Grapes domesticated 11,000 years ago new study suggests

Research published in Science has suggested the domestication of grapes occurred 11,000 years ago, which is 2,500 years earlier than first thought and about the same time as wheat.
The domestication occurred both in Western Asia and the Caucasus around the same time. Analysis of grape DNA from 3,525 cultivars show that human selection for palatability, colour and hermaphroditism amongst others made grapes probably the first domesticated fruit plant.
It is thought that the grapes may have been for eating rather than wine making. Peter Nick, a plant biologist at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology who was one of the authors of the study, suggested to the Washington Post 'It was one of the first globally traded goods. It’s justified to say that the domestication of grapevines was really one of the driving forces of civilisation'.