An exhibition on the subject of wine-making in Ancient Israel has been displayed in the Agur Winery during the recent Judean Hills Wine Route Festival (November 2007).

The excellence of the region's wines was renowned in ancient times throughout the Mediterranean and much further afield.

Evidence of the flourishing wine-making industry of the time can be seen in the remains of many wine-presses and other archaeological evidence uncovered in the Judean Hills area.

The area's terroir (local soil and climate conditions) is excellent for growing wine grapes, and indeed the area produces such high quality wines that many more vineyards have been planted in recent years. The many wineries, which have sprung up in the Judean Hills area in the past 10 years or so, co-operate in promoting public awareness of the fine wines of the region. In fact they are considered amongst the country's very best.

In past years the Judean Hills Wineries Association has annually held centralized festivities to market the wines produced by its members.

The owner/wine-maker of Agur Winery, Shuki Yashuv, combined his love of history and of wine in hosting the exhibition on wine production in ancient times.

An exhibition of this type is not a simple project, especially for a small winery with limited resources. To enable it to happen he managed to get together several enthusiastic people: Nimi Yaffe, head of the tourism and agriculture department of the Mate Yehuda local authority, recognized the potential. The Israel Wine Grape Board lent the exhibition "Vine and Wine in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel" for the duration of the festival. Professor Amos Hadass, curator of the exhibition, volunteered to give talks on the subject at the winery during the festival.

David Baram, general manager of the Wine Grape Board, says they are delighted with the opportunity to show their traveling exhibition in the framework of the festival. This region is recognized by the Board as having a very high potential in the country for increasing the production of quality wines. The co-operation of the region's wineries in promoting production and sales is a model to imitate in other regions.

The rich history of wine-making in Israel is an important aspect of the identity of the modern industry today. This exhibition helps to raise awareness of this tradition of thousands of years of excellence.

The Agur winery produces award winning red wines- KESSEM  ( classical blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot ) and SPECIAL RESERVE  ( 85% Cabernet Sauvignon).

All the winery’s vineyards are in the vicinity of the winery ,and the special vilification attention given to each single plot, creates one of the region’s most distinct and elegant wines.

The exhibition was produced by Kronenberg Publishing Co., which is about to publish Professors’ Amos Hadas’ book  “Vine and Wine in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel”.

Further details on the exhibition and the book are available through  kronenb@zahav.net.il

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