The Binyamina Winery ( he, יקב בנימינה) is Israel's fifth largest, producing about 2.8 million bottles of wine annually.
History
The winery was founded in 1952 by Joseph Zeltzer as Eliaz Winery in the town of
Binyamina
Binyamina-Giv'at Ada ( he, בִּנְיָמִינָה-גִּבְעַת עָדָה) is a town in the Haifa District of Israel. It is the result of the 2003 merger between the two local councils of Binyamina and Giv'at Ada. In its population was . ...
.
In those early years it produced mostly sweet wines and table wines, although it was also known for producing liquors under the label ''Hard Nut'', named after Israeli prime minister
David Ben Gurion
David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the name ...
, who was a "hard nut to crack".
In 1994 it was purchased by a group of investors who renamed the winery and invested in new vineyards and technology.
In 2008 the winery was purchased by supermarket chain
Hatzi Hinam
Hatzi Hinam or Hetzi Hinam ( he, חצי חינם, ''lit.'' half-free, from , "very cheaply") is a supermarket chain in Israel. Founded in the early 1990s, the regional independent supermarket chain is headquartered in Holon, and has seven store ...
.
Wines
Binyamina's high-end wine label, Avnei Hachoshen, contains six wines. Each is names after one of the stones in the biblical
priestly breastplate, called hachoshen in Hebrew.
The Tiltan label, named after the Hebrew word for a
clover
Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...
(which contains three leaves), contains wines which use grapes from three different vintages.
References
{{reflist
External links
Winery homepage
Wineries of Israel