Posted on 04/06/2022 8:17:50 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Wine enriched with vanilla may have been popular among royals and high society in Jerusalem more than 2,500 years ago, suggest researchers in a new study.
Researchers examining remnants of jars dating back to the kingdom of Judah found evidence that royal elites in Jerusalem may have been drinking wine ‘flavoured with vanilla’.
It’s already known that wine has a long history in the region, and some studies suggest wines contained added spices or herbs.
Yet researchers said they were surprised to find traces of vanillin in some of the ancient storage jars, which were excavated from debris caused by the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem...
As a highly prized import, vanilla was probably the preserve of high society at the time. Several jars examined by the researchers contained a rosette stamp linking them to the kingdom of Judah’s royal economy.
‘Residues of vanilla, discovered in some of the jars, attest to the great prestige of the wine and to the drinking habits of the elite residents of Jerusalem,’ said the study’s authors.
They said the findings indicated vanilla was used ‘as a wine additive by the kings of Judah and their entourage’.
They added the vanilla was likely imported from India or East Africa. ‘Both areas were connected to the Levant by the desert roads which originated ether in South Arabia or Egypt,’ they said.
The news comes only a few months after a ‘huge’ winery complex dating back 1,500 years was discovered by archaeologists working for the Israel Antiquities Authority near the city of Yavne.
(Excerpt) Read more at decanter.com ...
“Probably helped cover the bad taste of many wines back then.”
There’s a lot more fermenting in those containers then grapes... And back then I can only imagine it was worse.
“All tree sap has sugar in it. The sap from the sugar maple just has more then usual.”
I’ve had Sycamore syrup and paper bark Birch syrup.
A paper bark Birch has a lot of sap... It’s amazing the amount of sap that comes out of a paper bark birch tree it’ll flood the ground around the tree if you cut a branch off.
The best violin rosin comes from Sycamore sap as well.
As with most things the rub is the energy required to turn sap into syrup.
100 gallons of birch sap for 1 gallon of syrup.
40 gallons of sugar maple sap for 1 gallon of syrup.
Thanks, SunkenCiv!
Interesting. Was that red or white wine? Or?
I love vanilla, might try it in a glass or two of wine, but not expensive wine.
Say what?....................
I thought the phrase “...during the Babylonian destruction....” somewhere. Caught my eye.
Suppose they used the storage containers for different things at different times?
This seems like bad journalism and possible bad research.
Why was the researchers’ thought “hmm what could explain this vanillin? Must be vanilla.” and not “what has vanillin in it and could be associated with wine?”
Oak would be the natural first thought for someone who drinks wine, knows much of anything about wine, botany, chemistry, etc...
An online magazine that caters to wine folk would... or should, answer that question in the article. “Hints of vanilla” is so common for oaked wines and even an amateur drunk who goes to wine tastings a few times a year would probably know this.
Was there something involved in the research that eliminated oak as a candidate explanation? If so, the article should address this. If not, the article is remiss about not addressing it.
Ancient elites were just as drunk as they are now 🤪
I could have told you that
I bet they smell nice. :^)
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4052777/posts?page=7#7
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4052777/posts?page=10#10
“This may be like when they found traces of cocaine on Egyptian mummies.”
Don’t share this tidbit with Hunter Biden. It won’t end well.
P
My pleasure.
If you're lucky. If you're unlucky, the artificial flavor is (heh) beaver "expression".
Because they specialize.
For the most part experts do not go outside their own little tiny little square of knowledge. The reason is there is so much to learn and know in that one area that stuffing their heads with more generalize knowledge would be a waste of valuable time and brain space.
It is why you read some of the things put out by experts and think, "you have GOT to be kidding me". It is not that they are stupid, they are not. But ignorant outside a certain space? Oh yes.
Which is why they should run their theory's by a few generalists before announcing them to the world.
But they don't.
I am not exactly sure why.
But it is the reason I am absolutely again experts being put in charge of anything. They can tell you everything about the drop, but they often do not even see the ocean before them.
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