A 416-year-old wild grapevine in the mountains of eastern Tibet was recently acknowledged by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest living vine.

This Methuselah of grapevines was discovered in Zuoba Village, Tibet’s Zogang County, by mistake, during a survey of ancient and notable trees in Changdu city. Scientists from the Wood Science Research Laboratory at Southwest Forestry University in China later confirmed its impressive age (416 years) through ring analysis and physical measurements.

Reaching about eight metres high, with a ground girth of 209 centimetres and a trunk diameter of 67 centimetres, the new world’s oldest vine is an impressive-looking specimen. More impressive still is the fact that, while most vines rarely live beyond 50 years, 64 vines over a hundred years old have been identified in Zogang County. The region’s winemaking tradition stretches back more than 1,000 years, and there is something about the local environment that helps the plants thrive.

Finding a wild grapevine thriving in the mountains of Tibet, at an altitude of over 2,400 meters, is unexpected, but also a testament to nature’s resilience and patience.

Interestingly, the title of the oldest living grapevine still bearing fruit belonged to The Old Vine of Maribor, in Slovenia. It was estimated to be between 350 and 400 years old when studied in 1972, but its age was never accurately established, because its plinth was rotten.