Judean Hills and Flam Winery

The Judaean Hills is a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem and several other biblical cities are located. These mountains formed the heartland of the Kingdom of Judah, where the earliest Jewish settlements emerged.  The Judaean hills encompass Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah. The range forms a natural division between the coastal plains to the west and Gaza strip and the Jordan Rift Valley to the east. 

Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park is located in the heart of the Judean lowlands, a region of low hills covered with Mediterranean woodland mainly used for grazing, while the fertile soil that has collected in the valleys has been cultivated since ancient times.  

The national park is famed for the numerous and fascinating caves dug by its ancient inhabitants. These caves served many purposes – as quarries, cisterns, storerooms, tombs, storage chambers for produce and shelters for farm animals. Hewn caves are a common phenomenon in the lowlands because the rocks that make up the region are soft, light colored chalk that is easy to quarry.  The caves have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.

Inside the cave are several chambers of the oil production process, which was based on three phases: crushing, squeezing and collecting.  The first phase was to crush the olives using a crusher. The stone was held upright by an axis, which was connected to a long handle. The handle was pushed by human or donkey. The mashing stone rolled along a cavity on the circumference of the base, crushing the olives. The crushed olives would then be collected into a basket and then further processed by the oil press.

The Valley of Elah or Ella Valley best known as the place described in the Bible where the Israelites were encamped when David fought Goliath. Since the early 1970s, the valley has  contained a large satellite relay station, with an antenna farm containing some 120 satellite dishes. Today the valley is threatened by shale oil extraction though the Green Zionist Alliance is working to stop shale oil extraction in the region.

The site of the Emmaus Nicopolis church was the Roman name for one of the towns associated with the Emmaus of the New Testament, where Jesus is said to have appeared after his death and resurrection. Emmaus was the seat of the Roman Emmaus Nicopolis from the 3rd century CE until the conquest of Palestine by the Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate in 639. In the modern age, the site was the location of the Palestinian Arab village of Imwas, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, before its destruction in 1967. The site today is inside Canada Park and is cared for by a resident French Catholic community since 1993.

Israel Flam, chief winemaker for 35 years at one of Israel’s leading wineries, is regarded by many as the pioneer of Israeli modern winemaking. His oldest son Golan, was born in Stellenbosch, South Africa, where his destiny as a future winemaker was decided. His brother went on to study law and business administration. Along with their sister Gefen they were able combine their love of wine and business to create the successful FLAM winery.  

The vineyards at Flam Winery

Flam 2014 Merlot Reserve

View of the mosque in Abu Ghosh  where we stopped for lunch at a Lebanese restaurant