Month: June 2018

Sometimes in Israel we are very insular and only see our own. Occasionally it is good to look in the corners and not always look in the mirror. Christian winemaking is alive and kicking and in the Arab sector, not often associated with fine wines, there are some individuals and families making some very good wines with individuality and passion.
Nemi Ashkar seems like a typical Israeli, even part of the crème de la crème. He is a hi-tech veteran who has worked for major companies like IBM, HP and Unilever in senior management roles. He loves wine and comes from a place where making wine was part of the routine of home life. A period in Silicon Valley introduced him to the culture of Californian wine and the quality of Napa Valley. He thought I can do that and returned to found his own winery. He built a winery in the cellar of his three floor house.

Yiannis Boutaris is a giant of Greek wine and one of its most enduring icons. He was arguably the most prominent figure of the Greek wine revolution and a pioneering figure, whose search for quality and authenticity was followed by many others. The move to regionalization, the idea of becoming wine growers instead of solely producers, the focus on indigenous varieties and the pursuit of quality were all moves he initiated. He believed in the importance of wine tourism and the concept of advancing the Greek wine brand and his efforts were echoed by the Greek wine industry as a whole.

New Year’s Eve is party time. It is the time to celebrate the end of the year and the optimism and hopes for the New Year. There is one wine that symbolizes happiness, success and celebration above all others and that is, sparkling wine. However the word sparkling wine means different things to different people. The range of wines and the variation in prices is enormous. They range from the prestige cuvees in Champagne , made by the ‘traditional method’ to the cheapest sparkling wine, made by what I call the Coca Cola Method.
In Israel it appears we like sparkling wines. They have become very popular here. The number of imported sparklers, mainly Cava from Spain or Prosecco from Italy, has increased dramatically. In fact anything with bubbles is ‘in’. In restaurants and bars throughout Israel, people are ordering Cava, which has become the Israeli slang for any sparkling wine.