Month: May 2021

The wine world tends to divide itself into the ‘New World’ and ‘Old World’. Israel finds itself as part of the Eastern Mediterranean wine region. If you add Georgia and Armenia to the countries of the East Med like Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, Turkey and Israel, then you have the basis of what may be described as the ‘Ancient World’. Though the wines from these countries may be considered exotic today, the wine drinker in Biblical and ancient times, would have been quite familiar with them. The Ancient World was cradle of the grape and this was where the birth of wine culture took place. It was then the France and Italy of those times, both in terms of quantity and quality.

The Shor family has been making wine since 1848. Generation after generation, handed down from grandfather to father, father to son, son to grandson and so on. It is Israel’s oldest wine dynasty. They began in what was the Ottoman Empire, continued under the British Mandate and are still going strong in the 73rd year of the State of Israel. Today the family focus seems to be on four wineries in the market place. These are: 1848 Winery, Hayotzer Winery, Shorr Estate and Zion Winery. These wineries with deep roots in the history of Israeli wines, are all run independently by different branches of the family.