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VINEYARD REVIVAL AT AVDAT
BOSTAN-TREE researchers are actively involved with the revival of the ancient viticulture in the Negev desert.
The earliest physical remnants of archaic wine culture in the Negev Highlands are winepresses that were discovered in a farmhouse in Avdat and dated to the 4th cent. CE through their identification with other artifacts found in their vicinity.
A bioinformatic analysis of the archaeological pips discovered in Avdat showed them to be 1200 years old. One of the pips possesses high degrees of genomic similarity with two grapes strains still in circulation, the native Greek black grape Syriki and its synonymous Lebanese equivalent Assouad Karech. The second pip shares a genetic affinity with a local white grape recently re-discovered and named Be’er (Hebrew for “water well”). The Be’er grapevine is recently identified as endemic to Israel and, per our comparative research, contains a second degree of genetic kinship with the “Dabouki” variety, another heritage grape cultivar that was commonly planted in the southwestern coastal plains, the western Negev, and the Judean foothills.
We recently sourced Dabouki vines along with Syriki grapes that we found growing wild near Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, and Be’er clones taken from in-situ feral specimens and propagated them in a nursery in southern Israel. In cooperation with the local municipalities, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the University of Haifa, in September 2023 we reintroduced 85 of these cultivars into the Negev Highlands, planting them in an experimental vineyard situated at the base of ancient Avdat.
The cultivars are being tended with modern agricultural methods and monitored for their responses to their ongoing revival process. The feral grapevines we recovered from the field and nursed back to productivity are a salient testimony of human-bio technological adaptability to climatic adversity.
