Oldest Living Grapevine: ‘Žametovka’ Grapevine from Lent in Maribor

While reading the article on Top 10 Most Irritating Wine Terms I came upon a tidbit that peaked my interest and I followed up. I'm always on the lookout for grapevine oddities and have put some of my "finds" under a tab that I call "Esoterica". For example, there is the Hampton Court Grapevine in the UK planted in 1768! It is a Black Hamburg grapevine that still produces edible grapes in the fall. Or, the La Parra Grande and the La Vina Grande, reputedly the largest grapevines in the world that grew in Santa Barbara, California.
What I followed up on was information about the Žametovka grapevine from Lent in Maribor (Slovenia), documented to be the oldest living grapevine in the world, shown below:¹

In 1972, Prof R. Erker, professor of dendrology in the Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources at the University of Ljubljana, determined that the Žametovka grapevine from Lent in Maribor was at least 375 years old.² The grapevine was cultivated by the Celts in the area of present-day Slovenia, even before the arrival of the Romans. In Jancis Robinson's book, Wine Grapes, the entry for Žametovka mentions that the grape is an ancient dark-skinned Slovenian variety used to make the local, tart wine called Cviček. This ancient vine yields approximately 77-121 pounds of grapes annually and makes about one hundred 25 cl (250 ml) bottles of wine.
In 2004, the Žametovka grapevine from Lent was included in the Guinness book of records.

References:
1. The photo is from the Gateway to Slovenia Site.
2. S. VRŠIČ, A. IVANČIČ, A.ŠUŠEK, B. ZAGRADIŠNIK, J. VALDHUBER, and M. ŠIŠKO, The World’s oldest living grapevine specimen and its genetic relationships, Vitis 50 (4), 167–171 (2011).
3. J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours, pg 1168, Allen Lane 2012 ISBN 978-1-846-14446-2.