Artefacts found at the French port site of Lattara, near the southern city of Montpellier, suggest that winemaking took root in France as early as 500BC, as a result of libations and traditions introduced by the ancient Etruscans in what is now Italy.

This early evidence of wine in France suggests brews flavoured with pine resins and rosemary or mixed with basil, thyme and other herbs were the norm. Wine was a sort of medicine of the ancient world, according to an expert on ancient alcohol at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. A fermented beverage containing alcohol not only dissolved organic medicinal additions, it was also safer than drinking water, which could contain diseases.

The analysis in the US journal New Scientist was published in a paper online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, based on ancient wine containers and a limestone press brought by seafaring Etruscan travellers.

The director of the bimolecular archaeology laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Patrick McGovern said: “France’s rise to world prominence in the wine culture has been well documented. What we haven’t had is clear chemical evidence, combined with botanical and archaeological data, showing how wine was introduced into France and initiated a native industry.”

McGovern and his colleagues tested shards of amphoras (some of which originated in Tuscany, formerly Etruria, and others that came from Marseilles) found in Lattara and report that the insides were coated in pine resins. The analysis also revealed traces of camphor that could have come from herbs such as rosemary, thyme or basil.

A pressing platform that was found nearby – dating back to 425BC, with a bowl and a spout for draining out liquids – also contained tartaric acid, confirming that it was used in the winemaking process along with other aromatic and herbaceous additives.