Page 155 - How It Works - Book Of Amazing Answers To Curious Questions, Volume 05-15

History

How was wine made

in Ancient Israel?

Thousands of grapes and a whole lot of manpower was needed to make
the Israelites’ favourite beverage

srael’s hot, sunny climate and mountainous ‘wine presses’ cut into the rocky ground for would be collected in leather bags called
landscape makes it the perfect place for fermentation. First, they were tipped into what wineskins or big jars called amphorae. These
Igrowing grapes. In ancient times, it was was called a ‘treading pool’ where vineyard were often coated with resin, which helped to
situated along a wine-trading route, which workers would tread on the grapes with their preserve the wine and gave it a woody fl avour.
brought winemaking knowledge and infl uence bare feet to crush them. The juice would then Olive oil was then poured on top of the wine to

to the area. People would drink about a litre of flow through a channel into a vat, where the prevent exposure to the air, and the jars were
wine a day, so knowing how to make lots of wine fermentation process would take place. sealed with more resin or clay. The wine would
fast was a very good skill to have. The yeast on the skin of the grapes would react be stored in cool, dark cellars for months or even
The ancient Israelites harvested the grapes at with the sugars in the juice and turn them into years, and eventually sold in Israeli markets or
the height of summer, and then brought them to alcohol. Once fermentation was over, the wine exported to foreign lands.

An ancient wine press Why do some
Many of these have been excavated in Israel,
which give us an idea as to how wine was made wines taste better
with age?
Vat Channel
Here the fermentation The juice from the Tannins are a group of molecules found in
process would take crushed grapes grape stems, skins and seeds that are
place, with the juice flowed through this produced by the grapevine to help defend

bubbling away for channel into the against hungry critters. They make unripe
several days. fermentation vats. grapes taste bitter, meaning that if
animals or people try to eat one, they’ll
soon be put off. Tannins also bind to the
proteins in your saliva that make it slimy,
Let's hope everyone washed leaving your mouth feeling dry. When wine
their feet beforehand
is first bottled, it will taste very bitter and

very dry.
However, over time small amounts of
oxygen leak through the cap and react
with the tannins. This changes their
molecular structure and means that they
will no longer bind to the salivary proteins.
Instead, they will linger pleasantly on your
gums, cheeks and tongue. As the wine
ages, it also becomes much less bitter.
The older the wine, the richer and more
complex it becomes. But beware – leave it
too long and its fruitiness will disappear
completely!

Jars
Once the bubbling
stopped, the wine
was poured into clay
jars like these and
sealed with olive oil,
clay or resin.

Rock © Tom/Art Agency; Prisma Bildagentur AG / Alamy
Treading pool Filter The limestone rock in
The grapes were poured into Dried shrubbery or other Israel is perfect for wine Tannins also affect the colour of wine. The older

a large pool, where they were plant fibres were used to presses, as it’s easy to cut they are, the deeper the colour
crushed under foot. filter the grape juice. and holds liquid well.

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