Archaeologists have excavated the first, and what they believe is the oldest, industrial wine press in northern Mesopotamia. It dates back more than 2,700 years and coincides with a sharp rise in wine demand among the ruling imperial elites of Assyria.

One of the world’s earliest empires, Assyria was located in the northern part of Mesopotamia, most of modern-day Iraq, as well as parts of Iran, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey...