Today, we drove south from Tel Aviv and east through the Northern Negev desert to Tel Arad, where Yatir blends, ages and bottles their wines. Our gracious host took us on a surprise tour of the hills above Tel Arad, which contain the Yatir Forest, Yatir's vineyards and an ancient synagogue. This area borders the southern West Bank--just about 19 km south of Hebron. We had a lovely wine/cheese/bread picnic in the forest--the wine: Yatir's Viognier and the cheese: Israeli. Weather was perfect--beautiful! (OK, we did hear some F16's flying overhead, probably because of the Gaza situation, which is escalating....)
Yatir is a top winery in Israel--we think their Sauvignon Blanc is the best Israeli SB. Their reds are very smooth...yum! We still find it hard to believe there really is a winery this far south--and that it's one of the best in Israel, to boot.... Click here for more info. on Yatir Winery
Yatir Forest -- In 1964 the Jewish National Fund planted tens of thousands of trees in the barren lands just south of the Hebron/Judean hills on the edge of the Negev. Yatir forest is the largest of Israel’s planted forests and has pine trees, carob and pistachio. The forest was named for the biblical town of Yatir and is, from what we saw, the only greenery on these rolling limestone hills, which reach an altitude of some 700 meters (btw: the Dead Sea, which is about 425 meters below sea level, is not far away!).
Anim Synagogue -- Located in the Yatir Forest. Founded 4th C CE and abandoned 7-8th C CE, encompassing the Roman to Byzantine eras. Anim was discovered during a 1987 excavation and has a rectangular prayer hall facing towards Jerusalem. In the 7-8th C CE, it became a mosque. Next to the synagogue was an underground "house" which also had its own escape tunnel!
After wine tasting, we drove north to lunch at Cramim, which is located at Moshav Segula and is just off of the main highway between Beersheva and Tel Aviv. It's a very good restaurant we've been to several times and is located in the midst of an agricultural area.
Fabulous day!!!
Click here for pictures (BB quality, though; more may be added after this is posted)
No comments:
Post a Comment