Month: January 2020

The wine lover in Israel, as everywhere else, loves to visit wineries. However, most wineries tend to be in outlying areas. Unlike in Europe, where wineries blend into villages and are positioned alongside vineyards, near hotels, restaurants and other gourmet destinations, here wineries are banished more often than not, to industrial estates. A visit has to be planned in advance and normally necessitates an outing.
However, wine lovers need not despair. If you do not have time to visit wineries, there is a new animal in Israel cities. It is called ‘The Tasting Room’. These are not exactly winery visitors’ centers, nor are they restaurants, or even typical wine bars. However, wine lovers can taste, buy, learn and talk about wine along with enjoying a little food, without leaving the city.

Literally, a marriage made in heaven. She led him to wine. He led her to the Jewish world of Kashrut. This is a story about land, a family, wine and food, not rare in Tuscany, but with a Jewish undertone, which is virtually unique. Tuscany, situated in the center of Italy, has one foot in heaven. It is such a beautiful area of old stone buildings, forests, hills, valleys, shrouded in deep mists, with a smorgasbord of vineyards, olive groves, decorated with slim upright, optimistic looking Cypress trees. If anyone wants to compliment a region in Israel, they refer to it grandly as the ‘Tuscany of Israel.’ They also have a long wine history. In Israel, we are impressed that Carmel goes back 130 years and the winemaking Shor family 170 years. Well, they are babies.

The Eastern Mediterranean was the cradle of wine. This meeting place between south-eastern Europe and the Middle East was where wine culture began. That fertile crescent was good to wine and wine was good for trade and business. This was the place Noah planted a vineyard. Where Moses’ spies were surprised by the size of grapes. This was where Isaiah, the most famous prophet, wrote his Song of Vineyard. The Egyptian wine culture, seafaring Phoenicians, Ancient Greeks and the Romans all made long lasting contributions to the both the region and the world’s wine culture.  The New Testament is full of wine references. Jesus changed water into wine here. Even later, Moslem poetry of a certain era was not shy about writing about wine. Do you remember Omar Khayyam’s “A loaf of bread, a flask of wine… and thou?” Some of the most beautiful poetry about wine comes from the place you would least expect. However, that is all ancient history!