Month: February 2023

The Golan Heights Winery is now entering its fortieth year. During this time, the winery led the quality wine revolution in Israel in terms of wine quality, wine marketing and wine education. As a result of the investment in quality and image over forty years, it is fair to say that the Golan Heights Winery is today the number one Israeli wine ambassador in the wide world of wine and the number one exporter. Yarden is the most visible and famous wine brand….and if things had to be distilled down to one wine, Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon is Israel’s most awarded wine.

I picture Eli Ben-Zaken in the summer of 2021, standing on his own outside his house and winery at Ramat Razi’el as he defiantly fought against the fierce wild fires in the hills and forests that rise towards Jerusalem. The flames raged a mere thirty meters from his property. Told by the authorities to evacuate, he refused. He was a lone figure, holding a domestic hose against the might of the force of nature that confronted him. With his wire rim glasses and blue Covid mask smudged by ash, I thought the image symbolic.
Here was the man who twice built the most beautiful winery in Israel. He was the pioneer of the Judean Hills wine region. He taught Israeli wineries about the absolute pursuit of excellence, aesthetics, style and quality. Yet, at the age of 77, he was defending his family home alone and with great courage and fortitude. This is characteristic of the man: earnest, heroic, standing his ground and always involved in the nitty-gritty.