LAVEYRON, FRANCE—According to a Miami Herald report, researchers from France’s National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) discovered remnants of a 1,900-year-old winery during an investigation conducted ahead of a construction project near the Rhône River in southern France. The wine was likely consumed by Romans, who conquered the region in 53 B.C. Grapes would have been pressed on the site’s central platform. Basins on either site of it would have collected the grape juice, then drained it into cellars made of rectangular bricks. A three-room building containing imprints left behind by large jars was also probably used for wine production. Traces of older buildings dated to the first century B.C., and trash heaps containing pottery, were also uncovered at the site, but researchers are not sure how they were used. For more on ancient wine and spirits, go to “Alcohol Through the Ages.”
