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Binyaminah Winecellars Visitors Center
Tamar Wisemon
(February 14, 2000) A heavy metal door slides shut behind us, and we shiver slightly in the chilly confines of a state-of-the-art winecellar, heavy with the smell of damp wood.
Binyaminah's prestige wines, including cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, are aging in French and American oak barrels stacked on metal racks. In the next cellar, we are dwarfed by enormous 7,500-liter (1,900-gallon) barrels, which were constructed on the spot almost half a century ago simply because they would never fit through the door.In contrast to the functional, modern winery, the elegant, chateau-like visitors center was built in 1925 by Baron de Rothschild as a perfumery. All that remains of this failed enterprise is one tiny vial of perfume in the local museum. After a stint as a Haganah training camp, the abandoned building was converted into the Eliaz Winery (named after the then-owner�s son, Eliezer, who fell in the War of Independence). In 1992, a trio of Israeli-Californian movie-producers purchased the company and set about reestablishing it as a small, private, quality winery.
Our tour ends with a brief lesson in the fine art of wine-tasting, given by Aviram, a knowledgeable twenty-something who acquired his taste for wine during a post-army trip to Australia. Though not a caf�, the wine bar will provide a dairy meal if given advance notice, and the spacious rooms, scattered with period furniture and heavy wooden tables, are also available for gourmet affairs at 45-220 shekels ($11-$54) a head.
Hanassi Street, Binyaminah Tel.: (06) 628-8042 Open: Sun-Thurs: 8:30 a.m. - 5p.m.Fri: 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.Cost: Adults, 12 shekels children, 7 shekels
Good Taste
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