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Archaeologists have uncovered a winery in the town of Yavne, south of Tel Aviv, with five presses, four warehouses for maturing and bottling, and kilns for amphorae for storing wine. It dates from the fourth to fifth centuries AD, i.e. from the Byzantine period. According to calculations by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), this wine factory could produce two million litres per year, making it the largest known winery from this period.
Each wine press covered an area of 225 square metres with a tread floor on which the grapes were crushed with the feet, as well as containers for fermentation and storage.
Excavation supervisors Dr Elie Haddad, Liat Nadav-Ziv and Dr Jon Seligman were surprised to discover "such a sophisticated factory here where wine was produced in commercial quantities. Moreover, decorative niches in the shape of a shell that adorned the wine presses indicate the great wealth of the factory owners". The "Gaza and Ashkelon wine" from the Holy Land was considered to be of particularly high quality and was shipped from these two ports to the entire Mediterranean region. Remains of even older wine presses have also been found, dating back some 2,300 years. The site is to be preserved as an archaeological park and made accessible to visitors.
(al / Source: drinksbusiness; Photo: Assaf Peretz/Israel Antiquities Authority)