Propagating Terroir Revival in the Negev: How the Wine Industry Can Amplify Its Resilience to Climate Adversity through a Deeper Understanding of Historic Dryland Viticulture

Abstract

Based on an examination of the outlooks and practices held by past and present Negev desert viticulturists vis-à-vis their environs, the article offers insights into how the wine sector can bolster its response to current climate adversity. The discussion fuses bio-archaeological research on the evolution of ancient grape cultivars (Vitis vinifera) in the Negev with an extensive ethnographic inquiry into the ongoing wine revival in arid southern Israel. Ancient DNA analysis of relic grape material led to the identification of an historical Negev viticulture lineage. The findings provide a temporal framework for contextualizing tphe interrelated anthropological data obtained on contemporary dryland viticulturalists and wine makers in Israel. Since the climate in the Negev has remained relatively stable over the last several millennia, it makes for an apt point of comparison via which to gauge the outlooks held by both historical and modern viticulturalists towards the local landscape. We suggest enacting two evidence-based adjustments to counter ecological instabilities: the holistic revival and applied renewal of historical cultivars, and the attendant agronomic routines that sustained their growth in the past. A more nuanced understanding of the unique terroir arid viticulturalists are operating in, together with the learned incorporation of the hardy genetic traits of age-old cultivars, will benefit wine growers to attune their responses to the array of challenges wrought by climate change on the wine industry. It is therefore our hope that the research methodologies and heritage-oriented horticultural perspectives we present in this paper will prove beneficial to broader wine growing regions (pax-Mediterranean and beyond) who are fortunate to likewise possess their own rich viticultural histories and lineages.

1. Introduction: Rising Temperatures Are Disrupting the Global Wine Industry

Vineyards are a long-term investment, and grapes are planted with the future in mind. Familial and regional cultural economies attached to grape growing and wine production regularly endure across multiple generations. Grapevines yield a perennial crop, with the first substantial harvest typically arriving approximately three years after planting. Afterwards, it takes several additional seasons before the grapes become suitable for winemaking [1]. Thus, a basic prerequisite for viticulture is regional peace and political stability. Stable climatic conditions are likewise essential, as grapes are among the crops most sensitive to the worsening ecological instability linked to planetary heating and associated environmental degeneration [2]. Achieving a pleasant taste profile necessitates a delicate equilibrium of sugar, acidity, and tannins. However, the need for this balance also renders wine susceptible to climate variations, as grapes rely on sunlight for sugar maturation, adequate water to develop acidity, and extended sun exposure to accelerate tannin development.

Lately, the effects of global warming, including recent increases in European temperatures, along with early frosts, heavy rainfalls, and drought, have lowered the quality of wine grapes (e.g., color, aroma, and sugar levels), altering their distinctive traits and harming the known properties and traditional yields of certain varieties [3,4,5,6,7]. With 165 million hectoliters, or 64%, of the world wine production occurring in Europe in some 2.2 million vineyard holdings that generate $159.2 billion dollars of annual revenue, wine is the largest EU agri-food sector in terms of exports [8]. However, this industry is under imminent threat, as assessments suggest that a 2 °C rise in average temperatures will have a substantial adverse impact on grapevines in over half of the tra`ditional wine-producing regions across the continent [9]. Since the more arid and generally warmer eastern Mediterranean regions possess rich viticultural histories, they offer researchers in situ opportunities to derive knowledge from their past that may be implied within contemporary viti-circumstances that are being subjected to encroaching desertification. For instance, one potential action that wine manufactures from ‘northern’ areas can pursue in response to the predicaments posed by global warming is to expand grape cultivar diversity to include arid-resistant ‘southern’ varieties [10]. The path forward in achieving this intervention calls for concerted efforts to search for, identify, and preserve the applied methods and bio-archaeological materials tied to the archaic viticulture industries that once flourished in arid habitats.

To this point, our paper considers ways to support the wine sector as it contends with current climate and habitat pressures. We present insights garnered from an examination of the outlooks and practices held by past and present Negev desert viticulturists vis-à-vis their surroundings. The discussion fuses bio-archaeological research on the evolution of ancient grape cultivars (Vitis vinifera) in the arid lands of southern Israel with a decade-long ethnographic inquiry into the ongoing wine revival in the Negev. The bio-archeological research was supported by an ancient DNA analysis of relic grape material that led to the identification of a longstanding historical Negev viticulture lineage. The archaeological inquiries provided a historical (temporal) framework, while the interrelated anthropological data furnished primary knowledge of contemporary wine growers and producers that we contextualized within a broader (spatial) survey of viticulture in the drylands of southern Israel. The results of our cross-disciplinary research indicate how, despite their remote, arid conditions, past farmers were able to leverage their collective knowledge of the weather patterns and seasonal cycles associated with the Negev desert terroir to successfully create an internationally renowned wine-based economy.

Findings from our anthro-archaeological, spatial–temporal research on endemic grape cultivars suggest that historical farmers paid keen regard to the natural environment. The intergenerational transferal of their accumulated familiarity enabled historical dryland viticulture to prosper, and the revival of some of this knowledge may prove critical to grape growers who are contending with an ongoing increase in annual mean temperatures.

Since research suggests that the Negev desert climate has remained fairly unchanged in the last several thousand years [11], it makes an apt point of comparison both for gauging the outlooks historical and modern viticulturalists held towards the arid landscape, and for suggesting two core evidence-based adjustments that dryland viticulturalists can favorably adopt to counter ecological instabilities: namely, the revival of and learned, modern-day incorporation of historical cultivars, and the applied renewal of the agronomic attitudes and conventions that sustained their growth in the past. While these steps are aimed at wine growers in the arid Negev, they can be implemented in other increasingly warming viticulture landscapes across Europe to strengthen the response farmers are having to their changing environs resulting from the environmental challenges posed by climate change to the wine industry.

2. Applying Bio-Archaeology and Paleogenetics to Learn about Past Viticulture in Arid Environments

Our study concentrates on dryland viticulture in the arid central Negev Highlands (elev. 700–900 m) and is based on a combination of research methodologies. Fusing multidisciplinary input from bio-archaeological fieldwork, genetic analytics, historical inquiry, and ethnographic surveys, we collected, collated, processed and evaluated diverse data sources. Archaic farmers left few written depictions of their quotidian life routines. Therefore, there often only exists second-hand information on the practicalities of past horticultural activities, making it difficult to fully ascertain the specifics of ancient daily farming procedures and even harder to know which precise varieties were cultivated. In the Negev, however, the remote setting and consistent arid climate support healthy archaeological preservation of both constructed and biological material. Indeed, in the past few decades, archaeologists working in the region have discovered the remains of what were once flourishing Roman-Byzantine (3rd–7th centuries CE) vineyards and their associated remnants including wine pressing facilities, storage rooms, watch towers, dovecotes [12,13,14,15,16,17]. Excavating within these contexts, as well as in urban trash mounds in and around adjacent sites [18,19,20] yielded thousands of grape pips, some of which were exceptionally preserved and enabled us to perform detailed ancient DNA analyses [21,22].

While the roots of Negev viticulture appeared in Roman times, during the 1st–2nd centuries CE, the subsequent Byzantine occupants were heavily involved with this enterprise [14]. Between approximately the 3rd–7th centuries CE, six towns and hundreds of farmsteads made up the Byzantine era settlement of the Negev that, at its height, sustained what scholars [23] estimate to be 75,000 residents who cultivated nearly 25,000 dunam (6177 acre) of vineyards [21]. Possessing an exceptionally prolific social and horticultural history, the arid and marginal Negev desert acts as a depository for locating living endemic feral grapevines cultivars whose mere existence demonstrates their empirical resilience to the conditions found in this extreme habitat. To wit, while conducting a fieldwork survey in the greater Negev, we retrieved two types of endemic grapevines that were found growing amid the ancient agricultural plots located within our research area (Figure 1). We propagated cuttings from the feral cultivars and closely monitored them at a dedicated nursery, especially focusing on discovering the nuances of their growth cycles. We likewise compared the genetic makeup of the feral grape samples with the genetic readings obtained from the ancient grape pips and data on modern grapevines available from open-access genetic libraries. The relationship of the findings with contemporary Negev viticulture is discussed below.

3. Fusing Bio-Archeology with Ethnography to Trace the Historical Viticulture Continuum from the Past to the Present

Venturing deeper into the praxis of past-cum-present Negev viticulture, between 2019 and 2023, we conducted a dozen semi-structured ethnographic interviews with longstanding locals who in the recent past were engaged in dryland agriculture in the Negev. Elderly members of kibbutzim and moshavim (two types of communal villages in Israel) who have resided in the area since the 1940s to 1950s were a primary source of information on 20th century grape growing. Employing a snowball sampling recruitment technique to attain access to these individuals, our interviews occurred while on field outings undertaken throughout the different seasons of the year. While on these trips, our informants recounted dryland horticultural exploits and conventions that they were involved in during the 1950s through the 1970s. They likewise guided us to the spots near their homes where we observed the remains of agricultural and settlement activity from the late Ottoman (late 19th–early 20th centuries) and British Mandate (1918–1948) eras, that frequently were built on the ruins of even earlier farming installations and orchards [24,25]. Encountering fragments of ancient farming structures still intact, we discussed how earlier horticultural systems might have once functioned. To ensure the veracity of what was related to us in the field, we cross-referenced our ethnographic data with both current and historical reference material.

Expanding on these understandings, we explored Negev viticulture in the present moment and, over the last decade, we have conducted an ethnography of vineyards and wineries in the Negev Highlands. One of the authors (JS) is a founding member of the Kerem Ramon vineyard collective and so was able to ascertain a first-hand impression for the nascent development of modern-day grape growing in the Negev. Established in 2010 by a consortium of 14 resident families, the 450 dunam (110 acre) vineyard is the largest in the Negev, whose annual grape output fills an estimated 200,000 bottles of wine. Extensive, multi-year participant-observation fieldwork at Kerem Ramon and other Negev Highland vineyards led to an insightful appreciation of the evolving Negev wine revival and its potential socioeconomic implications for dryland viniculture in other regions. Partaking in diverse year-round vineyard related activities, during our fieldwork, we assisted with plot care and maintenance, grape harvesting, winemaking, tasting experiments, stakeholder meetings, website and label design, marketing schemes, tourism promotion, and public outreach. Complemented by our bio-archaeological findings and a historical appreciation of Negev viticulture across the millennium [26], the hands-on ethnographic fieldwork among Negev viticulturalists afforded concrete opportunities to witness, engage in, and reflect on the assortment of daily and seasonal dilemmas, choices, challenges, and triumphs embodying the advancement of Negev viticulture. These insights led to an empirical appreciation for how contemporary Negev grape growers and vintners are contending with both the arid environment as well as the business and marketing aspects of the vine and wine industry.

To broaden our on-the-ground inquiries, we consulted with numerous local and national government representatives, particularly agricultural, tourism, policy, and rural development officials who, either directly or indirectly, are affiliated with the Negev grape and wine industries. We also spoke with grape growers, winemakers, writers, critics, educators, scientists, and other industry professionals both from across the country and abroad. Conversations were often held in situ, at vineyards and wineries, or at wine trade shows, festivals, and confabs, or else via accumulative digital correspondence. Our exchanges touched on the motivations for growing grapes in the remote Negev, the current state-of-the-art for arid land viticulture, the adaptive cultivation strategies employed (or not) within this framework, the quality of Negev wines, and the present and future socioeconomic, national, and international significance of the Negev wine revival. The combined data gave form to a colorful narrative on emerging Negev viticulture, an endeavor that remarkably transpired in a single geographic habitat but across successive historical periods and varying socioeconomic circumstances.

4. Negev Highlands Viticulture in the Past

The following section discusses the history of Negev Highland viticulture, depicting the means and methods applied by historical resident farmers to cultivate grapes in the peripheral drylands of the southern Levant. As an essential fruit crop, grapes have earned a distinctive social, spiritual, and economic status, and vineyards and wine production facilities have literally shaped the geographical landscape. Similarly, wine grapes are ingrained within local cultural and commercial histories, both real and mythologized, shaping the collective imagination of localized communities [27]. Archaic modes of viticulture were preconditioned on the ability of farmers to harness and leverage the limited resources found in their immediate surroundings. Centuries of human–nature agronomic intercourse has been sustained by innovative water harvesting for irrigation, soil fertigation, and maintaining cultivar biodiversity. Potent systems of food and wine production have fed regional markets and generated complex exchange systems, especially in potentially vulnerable outlier settlements on the margins of the ancient empires (e.g., in Libya, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Italy and the hinterland of Rome, southern Spain, and central Asia) [28,29,30].

In 106 CE, the Nabatean caravanserai settlements that were situated deep in the Negev Highlands, and for several centuries had helped to facilitate a lucrative trade route connecting Arabia with the Mediterranean coast, were incorporated into the Roman Empire. The merger spawned a steady influx of Roman military personnel into the region who brought with them a culture of wine drinking supported by novel agri-tech knowledge and capabilities [15]. In the subsequent centuries, the Negev experienced a shift away from being a commercial economy based on the trade of high-end goods to one centered on the export of products derived from local agricultural yields, first and foremost wine [17]. For some 300 years, grape-growing and wine making and trading were the main occupations of the residents living in the Byzantine Negev agricultural settlements.

In late antiquity, local heirloom grape varieties were selected based on their capacity to acclimate to the prevailing environmental conditions, withstand unchecked diseases and, in arid areas, persevere against limited access to water. Certain grape cultivars were cultivated across successive generations and commanded high economic value. Like other manner of endemic cultivars, acclaimed grapevines spawned rich varietal lineages that were singled out for breeding and accordingly preserved over the centuries [22]. The consistent perseverance of generations of Negev farmers was rewarded with a well-honed familiarity with the arid terrain, knowledge that they applied to cultivate, clone, and graft robust, drought-resistant plants and so safeguard their socio-economic continuity [31]. The grapes cultivated in the Negev were praised for their white clarity and aromatic sweetness [32]. The wine they produced bestowed prestige on their place of origin and distinguished the Negev Highlands as a unique geographical wine appellation of international repute.

Dryland farmers in the Byzantine Negev Highlands developed habitat-specific routines for cultivating their vineyards. For instance, the major source for fresh water came from flood water harvesting that was achieved by channeling seasonal rainstorm run-off down the hill slopes and into the agricultural plots below. For this reason, Negev viticulturalists primarily planted grapes in terraced plots that were situated in dry riverbeds, buttressed with stone walls and dammed with rocks. The seasonal flood water that collected along the valley floors gradually seeped beneath the hardened loamy surface where it remained trapped in underground limestone aquifers several meters beneath the ground. Over time, the grape cultivars used by the Byzantine dryland farmers developed deep root systems and could tap into the available subterranean water sources. Moreover, mindful of the need to supplement the micronutrient deficient soil, in tandem to planting their vineyards, Negev farmers erected dovecotes that could house hundreds of pigeons who generated organic guano fertilizer [12,33].

By the 3rd century CE, Roman-Byzantine viticulture overtook aromatics, the chief product of the Nabateans, as the central economic driver in the Negev [34]. The principal item in the Byzantine Negev wine industry was “Gaza” or “Askelon” wine (Vinum Gazetum), named for the historic ports from where it was shipped abroad in ceramic jars eponymously named Gaza wine amphorae (in particular, the Late Roman Amphora type 4) [35]. Between the mid-fourth to late sixth century CE, the Negev wine trade evolved into an empire-wide commercial enterprise. The focal role that viticulture and wine production played in Byzantine Negev economics is supported by an abundance of archaeological evidence. Two instances include the profuse grapevine pollen from that period that has been found in multiple agricultural contexts, and an abundance of grape twigs that have been found in the dovecote towers of some sites [16,36].

Examples of archaeological and historical material provide abundant and detailed data for reconstructing viticulture and winemaking in the Byzantine Negev. The earliest physical remnants of archaic wine culture in the Negev Highlands are winepresses that were discovered in a farmhouse in Avdat and dated to the 4th century CE through their identification with other artifacts found in their vicinity (Figure 2) [37,38]. Additionally, grape seeds from Shivta (Figure 2) provide clear biological evidence of past viticulture activity in the Negev. Moreover, industrial wine presses were found in central locations in several Negev Byzantine towns, perhaps the most prominent among these being the well-preserved press and treading floors that were discovered adjacent to the acropolis of Avdat (Figure 2). Late Roman amphora 4 (‘Gaza jars’) were commonly used as transportation vessels for Gaza wine and have regularly been found in Negev middens and across numerous archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. One 6th century CE mosaic discovered during a dig at Kissufim near Gaza (Figure 2) depicts the overland transportation of Gaza jars, presumably filled with wine.

Additionally, diverse literary sources from the Negev also point to the significant economic scope of the Byzantine Negev wine market. The Nessana Papyri (Figure 2) (6th–7th centuries CE) provides specific information about vineyards around Nessana, including details on Byzantine viticulture and wine trade [39]. Monastic sources (4th–6th centuries CE) also mention the presence of monastery-controlled vineyards in the Negev and an associated winemaking enterprise, illustrating that vine cultivation was a well-practiced agricultural activity in this region [15,40].

Examining how this enterprise interacted with markets outside the Negev, contemporary scholarship indicates that by the late 5th century CE, Gaza wines were being exported from the ports of Gaza and Ashkelon across the Mediterranean, attaining an international reach and earning a global reputation [40,41]. Dispatched full of wine, with an estimated 25–30 L capacity [42], the Gaza amphorae were designed for both overland and sea transport. On land, they were moved via donkey and camel caravans, while at sea, they were shipped on sandy bottom boat hulls as a precaution against potential damage [35,43,44,45]. The exceptional sweetness of the wines enabled them to remain well-preserved over the course of the months it took to travel from origin to destination. Large numbers of Gaza jar remnants have been found at sites throughout the Mediterranean, in locations as diverse as France, Italy, Greece, North Africa. and Anatolia, as well as further inland in Germany, Switzerland. and Britain [35,40]. Using the proportionality of Gaza jar sherds as indices to gauge market share, Kingsley (2001) demonstrated that western European wine imports constituted >10% of total imports from the late 5th to mid-6th centuries CE. In this period, Gaza jars likewise made their way to the southern Sinai Desert, the Red Sea, and even as far as Qana in southern Arabia [35,44].

An analysis of the dispersal of Gaza jars suggests that the more general export markets in the Byzantine Empire initiated activity in the late 4th to early 5th centuries. This undertaking peaked in the 6th century and was followed by a detectable decline by the mid-7th century CE. This pattern correlates with the cycle of prosperity and abatement that typified the roughly three centuries of Byzantine Negev viticulture [14,23]. That is, Negev viticulture reached a commercial scale in the 4th to mid-6th centuries, peaked in the mid-6th century, and declined in the late 6th–7th centuries. Unprecedented evidence for the rise and fall of commercial-scale Negev viniculture emerged through the systematic analysis of grape-pip frequencies (~1500 identified pips) and ceramic data (>30,000 indicative ceramic sherds) recovered from the trash mounds of Elusa, Shivta, and Nitzana [19].

This chronology dovetails with other archaeological evidence suggesting a protracted settlement decline beginning in the late-6th century and so lends validity to a hypothesis that argues that this phenomenon was part of a wider Pan-Mediterranean economic crisis that unfolded in that era [14,17]. Initiating in the late 6th century, the ravaging effects on the population centers that resulted from the Justinian pandemic outbreak in 541 CE gravely impacted the urban centers in the eastern Mediterranean and contributed to the onset of an empire-wide drop in wine consumption that eventually trickled down to affect Negev viticulture exports. Later, the Islamic conquest (mid-7th century CE) further interrupted wine production and sales in the Negev that, being closely tied to Mediterranean markets, relied on regional political stability [17,41].

The downturn of the Byzantine-era Negev wine-based economy led to the unravelling of the tight connections the prosperous Negev wine traders had to international markets and the disbandment of the critical cultural and economic engagements that the wine economy had contributed to the Negev settlement project. Inherently vulnerable and dependent on access to external markets and outside subsidies, the marginal Negev settlements vastly declined during the 8th–10th centuries CE. Eventually, the towns and monasteries in this region were abandoned, and largescale native viticulture was suspended until modern times. While sporadic grape growing persisted throughout the area over the next millennium, as an entity, the Negev wine sector fell dormant, along with the renowned appellation it once sustained. Moreover, the hard-earned knowledge of the specific grape cultivars that the Byzantine era Negev farmers adapted to fit with the arid growing conditions, together with the place-specific horticultural proficiency used to grow them, was inadvertently lost. Hence, any attempts by contemporary actors to revive and restore the historic carrying capacity of this unique terroir should ensure the incorporation of the hardy endemic cultivars and mindful idiosyncratic practices archaic growers successfully employed to facilitate their growth and produce such widely reputable wines.

5. Negev Highlands Viticulture in the Present

After its decline in the 8th–10th centuries CE, the towns in the Negev Highlands were generally abandoned and the viticulture once practiced there was discontinued altogether in the ensuing centuries. As such, the vineyards that had once been at the center of a prosperous wine economy lay fallow for over a thousand years. However, following a 1200-year hiatus, at the dawn of the 21st century, the Negev Highlands experienced its first signs of a viticultural reawakening.

Beginning in the 1990s, over the last three decades, viticulture has mostly been reintroduced to the region within the framework of the Sfat Midbar project. A Hebrew double entendre meaning “the edge of the desert” and “the language of the desert”, Sfat Midbar is a government-endorsed development program centered on agritourism entrepreneurship and designed to reinforce settlement in the remote regions of southern Israel [46,47]. Strikingly, nearly all the individuals involved in these ventures are newcomers to the wine world. Many are patriotic and see the vineyards primarily as a means to an end for settling the Negev by establishing a Jewish presence in the region, rather than as a vehicle for concerted historical viticulture revival [48]. As such, contemporary Negev wine culture per se is an embryonic construct that yet lacks a clearly defined nuanced aesthetic or a recognizable commercial identity [49].

By and large, viticulturalists in the Negev Highlands appeal to the tastes of the mainstream global wine industry and cultivate classic European varietals. Based on our fieldwork observations, we estimate that currently, the nascent Negev wine sector contains some 20 vineyards (2250 dunam/550 acres under vine) and 10 wineries (550,000 bottles annually), a mere 10% of the yearly volume generated by the geographically synonymous Byzantine era dryland wine industry that operated in the same highland region [17]. This figure includes several large, commercial-size operations with 200 or more dunam (50 acre) under vine. Most of the work is conducted by hired laborers via mechanized means, often with the wine vinted on location. The remaining vineyards are smaller plots that are managed by their owners and seasonal teams of local and foreign workers who apply a mixture of machines and hands-on labor to tend the vines. The grapes are sold to a handful of regional wineries who produce small and medium wine batches, or else shipped to industrial facilities in the north of the country that offer winemaking services, bottling equipment, and tank space for rent.

For most of the individuals involved in the growing and selling of Negev wines, a sustainable informed relationship with the local environment is ancillary to the fulfillment of agricultural requisites deemed necessary to ensure the overall commercial success of their settlement enterprise (Figure 3). Having meager foreknowledge of Negev wine heritage and provided with broad agronomic counsel from advisors working for the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, vineyards in the Negev typically adhere to accepted mechanical and managerial practices, even at the expense of discounting available physical resources and inherent local climatic advantages such as maximizing sun exposure and capitalizing on wind and water flow. Thus, our observations in the vineyards in the Negev Highlands revealed that rows of vines are commonly arranged against, rather than with, the breeze, and there is no utilization or storage of rainwater. In fact, the opposite transpires. During our fieldwork among current-day Negev viticulturalists, we were told that rain is considered a burden rather than a blessing. As such, on the roughly dozen annual rainy days, grape growers open their irrigation taps to flush out the rainwater, thereby ensuring that the accumulated salts in the ground do not seep upwards and burn the plant roots [50,51].

In its quest to achieve mass production and eliminate human error, modern-day viticulture in the Negev relies on standard agricultural practices that incorporate precision technology and data-driven farm and factory automation [52]. For this reason, our informants suggested that although many of the larger vineyards in the Negev Highlands are located adjacent to dry river gullies, often in the vicinity of the earlier viticulture relics and ancient terraces, the presence of these artifacts is mostly overlooked or even considered to be a hindrance [51,53]. With limited prior experience in dryland viticulture, proprietors and their government advisors may sometimes alter the landscapes within their plots to fit with modern viti-concepts and designs and unconsciously damage in situ horticulture artefacts in the process. In one telling instance, in the years immediately following the establishment of a local vineyard, landscape alterations made to fit with a contemporary model led to soil erosion and triggered flooding. Recognizing his folly, the owner labored to reconstruct the ancient terrace system that he had previously torn down. While the vineyard continues to practice conventional irrigation methods, the restoration of the terraces had a healing effect on the general horticultural environment, helping to counter the potential adverse effects seasonal flooding can wreak on non-terraced riverbed vineyards.

British born Israeli wine writer Adam Montefiore contends that “if France and Italy are referred to as the Old World of winemaking and Chile and Australia are the New World, then Israel belongs to the Ancient World, where wine culture was born” [54]. This claim may explain why Negev viticulturalists adhere to European concepts and conventions, but regularly market their wines as possessing an affinity with an imagined desert viticultural history. This aesthetic is commonly featured on bottle labels and in other advertising materials of Negev wines. For instance, a drawing of a camel being led by a camel-herder is featured in the logo for a winery named “Nabato”, presumably suggestive of the historical presence of the Nabateans in the Negev. This branding is especially paradoxical as even though the Nabataean society did practice limited desert agriculture, at least initially, they eschewed wine drinking to the point that its consumption was punishable by death [55]. The scrambled use of old and new constructs likewise emerges in Nabato wines that are advertised as made from European varieties and aged in oak barrels, essential present-day winery practices that were not present in the archaic regional viticultural formats they mean to conjure. Similarly, the logos and labels of other Negev wineries (e.g., Porath, Shefa, and Mesquite wineries) feature emblematic desert images such as landscapes (terraces), fauna (ibex), and flora (a mesquite tree, native to the Sonoran Desert).As current modes of Negev grape cultivation and wine production lack accurate input from the past, the cultural inheritance of earlier Negev grape-growing and wine pursuits remains a conceptual rather than a practical paradigm. Consequently, twenty-first century Negev viticulturalists are producing wines from classic European grapes grown in a desert habitat, rather than crafting authentic dryland wines infused with the accumulated environmental acumen that fashioned the bio-cultural legacy of Negev viticulture . Indeed, beyond the realms of folkloric sales rhetoric and vague and or imprecise use of desert imagery, vineyard owners and their affiliated winemakers have yet to meaningfully leverage the physical advantages of their desert environs or coherently merge any of its rich agricultural traditions into their current ventures.

A similarly imprecise historical rendering typifies the narrative woven by affiliated tourism operators in their attempts to align contemporary Negev wine making with a presumed regional backstory. With the Negev sparsely inhabited for centuries and possessing few demonstratable bonds to Israelite wine heritage, it is difficult to pin a Jewish origin story on the ancient wine-centered settlement of the Negev [56]. Yet, “why let facts get in the way of a good story?” is a maxim frequently repeated by the cultural tourism operators who engage with visitors to the region. In tourism parlance, the history of the area is often attributed to Jewish or Biblical heritage, and “wine from the days of King Solomon and Jesus” has become a refrain applied by tour guides and policy agents when speaking of the resurgence of archaic Negev viticulture. Additionally, the story of the Negev is sometimes tied to the theories of initial archaeological surveys that, in the decades following the founding of the state, over-credited the role Nabatean traders presumably played in originating Negev viniculture [57,58]. Curiously, while the narratives popularized within the tourism and marketing realms are a known misreading of the data [59], by-and-large, the earlier glories of the Byzantine era wine appellation remain largely absent from modern Negev wine chronicles. Predisposed with ideological aspirations to settle the Negev and preoccupied with compelling economic and industry priorities, the current amorphous Negev-as-a-quaint-desert locale wine narrative could foreseeably gain greater cohesion by adhering to a more faithful rendering of its illustrious past [60,61].

These preliminary trends may be ascribed both to the general absence of practical reference points for actuating local dryland viticulture heritage within a modernized agricultural setting and the gnawing imperative of Israeli wine professionals to be accepted within Western-dominated hierarchal wine discourses [62]. Consequently, the ongoing trials to discover the strains that best respond to arid conditions as well as the Euro-minded orientation of Negev winemakers and, by association, their prospective consumers, give little thought to engaging with endemic varieties and the wine cultures they supported [61]. Yet, the arid Negev wine region is far from conventional and would go a long way towards valid self-definition, not to mention renewed acclaimed international recognition, by embracing its rich varietal heritage and the innovative culture it sustained [63,64].

6. Continuity and Change in Negev Highlands Terroir

Commonly associated with the notion of winescape complexity, the term terroir pertains to the idiosyncratic contributions that anthro-geographical habitats make to the particular character, taste, and quality of agricultural yields. Advocates of terroir regularly equate the flavor profiles of wine to certain geographically specific grape varieties. Certain geological features such as rock composition, prevailing weather conditions, and the procedures employed during the harvest and winemaking processes are posited as impacting upon the final product. Moreover, the terroir concept encompasses both intrinsic environmental components as well as fluid aspects of human agency stemming from the sociocultural outlooks and psychological conventions underlying the agronomic convictions held by the residents of a specific locality. For instance, a regional sense of history and place and a traditionally informed learned approach to winemaking are cultural derivatives that presumably find expression in the flavor compounds, colors, and aromas of certain regional wines [65]. Ultimately, it might be that the compendium of formative environmental and human input is what leads to the realization of terroir in wine, since taste draws its distinctions from the physical realm, while the societal recognition and presumed appreciation of wines are culturally determined [65,66]. Hence, Tim Patterson and John Buechsenstein [65] (p. 4) posit in their introductory theses on terroir: “Some hold that the concept is essentially spiritual, that reducing it to soil chemistry and climate charts is what’s wrong with the modern approach to winemaking and wine appreciation. Others believe that the emotional connection between a wine drinker, a place and its wines is more important than anything else. The notion of terroir clearly arose in a pre-scientific context” [67,68,69,70].

Yet, as an empirical entity, terroir also has its detractors. Some wine scientists even argue against its concrete existence, claiming that terroir is an invented multi-purpose construct created by sentimentalists, advertising executives, and political patrons [71,72]. Per this viewpoint, “many if not most of the standard depictions of this phenomenon…are worthy of skepticism—at least from the standpoint of modern science. Wine flavors and aromas, for example, do not come directly from the soil through passive plants” [65] (p. 5). Critics claim that the terroir construct is a commercial apparatus that emerged as a response to the French appellation regulations from the mid-20th century that promote distinction and competitiveness in the fine wine industry. Hence, wine marketers and consumers alike draw on terroir as a conduit to conjure place attachment, frequently of rural landscapes, that are imagined as outside the urban confines wherein most modern wine drinking occurs [73]. Aptly capturing the polysemic nature of this construct, American landscape architect Laurie Olin [74] (p. 3) observes that “despite a certain amount of wishful mumbo jumbo, there is a lot of truth to the notion that terroir shapes wine” [74].

To be sure, ancient terroir is no indication of quality, as wine is a complex entity with many stops on the way between the vineyard and the glass. Some argue that the identity of a winery (or its precursors) is “created inside the plants and berries and later during fermentation by yeast action. Vines remain mute as to their preference of whether they get their water through natural rainfall or drip irrigation, though they clearly respond to how much they get and when. And so, it is unreasonable to argue that Old World dirt is somehow inherently superior to New World dirt” [74] (p. 6). Accordingly, below is a brief description of how diverse terroir traits manifest within the current Negev wine dynamic.

As detailed earlier, when combined with generations of human ingenuity, the idiosyncratic physical features of the Negev Highlands, represented by a specific mix of climate, water, soil, topography, solar and wind exposure, cast this habitat as a distinctive wine growing region. The unique assemblage of elements—both nature and nurture, contrasting and complementary—imprint their mark on the grapes grown and consequently the resultant wines created within what can be termed as “Negev terroir”. Typified by limited rainfall, intense heat and infertile soil, much of the greater Negev terroir, and especially the Negev Highlands, lies outside the conventional viticulture distribution range. That is, wine grapes are traditionally cultivated within certain latitudinal bands, primarily between the 30th and 50th parallels in the northern hemisphere and the 30th and 45th parallels in the southern hemisphere [75]. The blossoming of vineyards in this presumably hostile terroir defies common agricultural wisdom, revealing a fascinating historical narrative of human–nature co-adaptation nurtured by acquired expertise and refined praxis (Figure 4).

Scholars suggest that past and present Negev Highland viticulture transpired within states of environmental and climatic continuity [11]. The physical attributes that supported regional dryland viticulture in the past have remained fairly constant over the centuries and continue to enable its current expression [76]. Then as now, several key physical determinants characterize the Negev Highland terroir. Being an average 800 m above sea level, the high-altitude and year-round clear skies (some 300 days per annum) combine with the clean dry air to permit intense solar radiation (12 UV) that lend vigor to the vines [77]. Varying diurnal temperatures help to balance the sugars and acids in the grapes and keep the plants cool in the morning following decreases in temperature during the night. The elevation and proximity to the adjacent Ramon Crater, a 450 m deep erosion cirque (40 × 8 kms) that flanks the southern border of the Negev Highlands, creates a north-south wind tunnel that blows through the area, particularly at sunset, curtailing the spread of fungus and disease while similarly cooling the fruit-laden plants in the summer heat [78]. Composed of loess/loamy sediments, when wet, the mineral-rich topsoil seizes up to form a clay-like surface that retains rainfall. Additionally, although average yearly rainfall is comparatively small, early morning mists are common, especially in the late summer and early fall, and act to lower the temperature around the plants, delaying ripening and enriching the aromatic compounds and acidity of the grapes.

Contending with a shared set of environmental conditions, for both historic and contemporary viticulturalists, the vegetative period of the grapes (February–April) regularly meant a dry period with sporadic and varying amounts of rainfall. In the Negev, seasonal change from winter to spring is typified by occasional heat and dust storms that originate from the Arabian and North African deserts and blow through the Negev Highlands, often causing leaf burn and/or covering the grapes in a fine dust. Sometimes, also, late season showers and flash flooding can occur and may cause damage to the growth and, more problematically, the ripening cycles of the grapes [79,80].

Key variances between past and present terroir usage relate to water sources, irrigation delivery, and nutrient enrichment. Levantine dryland grape cultivation demands that a would-be horticulturalist have access to at least 400 mm of water, much more than is provided by straightforward annual rainfall in the Negev Highlands (80~100 mm). As noted, archaic farmers resourcefully utilized run-off and flood-water agriculture to generate an ample water supply. By contrast, 21st century Negev vineyards are irrigated with manufactured water. In water-scarce Israel, major portions of the country’s water supply are sourced from desalinated Mediterranean seawater that is processed at coastal reverse osmosis plants, located far from the desert viticulture sites. To ensure that the grapes receive enough water at affordable prices, in 2010, the national government undertook the construction of an in situ industrial water supply system for the farms in the Negev Highlands. In conjunction with the Jewish National Fund (JNF), a prominent Jewish NGO focused on settlement and development in Israel, a wastewater treatment facility was built that converts pools of raw sewage from Mitzpe Ramon, the main town of the area (pop. 5500), into agricultural grade water. Irrigation from this source is achieved via rugged PVC tubing that is stretched along the vineyard rows and fitted with individual emitters. Water lines are positioned at the base of the vines and enclosed in sheets of reinforced white plastic to maintain low temperatures and prevent weeds from sprouting, while also helping to reduce vapor evaporation due to the intense sun (Figure 5). The reclaimed water is supplemented with chemical nutrients and conventional fertilizers that are dispensed throughout the growing season.

Even as agents of the Israel Ministries of Health and Agriculture and Rural Development regularly check the water content for acceptable purity levels, the treatment process is in a constant state of catch-up as new and unknown contaminants and pathogens are continuously introduced into the wastewater, and there are no standardized diagnostic techniques for precisely detecting and analyzing the extent that these compounds find their way into the soil and the plants. At present, it remains unknown what connotation this treated water source is imparting (over the long term) on the Negev ecosystem and its impact on the wines being produced there (in the near term and beyond) and if, in fact, there is a relationship between the two realms that is detectable in the wine, and by extension, human health [81,82].

Another major distinction between past and present viticulture eras concerns grape cultivars. In the past, Negev viticulturalists planted grapevines that evolved over time in relation to the demands placed on them by their bio-geographical surroundings. Known as landraces, these endemic varieties possessed distinct identities and extensive individual histories of origin and human selection for local adaptation. Associated with traditional farming regimes, autochthonous landraces, vines, and trees were especially compelling economic resources in marginal areas because of their dual potential to thrive in adverse natural surroundings while achieving yield stability over extended periods. In contrast, current-day Negev vineyards are stocked with well-known, noble European grapevine species that originate from outside the country and are normally grafted onto phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks. Yet, being attentive to global standards, Negev viticulturalists have thus far overlooked the potential for growing endemic grapes.

At present, it remains unclear to what degree the imported cultivars are a fitting long-term match with the physical conditions and environmental traits that characterize the arid Negev terroir. By and large, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc are less grown in the Negev than in other areas of Israel, with white grapes are so far proving more suitable than reds. Yet, both red and white grapes are readily found in contemporary Negev vineyards, with good reds including Syrah, Petit Verdot, Barbera, and Malbec, and whites including Chenin Blanc and French Colombard. Red wines made from grapes grown in the Negev tend to be full bodied and heavy in tannins, seem to age well, and have also proven excellent in the fortified wine category. White wines tend to be dry, acidic, and what might be described as crisp in a mineral sense, and often possess notable acidity and lingering flavors.

Indeed, there is a great deal of research taking place into specific varietal suitability. Essentially still in a trial-and-error stage, growers and vintners are configuring a typology for the cultivars and cultivation regimes that work best in the arid Negev conditions. For instance, a sampling of classic varietals, some 35 in all, were planted in a five dunam (1.2 acre) experimental plot at Kerem Ramon. Over a five-year period, the cultivars were monitored by researchers working with the Israel Ministry of Agriculture who applied metabolomics analysis and bioinformatic tools to examine plant physiology, metabolism morphology, and grape development in arid environments [83,84]. Evaluations of berry phenology data coupled with repeated blind tastings of small wine batches made from the different grapes found that the high desert climate especially favors certain white wine grapes that may experience early and short ripening phases but high sugar levels (e.g., Muscat of Alexanderia), or ones that develop well-balanced hexose/sucrose ratios that translate into crisp acidity in the resultant wines (e.g., Chenin Blanc) [78].

It might also be noted that, generally, alcohol content (expressed in vol%) in the wines produced in the Negev is similar to that produced in other winescapes. At least theoretically, the powerful UV radiation found in the local terroir could enable grapes in this environment to reach higher sugar levels than those grown in other, less solar intense areas. However, researchers have determined that the opposite is in fact the case [85]. At the beginning of the season, in many of the classic varieties, the sugar rates rise too quickly, before other flavor and aroma components reach their full expression. In many of the classic varieties and especially in red ones, the increase in sugar is inhibited by heat waves that can occur towards the end of winter season (February–March), and sporadically hit the Negev throughout the spring and summer. The sudden increase in temperatures, often accompanied by dry hot winds, tends to cause grape pips to dry out before the grapes are fully ripe. Moreover, in most of the varieties grown in the Negev, the pH levels rise too quickly and achieve rates that require acid correction in the winery, a condition that is not always possible without harming the sensory qualities of the wine [85].

While still in a stage of self-definition, the concept of heritage borne terroir as it is practically applied in Negev viticulture remains fairly illusive, currently providing momentary marketing-oriented value rather than a viable comprehensive horticultural framework. Nonetheless, the significant import of the inherent bio-physicalities connected with historical and contemporary Negev terroir, particularly in the context of the ancient vine and wine cultural traditions, holds great promise for the future of the wine industry both in Israel and beyond. The Negev terroir not only imbues its wines with a distinct character, but its learned renewal also offers insights and inspiration for modern viticulturists and winemakers at large, especially those facing increasing aridity issues. By emulating the adaptive ingenuity of their predecessors, the resurgent Negev wine sector can draw on a body of rich traditions to inform present and future sustainable practices and, in doing so, refine the contemporary expression of its product. Thus, in a broader sense, we argue that an evidence-based understanding of the grape varieties and practical environmental adaptations that for centuries sustained viticulture in this challenging ecosystem can provide important clues for the modern wine world in its pursuit of operative methods for bolstering resilience to climate adversity.

7. Discussion: The Future of Past Viticulture and the Merits of Reestablishing Historical Terroir in the Present

Having verified the profundity of historic Negev viticulture, its nascent expression in the current day, and the unique terroir that bore and continues to sustain this enterprise, we now consider the merits of fusing past horticultural knowledge and biological materials with present day efforts. Surely the historic longevity of the Negev wine locality forms a strong basis upon which to initiate the modern-day revival of this archaic appellation. It appears that the vineyard plots in the Negev during its peak years were substantially larger than what exists in this region today. Based on the number and size of winepresses found in the Negev, it can be estimated that the total quantity produced was 1200 cubic liters of wine per year [23]. This amount could fill about a million modern wine bottles (750 mL), or approximately 35,000 Gaza jars with an average volume of 35 L. In comparison, present-day grape farming in the Negev produces about half that amount per annum. Yet, researchers suggest that over the next few years, the application of data-laden automated technologies will lead to the production of significantly larger quantities of grapes than what traditional vine cultivation in the same land area once produced [86,87].

Integrating our multidisciplinary data sources and analytic perspectives through bio-archeology, history, and ethnography has furnished a more nuanced understanding of the grape cultivar propagation and winemaking continuum in the arid Negev Highlands of southern Israel. Meanwhile, a bioinformatic analysis of the archaeological pips discovered in Avdat showed them to be 1200 years old [21]. One of the pips possessed high degrees of genomic similarity with two grapes strains still in regional circulation, the native Greek black grape Syriki and its synonymous Lebanese equivalent Assouad Karech. The second pip shared a genetic affinity with a local white grape recently re-discovered and named Be’er (Hebrew for “water well”) [88]. These discoveries demonstrate the extent and persistence of the intergenerational cultivar diversity of locally adapted grape strains across the historical eastern Mediterranean. In other words, the results of the genetic assessment of the Avdat grape pips established that the grape varieties cultivated in the Negev during the Byzantine period were endemic eastern Mediterranean varieties that bore a distinction to western European varieties.

The Syriki is a red grape variety (Figure 6). Perhaps because it yields abundant fruit in large clusters, this grape continues to be grown in parts of the eastern Mediterranean [89,90]. The Syriki has a long history of wine production in Carthage and Cyprus and is used for producing high-quality red wine in Lebanon (e.g., at Chateau Kefraya in the west Bekaa valley). Several grapevines from this variety have survived in the southern coastal plains and western Negev, including places like Holot, Nitzanim, and Zikim. The Greek name “Syriki” likely preserves it geographical origin. The fertile Sorek valley (cf., Judges 17:4) runs westward, from the Judean Mountains, past the general vicinity of Yavne, where a recent archaeological survey uncovered what is thought to be the largest viticulture center in the ancient world, and into the Mediterranean [38]. To this day, the area contains profuse viticulture. It is possible that this is the biblical variety mentioned in Jacob’s blessing to Judah (Genesis 49:11): “Binding his foal unto the vine, And unto the choice vine [Sereka in Hebrew], the colt of his ass” [91,92]. In this and other biblical contexts (e.g., Isiah 5:3), sorek is used to reference a prized red grape variety [93]. Explaining the meaning of this phrase, the prominent medieval Jewish exegete, known by his Hebrew acronym Rashi (1040–1105 CE), interprets “sereka” to mean “a long branch [of grapevines]”, a concept that is seemingly related to “Aris” (Hebrew for “cradle”, cf. Song of Songs 1:16) [91]. In Mishnaic Hebrew, a bundle of trees is referred to as an aris and is analogous to a parallel Arabic term “Arisa” that denotes a row of grapevines that are trained into a bow-like structure, thus providing cover for the grape clusters. This method of cultivation is still common in various parts of the Mediterranean basin, particularly where rainfed viticulture occurs [94].

The Be’er is a grapevine variety with white grapes that yields relatively small clusters (Figure 6). The variety is named after an archaic mother vine that survived beside an Ottoman era well along the Mediterranean shoreline in the vicinity of Kibbutz Palmachim. The Be’er grapevine was recently identified as endemic to Israel and, per our comparative research, contains a second degree of genetic kinship with the “Dabouki” variety, another heritage grape cultivar that was commonly planted in the southwestern coastal plains, the western Negev, and the Judean foothills [21,24]. The cultural histories of the Be’er and Dabouki stretch from at least the Ottoman era, when they were widely planted throughout the region under various names, to their current revival by enterprising Israeli winemakers, such as MW Ido Levinson of Barkan Wineries, and Ari Erle, who works with the Dalton, Jezreel Valley, and Bat Shlomo wineries that market their wines as living heritage [24].

Guided by informants, we located Dabouki growing in the Nitzanim dunes where the northernmost section of the Negev meets the Mediterranean coastal plains. In the winter of 2023, we sourced the Dabouki vines, along with Syriki grapes that we found growing near Kibbutz Yad Mordechai and Be’er clones taken from in situ feral specimens, and replanted them in a nursery in southern Israel. In cooperation with several regional municipalities, including the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the University of Haifa, in September 2023, we reintroduced 85 of these formerly feral cultivars into the Negev Highlands, placing them in an educational vineyard situated at the base of Avdat (Figure 7). The vines were planted according to methods used in traditional vineyards in the region that are described in various historical sources (Rabbinic, Talmudic, and Roman). This included crop diversification, borders and paths that protect the vineyard against wind and animals, and various ways of plotting and planting and modes of training the vines (on the ground, known in Hebrew as Roglit; freestanding; on a grid or pergola; or grown on a variety of supporting trees (known in Hebrew as Aderet)) [24]. The cultivars are being tended with modern agricultural methods and monitored for their responses to their ongoing renewal process.

The feral grapevines we recovered from the field and nursed back to productivity are a salient testimony to human-bio technological adaptability to climatic adversity. The genetic affinity shared between the feral and the ancient varieties discovered at Avdat preserve an idiosyncratic genomic-cultural signature that is specific to the region and living proof of agronomic continuity across the centuries, providing a sound foundation for the continued revival of Negev viticulture.

8. Conclusions: Operative Suggestions for Reviving the Historic Negev AOC

The Israeli wine industry is distinguished by having a stake both in Old-World wine traditions and New-World technologically centered viniculture economics [95]. The revival of grapes that were cultivated for industry in the historic Negev and the contemporary re-establishment of the wine appellation that once supported this endeavor draw from this symbiotic complexity. The fusion serves to connect our scientific exploration of heritage grape revival with current-day viti-realms. The hardiness of the Negev wine grapes and their proven ability to adapt and thrive in parched climes are especially valuable traits in an era in which rising temperatures are set to severely disrupt traditional wine growing regimes [9,96]. Indeed, the approaching untenable temperature increase is leading contemporary vine growers and winemakers the world over to seek cultivars that possess proven resilience to heat and the associated effects of desertification. As determined by our research findings, the feral grapevine cultivars that we planted in the Avdat vineyard possess a traceable paleogenetic footprint with ancient local grape species that gained legendary status by, over time, acquiring an enduring resilience to their arid surroundings [21,22]. Thus, we suggest expanding the empirical Negev heritage vineyard concept currently unfolding at Avdat to include the use of autochthonic grapevine cultivars in additional Negev vineyards.

The suggested union of our insights on the hardy spatial–temporal continuum of Negev viticulture with emergent viticulture technologies points the way towards the systematic implementation of endemic grape cultivar renewal in the Negev and the accompanying restoration of the appellation where these celebrated grapes were once tended. That is, the learned revival of traditional Negev viticulture can include the recognized restoration of the Negev terroir as an Appellations d’Origine Controlée (AOC), an important wine-world designation that, in a manner reminiscent of the debate over the terroir concept, is sometimes questioned for its fundamental validity [97,98]. The advancement of these objectives can significantly contribute to the sustainable development of the outlying Negev while establishing a model methodology that may be reenacted in other similarly positioned longstanding wine regions.

Forming a deep-rooted temporal continuum across history and an implicit spatial connection through shared terroir, the merger of the ancient Negev wine industry with its budding modern progeny offers great potential. Documentation of the heritage wine-appellation revival will generate an exemplary methodology for addressing some of the acute climate challenges facing the wine industry at large. Moreover, the process holds particular significance for neighboring Mediterranean wine countries, many of whom presumably have their own local versions of defunct dryland wine appellations that are likely ripe for research motivated renewal.

In June 2023, we accompanied Christian Butzke, a Professor of Enology in the Department of Food Science and an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fellow at Purdue University, who was visiting Israel, to tour the unusual Negev vitiscape. Summing up the enormous potential contained in the revival of the historic Negev AOC, Butzke, who has past professional experience connecting between the realms of theoretical viticulture research and its practical application in the wine industry, remarked: “That’s exactly what the Israeli wine industry needs: becoming the gold standard for the native and authentic varieties that all modern viticulture is based upon. And your Negev terroir can act as ground zero for all climate changed based research and innovation, and startup generation” [99]. Coupling ancient genetics and a remarkable backstory with the present-day cutting-edge digitalized vineyard capabilities can surely lead to novel results, offering affiliated towns and local residents a broad spectrum of positive social, environmental and economic implications [100,101].

With these objectives in mind, we hereupon offer three operative suggestions wherein the contemporary Negev wine sector can benefit from actively reviving knowledge derived from its longstanding past.

• Integrate Ancient Agro-Technologies: One promising avenue for bridging the wine sector in the Negev with its historical roots is the integration of ancient agro-technologies. Techniques such as terracing, water harvesting, and organic soil improvement, once central to historical viticulture, can be revisited and adapted to modern contexts. These ancient agricultural methods offer solutions to contemporary challenges in regenerative agriculture, including sustainable land use, water conservation, soil improvement, and organic farming. By embracing these time-tested strategies, the wine industry in the Negev can authentically connect with its historical terroir while addressing current environmental concerns. While, to some degree, this is already taking place, Negev viticulturalists would greatly benefit from a cross of integrative research-informed guidance and real-world, experienced-based input from government and other industry agents [102].
• Revival of Historical Heirloom and Unique Landrace Cultivars: The applied resurgence of historical heirloom and unique landrace grape cultivars can serve to link past and present Negev viticulture [21,22]. By reviving these indigenous varieties, the wine sector can capture the essence of the historical Negev terroir, recreating flavors and characteristics that are deeply embedded in the identity of the regional cultivars. Furthermore, the revival of these cultivars can contribute to biodiversity preservation and add distinctive value to Negev wines, fostering a unique niche in the global wine market.
• Develop Eco/Edu Tourism Programs that Connect Historical and Modern Wine Routes: To celebrate the rich history of viticulture in the Negev and create a harmonious blend of historical and modern wine experiences, the development of eco and educational tourism programs is essential [103]. By establishing wine routes that connect historical sites, vineyards, and modern wineries, visitors can embark on a journey that weaves together the threads of the regional vinicultural heritage. These programs can offer a unique opportunity for tourists to actively engage with the compelling cultural history of Negev viticulture. Through guided tours, workshops, and tastings, eco/edu tourism fosters a deeper appreciation for the terroir-driven wines of the Negev while promoting sustainable practices and community involvement.

In conclusion, the revival of viticulture in the Negev desert is not solely a story of modern innovation, but also an exciting reconnection with a profound historical legacy. By understanding and integrating the merits of historical terroir, embracing ancient agro-technologies, reviving heirloom cultivars, and developing eco/edu tourism programs, the Negev wine sector can chart a course that respects the past while embracing the future. While ongoing research continues to investigate these points, it seems evident that the enduring genetics of the endemic heritage grape cultivars will likely prove valuable for current day viticulture both in the region and beyond. The holistic approach to furthering this dynamic ensures that the unique qualities and cultural significance of the Negev terroir continue to thrive, ultimately benefiting the Negev and its residents for generations to come.