A team of U. S. and Israeli archaeologists have discovered 40 jars in a ruined palace in Tel Kabri, Israel, which date back almost 4,000 years.

A study published in the August 27 issue of the journal PLOS ONE has detailed information regarding the 40 containers of wine that belonged to the Bronze Age. A chemical study of the wine along with the residue left in the jars was conducted by a U. S. scientist who later concluded that popular ingredients were used in ancient wine-making. These included: honey, mint, juniper and cinnamon. Besides these the jars also showed signs of tartaric acid which is one of the main markers of wine.

The group of archaeologists made the discovery at the 75-acre Tel Kabri site in Israel in the ruins of a northern Canaanite city. All the bottles were found in a surprisingly good condition.

This ancient wine cellar is believed to be the oldest discovered so far. Its dimensions were 16 feet by 26 feet, next to a dining hall for banquets. Researchers reported that the cellar held a capacity equivalent to that of 3,000 of today's bottles of red and white wine.

Each of the jars is around three feet tall and holds 50 litres of sweet wine, which was precisely made by ancient Canaanites in 1,700 B. C. In all 528 gallons of wine was found in these jars.

Andrew Koh, one of the people who worked on the archaeological dig to uncover the wine cellar, said, "What we have is quite substantial - 40 jars. We're arguing that this is the personal or palatial wine cellar, whether it's the family or clan, and it's for local. But it's still a lot of wine - they must have thrown large parties".

About the taste of the wine, Koh speculated that it is expected to taste something like the Modern Greek retsina, which some people enjoy, although some complain that it tastes of turpentine.