HAIFA, ISRAEL—Assaf Yasur-Landau of the University of Haifa, Eric Cline of George Washington University, and Andrew Koh of Brandeis University think there may have been a winery during the Middle Bronze Age at the Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri. Analysis of residues from the jars discovered in four storerooms at the site revealed that the wine had been mixed with different flavorings, such as terebinth resin, cedar oil, honey, and other plant extracts. “It seems that some of the new storerooms were used for mixing wines with various flavorings and for storing empty jars for filling with the mixed wine. We are starting to think that the palace did not just have storerooms for finished produce, but also had a winery where wine was prepared for consumption,” Yasur-Landau said in a press release. Tel Kabri has also yielded select parts of sheep and goats, suggesting that the rulers who lived there put on luxurious banquets. “In this period it was not normal practice to mix wine beforehand. Accordingly, in order to provide guests with high-quality wines, the palace itself must have had a winery where they made prestigious wine and served it immediately to guests,” Yasur-Landau explained. To read about another major excavation in Israel, go to "Excavating Tel Kadesh."
