- Title: ISRAEL/WEST BANK: Israeli winemakers grow grapes on ancient terraces in desert
- Date: 1st August 2002
- Summary: (LIFE!1) KARMEI AVDAT, ISRAEL (RECENT - AUGUST 2002) (REUTERS) SCU BUNCHES OF PURPLE GRAPES HANGING FROM VINE LA TWO BIRDS SITTING ON PERCH AND CHIRPING CU BUSH WITH PURPLE FLOWERS PAN OF DESERT RIVERBED WHERE VINES ARE GROWN AT LOWEST POINT LV CAMELS INSIDE PEN SLV ARAB WOMAN WORKING IN VINEYARD WITH CHILD CARRYING BUCKET LA MEN DUMPING BUNCHES OF GRAPES FROM ONE CONTAIN
- Embargoed: 16th August 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KARMEI AVDAT, ISRAEL/ BARKAN, WEST BANK
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Business,Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA12SQ1XB2T5ZZKSJLU2HHYC7PQ
- Story Text: In a twist on the saying "Old wine into new bottles,"
Israeli winemakers are growing grapes on the ancient terraces of Arab traders who 1500 years ago refreshed themselves from the desert heat with goblets of wine pressed from grapes grown on sand.
In the parched hollows between the dunes of the Negev desert in southern Israel, winemakers have begun growing grapes on the terraces of Nabatean traders who plied the Spice Route some 1500 years ago.
They mean to create a paradise from these scorched hills where long-ago Arab merchants made camp as they moved their goods from the Far East to the shores of Europe.
Built on the ruins of an ancient Nabatean vineyard, this place, now called Karmei Avdat, takes its name from Avdat, the ancient Nabatean caravan city nearby that flourished here in the Byzantine period Avdat, one of the desert kingdom's main cities along with the red-stone city of Petra in Jordan, stopped bottling wines when the Arab conquest brought Islam and its ban on alcohol.
Now, a bunch of Israeli farmers are trying to forge a modern wine route along the lines of the Loire and Napa valleys by renewing the spot's tradition of grape cultivation after more than a millennium.
They hope Israel's long-held dream to make the desert bloom will come true here in a new vineyard of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
"This farm is, we are located (on) an ancient Nabatean farm and we actually planted the modern winery on the ancient terraces of the Nabateans, so in winter when there is rain everything is flashflooding here and the grapes, the vines, are getting the water from the ancient systems, and it's not enough for modern agriculture so we irrigate with modern methods so it's a combination between the two methods," grape grower, Eyal Izrael.
These vines are watered by a modern drip irrigation system complete with computerised taps and fertiliser dispensers, plus a Nabatean network of rock barriers along the valley bed that hold the water and the sand from slipping away from the vines during the brief rainy season.
Karmei Avdat's first harvest still lies ahead.
"Some of them don't taste good, some of them are good.
Like for instance the green ones down there they have like a sour taste and these are sweet, that we pick here," says Havana Bat-Israel, who works in the vineyard.
For the time being, Karmei Avdat and three other desert vineyards that have sprung up amidst the Negev's scattered Bedouin encampments sell their grapes to Israeli winemaker Barkan.
Those grapes have been mixed into several white and red wine brands marketed in the United States and Europe, though Barkan now offers a Pinot Noir from 2000 made entirely from a desert harvest.
Israelis usually drink well-known local wines from the Golan Heights or the northern Galilee, but vintners at Barkan suggest that desert wines may be even healthier than ordinary ones, since high temperatures during the day increase production of compounds in grapes that help break down so-called bad cholesterol.
Winemakers at Barkan also think the Spice Route grapes add a special flavour to the wine.
"We found that the mallow coming from the desert, from Mitzpeh Ramon, adds some spice that is missing in other vineyards in the north for example -- some extra pepper and extra savory that we can't find in other vineyards," says viticulturist Itay Lahat.
The isolation of the desert vineyards from cities or farmland adds another hidden benefit -- a general lack of pests that reduces the need for pesticides.
As long as a crucial supply of fresh, or even recycled water, is available, growing grapes in the desert's extreme climate could prove a successful venture. For the Nabateans, at least, the idea was intoxicating. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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