (Cairo), and conduct a full study of their structure.

According to Schweinfurth's conclusion, these ancient leaves are structurally very close to the varieties that are still cultivated in Egypt today near Akhmim, as well as to the vines found by the botanist Paul Ascherson in the Farafra oasis. However, a striking difference was also revealed: the leaves from the pharaonic tombs have dense, thick tomentose (woolly) pubescence on the lower side of the blade, whereas modern Egyptian varieties have an absolutely smooth lower leaf surface.

Grapes found at various times from the collections of the Leiden Museum and the Louvre were once attempted to be identified with well-known Middle Eastern varieties — Damascene grapes (Raisin de Damas) and Corinthe grapes (Raisin de Corinthe). However, modern science believes that all these early identifications require strict and deep re-verification.

Sacred Texts and Ancient Asia

Among the ancient Asian grape varieties mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures of the East, two testimonies are most notable:

  • The Red Variety of the Sorek Valley: The foundation for the production of the most famous and valued wines in the region of major biblical events. Finding its exact direct descendant among modern vines is not yet possible.
  • The Grape of Canaan (Nehelescol): The famous grape of Palestine and Jerusalem, distinguished by the colossal size of its clusters, the length of which, according to tradition, reached several cubits. It is highly probable that its genetic lines have been preserved in modern large-fruited table varieties of the region.

The Homeric Period: Grapes in Greek Myths and Poetry

If we turn to slightly later, but still semi-mythical poetic texts of Ancient Greece, the information about varieties there becomes more scarce and metaphorical. Poets sang the praises of great wines but rarely gave precise descriptions of the plants themselves:

  • The Wine of Byblos (Vin de Byblos): The legendary drink written about by Hesiod — the oldest of the known Greek poets. We know almost nothing about the variety that yielded this wine, except for its place of origin.
  • The Nectar of Homer: A joyful drink, sweet as honey, which heralds offered to the gods. Homer mentions the famous wine of Lemnos, for which Euneus (son of Jason) gave a thousand measures to the sons of Atreus, as well as the vineyards on the banks of the Xanthus.

At the same time, the great poet left us vivid artistic imagery, devoid of specific variety names, but important for understanding the culture of viticulture of that era:

  • The Golden Vine of Hephaestus: A magnificent grapevine forged by the blacksmith god on the famous shield of Achilles. It rested on silver supports, was bordered by a dark trench, and surrounded by a fence of tin.
  • The Grapes of Odysseus: A fragrant sweet wine carefully kept for the hero, as well as a beautiful vine trellis whose ripe clusters entwined the entrance to the grotto of the nymph Calypso.

A special place in poetry is occupied by the fragrant red grape of Ismarus. Its juice was so thick and aromatic that even when diluted with twenty times its volume of water, it still filled the mixing bowls with fragrance throughout the house. Was this the famous variety known to the Latins as Uva di tre volte (the grape of triple bearing)? This amazing variety was distinguished by the fact that on the exact same vine, new flowers were blooming while ripe clusters were already maturing. Ancient texts do not provide us with a definitive answer.