Yeast protein in Carmona’s Roman wine points to possible biological aging

The University of Córdoba announced on 6 November that researchers had detected traces of a yeast-related protein in Roman wine about 2,000 years old. The liquid was discovered in 2019 in an intact tomb at Carmona, near Seville, and the finding was presented at the 16th Iberian Congress of Archaeometry. The protein is associated with Saccharomyces species, yeasts important in the production of some prominent Andalusian white wines.¹

Saccharomyces yeasts are particularly significant in biological aging, during which a yeast film develops across the wine’s surface. Known in Spain as flor, this layer influences white wines from Montilla-Moriles, Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Condado de Huelva. The signal in the Carmona sample indicates that the Roman wine may have experienced a partly comparable phase, but chemical changes over 2,000 years prevent a complete reconstruction.¹

Molecular evidence and cautious interpretation

José Rafael Ruiz Arrebola, a University of Córdoba professor who presented the results, said the evidence permits the hypothesis of biological aging under a surface film of yeast. The wine had previously been identified as white and apparently Andalusian; the latest research adds evidence from microorganisms and proteins to the earlier chemical findings.¹

Using molecular-archaeology techniques, the team analyzed microbial DNA and surviving proteins. A comparison with a modern fino wine helped researchers distinguish potentially original biological markers from signals caused by contamination, handling or the 2,000-year burial period. Because ancient residues can combine evidence from several origins, the team treated the comparison as a way to refine interpretation rather than prove an identical production method.¹

A sealed funerary setting

The wine came from a burial ritual rather than a domestic or drinking context. It remained in a glass urn with the skeletal remains of a man and a gold ring depicting the god Janus. Since the tomb was still sealed when found in 2019, its contents provide an unusually well-preserved setting for examining funerary customs and material culture in the Roman province of Baetica.¹

Chemical and protein evidence associated with pines was also identified. It could reflect pine wood used as production fuel or an aromatic ingredient, though the researchers did not claim a definitive explanation. The work involved the University of Córdoba’s Department of Organic Chemistry, the Institute for Chemical Research in Energy and Environment (Iquema), the university’s central research support service and the City Museum of Carmona.¹

What the find can reveal

The results show that exceptionally preserved archaeological liquids can retain evidence about origin, subsequent change and biological history after 2 millennia. Such material could extend research on ancient food and drink beyond conventional residue studies, since archaeological containers often survive after their contents have evaporated or deteriorated beyond identification.¹

The researchers say laboratory evidence may contribute to a broader account of Roman society in southern Spain. In the Carmona burial, that interpretation would consider the wine together with perfumes, jewelry and other grave goods whose value as evidence is strengthened by the tomb’s undisturbed condition. Further analysis and comparisons with ancient and modern materials may clarify how closely Roman practices resembled biological-aging methods that remain part of Andalusian winemaking.¹