Wine has been produced for millennia. The oldest evidence goes back 5,000 years or more, with Georgia, Armenia and Iran vying with each other to find evidence of the very oldest winery. Closer to home, archaeologists have discovered wineries and empty clay amphorae in Sicily and Greece. But sadly, they did not come across any actual wine.

Then, earlier this year The Journal of Archaeological Science reported that a liquid believed to be wine had been found in a Roman mausoleum in Carmona in Andalusia in southern Spain. They calculate it to be more than 2,000 years old and tests have shown the liquid to be white wine. Before you ask how it tastes, they haven’t tried it, and as the container also contains the cremated remains of a Roman man, it probably won’t taste very nice.

While most wine has a shelf life of just a few years, some wines do have the ability to age for decades and still taste good. Fortified wines, which are higher in alcohol, such as port, Madeira and sherry, seem to last the longest.

I have been lucky enough to taste wines from the 19th century on three occasions. All three were ports and in very good condition. Of the three, a Taylors 1863 Single Harvest Port was the most impressive. I received a tiny phial from Taylors. It had lovely soft fig and spice, tangy orange peel, walnuts, polished wood and caramel. A tasting experience certainly. It is still available if you look online, priced at anything from €1,700 to €6,000 a bottle.