A discovery last summer of the oldest known wine cellar in Tel Kabri in Upper Galilee revealed the drinking habits of ancient Israelites.

The discovery and findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.

The wine cellar is a collapsed room with walls made out of mud-bricks. In the room, 40 pieces of 3,700 year-old jars were preserved.

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Scientists believe the structure was abandoned by its owners because of a cataclysmic event, more likely an earthquake.

Through chemical analyses, researchers found the jars used to store wine also had herbs such as mint, cinnamon and juniper. Ancient Israelites apparently mixed herbs and other flavorings to customize their alcoholic drinks.

Pine resin for preserving and cedar, which came from the beams used to press grapes, were also contained in the jars.

The 32 jars studied so far contained tartaric acid, a basic acid found in wine. Almost all of the jars had syringic acid, which indicated red wine.

Part of a "palatial" compound in modern northern Israel, the cellar was built beside the banquet hall.

"What we have is quite substantial--40 jars--but it's not enough to redistribute to the whole countryside, so we're arguing that this is the personal or palatial wine cellar," said Andrew Koh, an archaeologist at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Koh believes the stock seemed to have been intended for a nuclear group, probably for a family or clan's "on-the-spot consumption". He also commented the amount was still quite a lot, saying, "They must have thrown large parties."

The jars would have once contained 528 gallons of wine.

Although Israel isn't noted for its wine today, during the Bronze Age, its regional vineyards once produced wines that were sought after by people throughout the Mediterranean and were imported by the Egyptian elite.