Travel Journal:

Test - The Carmel Winery, Yafour (Jaffa) & Independence Hall


The Carmel Winery, Yafour (Jaffa) &... 2006-12-27
 
The next morning, after stopping briefly at the shops again to get some clothes for our baggage-less comrades, we headed north to Yafour (Jaffa). Tel-Aviv started when a group of settlers moved a little south of the major trading port of Yafour to establish their own town. Tel-Aviv grew so rapidly that Yafour is now just a suburb of the city. This area is known for it's oranges (hence the name of those little red chocolates).

We visited the Carmel Winery which was established by the Rothschilds to assist the local area in building a sustainable economy. We toured through the underground storage vats and through the grounds which are dotted with old-school wine-making equipment. While it's nice to see the origins of the wine that I have seen on our family table almost every friday night, at the end of the day this is just another winery and being in an urban area doesn't really have that "remote" feel you notice in other wineries, it feels more like an industrial brewery. After our trip around the facility we popped into the most ornate tasting room I've ever seen... definately the highlight of the winery. We were offered both a white and a red to taste, neither of which were anything special, although their "sacremental" wine is sensational. Our winery guide mentioned "Sabra" as the best drink they make (it's a kind of Brandy I think), I bought some at the airport on the way home and she was right! Served ice cold & on the rocks the flavour makes you grin and you feel the warmth of it flow all the way through you.

After leaving the winery we took a walk around the area. The architecture & streetscape is so far from home, I found it really interesting just looking at the buildings.

We ended up at Independence Hall which is where Israel's independence was announced in 1948. Straight afterwards the combined armies of Israel's Arab neighbours invaded on 6 fronts at once. The nation had just been born, had only a fledgling military facing established forces and were able to repel the invaders.
 
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Brisbane Journal : Test - The Carmel Winery, Yafour (Jaffa) & Independence Hall Travel Photos
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