The discovery includes a wine vat, storage jars, drinking cup, and remains of plant life. Science columnist Robert Lee Hotz reports.

This limited the amount of oxygen that entered the site, helping to preserve its contents, including the ancient wine. The relatively cold temperature of the tomb might have also aided in slowing ...

the wine was weak, and the alcohol in it killed the bacteria in the unclean drinking water of the time. The ancient city of Pompeii was one of the most crucial wine centres of the Roman world.