Picking Grapes in Moshav Lachish, Tali Grapes – Visitors Guide

You can enjoy various activities in the vineyards near Moshav Lachish, particularly self-harvesting grapes at Tali Grapes.

When is the Grapes Picking Season?

Grapes picking takes place from July to December. September to November is the best time for a visit.
All our visits were in October (Sukkot) and November. In some years, the second half of November was towards the end of the season. Hence, I would recommend visiting during the Sukkot vacation or before it.

Opening Hours

The opening hours vary depending on the season and grape availability. They are usually open on the weekends, and all our visits were on Saturday mornings. Before visiting, it is recommended that you register at the official site.

Entrance Fee

Here is the latest pricelist (2024):
– Adult/child (above two years old) – 35 NIS.
– Small basket (1 kg) – 10 NIS.
– Big basket (2 kg) – 20 NIS.

Map

Lachish is located in southern Israel, about 13 km from Kiryat Gat. It is only 10 km from Beit Guvrin National Park and near Tel Lachish National Park.

Enter “the vineyard in Lachish” into Waze, or click this link to Waze.

Directions for drivers: Link to Waze and Link to Google Maps
Directions for public transport: Link to Moovit

Interactive map of the area:

Near the entrance, there is a dirt parking lot, and there are also chemical restrooms.

What are the Included Activities?

Currently, these are the included activities:

• Picking grapes – you will be picking from one of the vineyards. You can eat as much as you want and take home the baskets (1-2 kg of grapes fit into each basket).
• Educational activities: guides will tell you about growing grapes and answer all your questions. Sometimes, there are additional educational games.
• Pressing grapes at a winepress.

Tali Grapes

“Tali Grapes is the brand name of the cooperative of growers from Moshav Lachish. Moshav Lachish (est. 1955) is home to 66 active growers, in addition to about 100 families of whom most are second-generation growers.”

Source: Tali Grapes

During our visits, we received an explanation regarding the Tali Grapes brand. As it turns out, there was no real person called Tali.

Moreover, since they adopted this name, none of the girls born in Moshav Lachish are called Tali. The growers hired a well-known marketing specialist, and he came up with this name. Interestingly, the same marketing specialist created the Gali Shoes brand in the same period.

Self Picking Grapes

Our first visit was in 2014. Since then, we have visited almost every year. In the first years, there were tours, visits to the raisins package factory, and more. But in recent years (as far as I remember, starting from 2022), you receive a short explanation at the entrance, and that’s all (also, all activity occurs in one complex). I will include the additional information from the tours below, but today there are no tours, and you do not visit the raisins factory.

Also, instead of the ancient wine press by Tel Lachish National Park, they constructed a small wine press.

At the Vineyards

Tali Grapes are located near Moshav Lachish, close to Kiryat Gat. You might remember the Lachish stream from Lachish Park.

Note: If you want to pick a lot of grapes, you better prepare some space in the freezer or plan to make fruit jam.

One of the interesting things we were told is about organic pesticide methods, such as spreading non-fertile insects. Most insects do not live long and have one chance to produce the next generation. If they waste that chance on non-fertile females, it interrupts reproduction.

Other pest controls are organic as well. Thus, you can freely eat grapes.

They grow twenty different grape species and even winter grapes. During each visit, we harvested another type of grape.

In some visits, in mid-October, there were rotten grapes, meaning it was toward the end of the season. But on another visit in November, everything looked good. So I guess it depends on the weather and the type of grapes.

There is a high chance that you will pick a different kind of grapes during each visit. For example, this is the Crimson Grapes:

Note: there are red and green Crimson Grapes.

Raisins Package Factory

Note: This stop was available during our first visits. But it is no longer included in the tour.

During the visit to the raisins package factory we did not get into the factory. We got explanations outside, next to the raisins.

As you can see, the grapes are dried outside for two to four weeks. Before spreading the grapes, they add oil (similar to sunscreen protection) and salt (for protection against insects).

Grapes that were dried under the sun are always brown. If so, where do the white raisins come from? White means that they were dried in ovens.

The following is logical, but you never think about it when buying raisins: all raisins are created from second-class grapes. The best grapes are sold fresh.

Ancient Wine Press

Near the historic 3,000-year-old city of Lachish you can find an ancient wine press. You can find additional information at Tel Lachish National Park.

As you probably know, pressing is done barefoot. The reason for taking off shoes is grapes seeds. If barefoot, you will not squeeze the seeds (crushed seeds will add bitterness).

Agrotourism Attractions

You can find similar attractions in the Agrotourism category. And here are a selected few:

• Picking Strawberries – When, Where, and Comparison of Places
  • Strawberry Picking at Stalbetut, Hod HaSharon
  • The Strawberry and Flower, Ramot HaShavim
  • M’shoch BaGezer – Visitors Guide
  • Tutland – Tal’s Strawberry Farm, Hod HaSharon
• Bustan Shoshan, Matsliah – Exotic Fruit Experience
• Mostly Raspberries
  • Agronen Self-picking in Gedera
  • Self-picking raspberries at Kaplan Farm in Kfar Haim
• Flowers
  • Darom Adom
  • Anemone Forest HaSargel
  • Buttercup Picking Festival
  • Hibiscus Farm
  • Utopia Orchid Park
  • Cyclamen Trail
  • Rosh HaAyin Forest – Wildflowers Trail
  • Coastal Iris Trail at Ilanot Forest
  • Coastal Iris at Nahal Poleg Nature Reserve
• Picking at Tali Grapes in Moshav Lachish
• Honey tour at Dvorat HaTavor Visitor Center
• Harvesting Olives At Galili Olive Oil, Bethlehem Of Galilee
• The Salad Trail – Visitors Guide – Agricultural Tours in Southern Israel
• Ktofoti – Self-Picking Farm
• Sweet Cherry picking in Israel
  • Self-Picking Odem, Sweet Cherry at Golan Heights
  • Bustan Bereshit, Golan Heights – Self-Picking Sweet Cherry
  • Cherry-picking in Jish – Savanna Farm
• Meshek haPark, Herzliya

Summary

Picking grapes is a lovely family experience. For many parents who struggle with children who do not like eating fruits, this could be beneficial.

In recent years, the average visit took us about an hour (there is a limit to the amount of grapes you can eat). Therefore, you can combine grape picking with a visit to Tel Lachish National Park or other nearby attractions (check the interactive map at the top of this page). By combining you can make it a lovely half-day family trip.

Have you ever visited Tali Grapes? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.

That’s all for today, and I’ll see you in future travels!

Stay Tuned!

Additional Resources

Here are several resources that I created to help travelers:

• Trip Planner with Attractions and Itineraries is the page that will help you create your perfect travel route.
• What is the Best Time to visit Israel? To answer this question, we will consider the weather, prices, holidays, festivals, and more.
• Information and Tips for Tourists to Israel will answer the most common questions tourists have about Israel (including safety, passports, weather, currency, tipping, electricity, and much more).
• Israel National Parks and Nature Reserves include a complete list, top ten, map, tickets (Israel Pass, Matmon, combo), and campsites.
• If you are looking for things to do, here are the pages for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Sea Of Galilee, Akko (Acre), Eilat, Nazareth, Safed (Tzfat), and Makhtesh Ramon.