Winemakers in what is now Georgia were busy about 8,000 years ago, a long backstory for National Red Wine Day, Saturday, August 28, 2027. The day is for adults 21 and older.
When Red Wine Day Arrives
August 28. The day’s origin is unrecorded.
From Neolithic Jars to California Vines
Residue in ancient jars
At Gadachrili Gora, a Stone Age farming village south of Tbilisi, archaeologists found the bases of large jars set into house floors. Carbon dating puts the site at 6,000 to 5,800 B.C.
Patrick McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania detected tartaric acid, a chemical fingerprint of wine, in the pottery. The grape was Vitis vinifera, the European species.
Other clues backed up the chemistry. The team found grape pollen in the soil and grape designs on the jars. A second site, Shulaveri Gora, lies about a mile away.
Toronto archaeologist Stephen Batiuk co-directed the dig with the Georgian National Museum. The team published its findings in PNAS.
Cabernet’s surprise parents
Cabernet Sauvignon grew in Bordeaux by the 17th century, but its origin was a mystery. In 1997, UC Davis geneticist Carole Meredith and doctoral student John Bowers solved it with DNA.
Its parents are Cabernet franc, a red grape, and Sauvignon blanc, a white one. “This truly was a serendipitous discovery,” Meredith said.
Chance probably did it. The pair suspect a cross between vines in neighboring vineyards, since there are no records of breeders crossing grapes on purpose before the 17th century. Both names share “sauvignon,” from the French for “wild.”
Zinfandel’s Croatian roots
Meredith later tracked down Zinfandel. In December 2001, working with Croatian scientists Ivan Pejic and Edi Maletic, she matched it to Crljenak, a native Croatian grape.
She also showed that Italy’s Primitivo is the same variety. Wine Spectator declared Zinfandel’s Croatian heritage “established beyond doubt.”
California’s mission vines
Franciscan missionaries brought the vines later called the Mission grape to California. Mission San Juan Capistrano or Mission San Gabriel likely made the state’s first vintages by the mid-1780s, historian Julia Ornelas-Higdon writes.
By the early 19th century, over 60 percent of the missions had vineyards. California Natives did the planting, harvesting and crushing, and Spanish rules barred them from freely drinking the wine they made.
Celebrating Responsibly
The legal drinking age is 21 nationwide, under the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. States that raised their age to 21 saw a 16% drop in motor vehicle crashes, the CDC reports. Adults who choose to drink should do it responsibly.
Federal researchers at NIAAA count 5 ounces of table wine, at roughly 12% alcohol, as one standard drink.
Red wine is no health tonic. “For now, the message certainly isn’t to go out and start drinking,” cardiologist Robert Kloner told the American Heart Association.
Kloner also noted that wine drinkers may simply have healthier lifestyles and diets. “Alcohol in excess is really bad for the heart,” he said.
Ways for Adults to Mark August 28
- Taste a family pairing: pour Cabernet Sauvignon beside Cabernet franc, one of its parents.
- Compare the twins: try a Zinfandel and an Italian Primitivo side by side.
- Look for Georgian wine: the country’s winemaking goes back about 8,000 years.
- Keep pours measured: stick to 5-ounce glasses, plan a safe ride home and skip alcohol entirely if you’re under 21.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many grapes did the Davis team fingerprint?
Fifty-one wine varieties, using 30 DNA markers taken from young leaves.
How widely grown is Cabernet Sauvignon?
It ranked as the world’s second most widely grown wine grapevine when its parentage was announced.
Which grape did Zinfandel help create?
Plavac Mali. Its parents are Zinfandel and a Croatian grape called Dobricic.
How many young people die from drinking each year?
About 4,000 below the legal age die from excessive drinking annually, the CDC estimates.
Sources
- National Geographic – Oldest evidence of winemaking found in Georgia
- UC Davis – DNA fingerprinting reveals parentage of classic wine grape (1997)
- Wine Spectator – Researchers Solve Mystery of Zinfandel’s Origins (2002)
- American Historical Association – What’s in a Bottle? Conquest and the Origins of California Wine (2023)
- American Heart Association – Drinking red wine for heart health? Read this before you toast (2019)
- NIAAA – What Is a Standard Drink?
- CDC – Minimum Legal Drinking Age