Grape evidence for a dominant position of wine-making in human culture dates from 8,000 years ago in Georgia. The oldest known winery was found in Armenia, dating to around 4000 BC. By the 9th century AD the city of Shiraz was known to produce some of the finest wines in the Middle East. Thus it has been proposed that Syrah red wine is named after Shiraz, a city in Persia where the grape was used to make Shirazi wine. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics record the cultivation of purple grapes, and history attests to the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians, and Romans growing purple grapes
Persan (grape) wine region. In 1902, L. Rougier, an ampelographer writing for Pierre Viala and Victor Vermorel's catalog of grape varieties, determined that the two were separate varieties with Étraire de la Dui likely being an offspring of Persan. Over a 100 years later, DNA testing conducted by Swiss geneticist José Vouillamoz "strongly suggested" that there was, indeed, a parent-offspring link between Persan and Étraire de la Dui but in what direction (i.e. who is the parent and who is the offspring) is not yet known. Other varieties that Persan has been confused with over the years include Mondeuse noire, Syrah and