The new data comes from 54 archaeological grape seed samples, including 47 from France and another two from Ibiza near Spain. “France provides an ideal setting for exploring ancient grape genetic relationships to wild populations and modern varieties,” the study’s authors wrote. In doing so, communities as early as the middle Iron Age (about 624 to 400 BCE) were able to trade grape varietals across hundreds of miles. In one case, a medieval sample from Valenciennes in northern France revealed itself as genetically identical to current pinot noir grapes. “From the Iron Age onward, certain grapevine lineages were maintained over centuries and more, in some cases linking Iron Age and Medieval contexts through only a few cycles of sexual reproduction,” explained the authors.