|
The wine industry in Eretz Israel was renowned throughout the ancient world and large quantities of fine wine were transported to the Far East and all over the Mediterranean. Local winemaking reached its peak in the Byzantine period and extensive industrial facilities from that time have been discovered in archeological sites in numerous locations in Eretz Israel, from the Golan Heights and the Galilee to the Judean hills and Samaria, as well as in the Coastal Plain and the Negev Desert mountains. The wine industry gradually came to a halt and became limited to home production among Christians and Jews when Muslims, who were forbidden to drink wine, conquered Eretz Israel. The wine industry gradually resumed in the first half of the 19th century as the Christian and Jewish populations in Eretz Israel grew. Sarona Winery, Tel-Aviv - The Sarona colony was founded four kilometers north of Jaffa in 1871 by Templers who came to Eretz Israel from southern Germany and worked as farmers. One of the key focuses was growing grapes for wine, which they produced in their homes and sent to Germany, where it sold successfully, labeled as “Wine from the Holy Land”. The first winery building was built in the colony in 1891, with a second building added ten years later. The wine produced in Sarona competed with that made by the Baron de Rothschild in Rishon Lezion and Zichron Yaakov, and some was even kosher, for sale to Jewish communities. After WWI, wine production decreased and was replaced mostly by orange orchards. The winery building served at various times for alcohol production and as a printing house, until the Templers were expelled from Eretz Israel during WWII. The stamp features a bottle of wine with the Sarona Winery label, with the original winery building, the eastern of two winery buildings located in the Sarona area in Tel Aviv, in the background. To all philatelic items issued on December 2023
|