Our Fall Wine Harvest post from yesterday got us thinking about not only the harvest from this year, but harvests from years past as well. That’s right, we’re talking vintage harvests. That led us to the Library of Congress, where after getting lost in millions of pictures, we discovered images from the 1939 harvest at Israel’s famed Carmel Winery and we knew we had to share them, especially since today is the start of the Jewish harvest festival Sukkot.
The winery, which was established in 1882 by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, the same Rothschild who owned Chateau Lafite, was the standard-bearer of the Israeli wine industry for decades. In its early years the wine was exported throughout the world under the Palwin label, an acronym for the Palestine Wine Company, but the name changed to Carmel after the establishment of the state of Israel, retaining the Palwin name only for the exported kosher kiddush wine the company continued to produce and which is still drunk by London’s Jewish community.
Carmel’s one of the first agricultural organizations that helped to “make the desert bloom” and it’s still in operation today. These beautiful images tell the step-by-step story of a typical day of harvest at Carmel.
A Group Of Volunteer Grape Pickers Hand Pick Grapes In The Vineyard
The Grapes Are Then Collected And Sorted Into Large Baskets
After Being Collected, The Grapes Are Brought To The Crusher
Following The Crush, The Juice, Which Will Become Wine, Is Pressed Out Of The Skins
The Leftover Grape Stems And Seeds Are Then Discarded
Before Fermentation, The Fresh Juice Is Strainined
The Juice Is Then Pumped Into Large Oak Barrels To Begin Fermentation And Its Journey To Wine
The Entire Time A Rabbi Looks On, Making Sure The Process Is Kosher
