Photo: David Silverman
There is a long-developed literature inspired by wine. Wine history is as old as time and writing about wine is almost as old as the written word. When did you last read your Bible? The Old and New Testament are full of wine stories.
Wine guys love wine to the depth of their being. To them it is more than a drink. It is not just fermented grape juice or liquid grapes. Wine can be a window into all kinds of worlds. These include agriculture, archaeology, economics, gastronomy, geology, history, politics, religion, technology and peoplehood. It gives an insight into the “People of Israel” and the “Places of Israel”, from the first sprouting of the Jewish people in Biblical times, until the Start-Up Israel of today. Above all we like to talk about wine, to share experiences, in order to enthuse others…and be enthused.
Wine is aspirational. We love to read about wine, learn about wine and immerse ourselves in the wine stories of others. Some of us like to read about wine and talk about wine as much as drink it.
In the next few months, there are some books being published that should be on every wine professional and wine lover’s book shelves. The first on the list is “Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book”, edited by famous wine writer, Margaret Rand. It is the largest selling wine book in the world. It is not new. The first one was published in 1977. Englishman Hugh Johnson is the world’s most famous and prolific wine writer.
He remembers James Mitchell saying to him: “You know, Hugh, everything anybody really needs to know about wine could go into a little book like this…” pulling out his diary. (Once there really was something called a pocket diary!) This was the invention of the Pocket Wine Book. It was published by Mitchell Beazley fifty years ago and has continued every year since then.
The Pocket Wine Book is a mini-reference book for anyone who buys wine, in wine stores, restaurants or on the internet. It is a comprehensive up-to-minute annual guide that has retained its popularity despite the accessibility of online information. Hugh Johnson never believed in giving wines scores, but he does rate wineries giving from one to four stars.
Explanations are in brief note form, in British understatement, though the experts contributing cover the world. The book is close to being a kind of Michelin Guide to Wine. There is information about wineries and wines, but also grape varieties, matching food to wine and the best values and vintages.
Even Israel gets a mention. Where else will you find a ranking of 45 Israeli wineries ranked by an international book? The entry includes large commercial wineries, small wineries, boutique wineries; some kosher, others non-kosher. It also gives a heads up about newish tiny wineries of interest, which are below the radar.
Included are wineries across the political and religious spectrum; owners range from Ultra-Orthodox, Haredi to liberal Jews; and right wing settler wineries from the Central Mountains to left wing secular kibbutz wineries. There are also wineries owned by Israeli Arabs and Christian Monks. This is part of the reason I say “Wine is the Beautiful Israel.” Wine represents the rich mosaic of Israelis and the “Land of Israel.”
In Israel we think we are very important in wine. Indeed, we are loud on social media like a wine giant. So it is a wakeup call to see our relative importance. In the Pocket Wine Book Israel is part of the Eastern Mediterranean Region and we are allocated a total of one and a half pages. Still at the beginning Israel did not feature at all, but slowly and steadily we found a voice.
We were first mentioned in the 1980 edition, but it was only a few lines. The Golan Heights Winery was the first Israeli winery to be awarded stars in the late 1990s and the first to be awarded three stars. Domaine du Castel was the first to be awarded four stars in 2008. In the new book there are three Israeli wineries with four stars outright, and a further three which earn two or three to four stars. “Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2027” published by Mitchell Beazley is launched in September.
I have been a contributor to this book since 1996 and every year since. I started helping wine expert Gaby Lachman, and then in turn was assisted by wine critic the late Daniel Rogov and sommelier, educator, MW candidate, Gal Zohar. My involvement extends to Israel, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In 1978 when finishing my first WSET course, I received a copy of this book. Who would have thought I would later contribute to it – and I am now the equal longest serving contributor.
It was in 1971 that Hugh Johnson first wrote The World Atlas of Wine. He believed that wine was liquid geography. The publisher James Mitchell was interested in the idea of matching precise cartography to viticulture. Hugh Johnson liked the idea of mapping the main vineyards and vineyard areas. It took him two years of travel, research and writing and it became a classic. Further editions followed. It was reprinted four more times between that first edition and 2001. Each time, the content advanced considerably as the wine world expanded in terms of quality and awareness.
In the early 2000s, Jancis Robinson MW, today’s most famous wine critic, joined him as co-author. This made certainly the ultimate dream team. A further three editions were published. These editions are not reprints. The texts are rewritten and maps are updated, and they somehow manage to squeeze in all the new wine information that has come to light since the last edition.
Israel used to feature in the World Atlas alongside our neighbors in a section headed “Eastern Mediterranean.” From the 8th edition published in 2019, we were honored with our own full page and map! This is repeated in the 9th edition except the maps and texts have been totally updated to take into account changes in the last seven years.
“The World Atlas of Wine”, 9th edition, by Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson MW and Julia Harding MW, will be published in September. I am a consultant for this book on the Israel section, and have been since 1994 for six of the nine editions. For this book I am the longest serving of the international consultants.
The most serious tome in the wine lover’s library is “The Oxford Companion to Wine” edited by Jancis Robinson MW. This is the one wine professionals studying for WSET Diploma or Master of Wine, use as a text book. It is the ultimate in wine expertise and scholarship, which covers every aspect of wine, written by the relevant world experts in every field. The contract for the first edition was signed in 1988 and after years of graft, it was published in 1994 to acclaim throughout the wine trade. It won every book prize possible
Since then, there have been four new editions. The latest is the 5th edition which was published in 2023. It has more than 4,000 entries, consists of over one million words, with contributions by 250 global experts. The subjects of particular interest to us are “Israel” and “Kosher”, each of which has its own entry. Any wine professional, expert or connoisseur will have this book, and is likely to purchase each new edition as soon as they come out. “The Oxford Companion To Wine”, 5th edition, is edited by Jancis Robinson MW, Julia Harding MW and Tara Q. Thomas, and published by Oxford University Press.
For this tome, my contribution was to write the section on Israel and Kosher, together with Eran Pick MW, Israel’s first Master of Wine. I have had the honor of contributing to this book since the 2006 edition.
If The Oxford Wine Companion is too academic for your needs, there is a new wine encyclopedia being published which is geared more to the wine lover. This is “The Encyclopedia of Wine: A Definitive Guide to the World of Wine” edited by David Williams and published by Dorling Kindersley. It will be published in October. An alternative is the “The New Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia”, by Tom Stevenson and Orsi Szentkiralyi, published by National Geographic. Both are excellent, comprehensive and bulging with information. The only difference is that the Dorling Kinderlsley book is brand new and up to date. The Sotheby’s book was published in 2020. So, if you are buying a present, it is a better bet to choose the newer book. However, both are thoroughly recommended.
I had a minor role in both and wrote the part on the Eastern Mediterranean for the Dorling Kindersley Encyclopedia of Wine and the section on Israel in the Sotheby’s book.
All the books recommended are available from the publisher, book stores or Amazon.
Those interested in wine books on Israel have a smaller choice in English, but there have been a few I will pick out over the years which I still have and refer to occasionally. The first one was “The Bible of Israeli Wines” by Michael Ben Joseph, published by Modan Publishing in 2002. I know the author as Mimi. He is in his mid-nineties and still occasionally attends tastings. He wrote the first serious wine books in Hebrew that brought many into the wine world in the 1990s. The book is of course way out of date, but it is like a time capsule of Israeli wine at that time. Furthermore, some of it still reads well. I still dip into it occasionally. If you find a copy in a book sale, it is a worthy purchase.
The next book worth having is “The Ultimate Rogov’s Guide To Israeli Wines”, published by Toby Press. The late Daniel Rogov, food & wine writer initially for the Jerusalem Post and later Haaretz, was Israel’s most important wine critic. He published his annual wine guide and I still return to them. It is useful in checking out winery stories and when certain wines were launched. However, if you only have one, it would be the last edition before his untimely death, which was published in 2012. Best bet is a secondhand bookshop.
Then there is a series of publications of “The Wine Route of Israel”, with its striking green vine leaf cover. It was edited by Eliezer Sacks and published by Cordinata. The last English edition was in 2015. The essays including a good history of Israeli wine, are still relevant. Their sister book “Wine of Israel”, also by Sacks was published in 2020 by Cordinata. I was a partner in the writing of these books, writing the essays. Both may be found at winery visitors’ centers, and Cordinata still has a few.
The newest and most up to date book is “Wine Journey: Israeli Adventure.” It is a paperback which was first self-published in 2021. It proved popular and an updated edition was printed in 2025. This format is practical and primarily for tourists, but there is a lot of information about the Israeli wine too. It is by Itamar Gur, Guy Haran, David Silverman and Roni Saslove. The book may be found in winery visitors’ centers or can be purchased online: www.israeladventure.wine
For a fun read, I recommend two books which cover two Israeli success stories. The Golan Heights Winery celebrated a 40-year anniversary in 2023 and Domaine du Castel had its 30th year in 2022. These are Israel’s two most famous wineries and their stories will warm the cockles of your heart. “Golan Heights Winery: Forty Years of Quality, Innovation and Authenticity” and “Domaine du Castel: The Biography”. It was my pleasure to be the author of both these books which tells the story of Israeli wine legends like Victor Schoenfeld of the Golan Heights Winery and Eli Ben-Zaken of Castel. These are the wineries that put Israel on the international wine map. Wine lovers, Zionists or anyone interested in Israel will enjoy a good read and an insight into the Israel wine industry.
Both books won major awards at The Gourmand Awards, the Oscars of cookery and wine books. “Golan Heights Winery” was Best World of Wine Book of the Year. “Domaine du Castel: The Biography” was Best Wine Book in the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, the Castel book was selected as the Best of the Best, Gourmand Awards 1996-2026. It was the only Israeli book selected in this prestigious portfolio.
A wonderful book which blends wine with art, is “Time and Place” by Tzora Vineyards. This is a winery which passed its 30th anniversary in 2023 and is today one of Israel’s finest. The book is a beautiful production. A coffee table book to leave out for friends and guests to browse through. I had the honor of contributing three of the articles, one of which was about the founder Roni James. Today Eran Pick MW, also a legend in his own time, is at the helm. The Golan, Castel and Tzora books are all self-published and available from the relevant winery’s visitors’ center.
I am someone for whom books are important. Wine books especially so. During my 27 years working for the Golan Heights Winery and Carmel, I created and curated a wine library at both wineries (at Katzrin and Zichron Ya’acov.)
The fact of my involvement in some of these books that I have mentioned, is not really relevant. Please ignore that. They are recommendations nonetheless. To seek knowledge or pleasure, there is nothing like a good book.
Adam Montefiore is a wine trade veteran and winery insider turned wine writer, who has advanced Israeli wines over four decades. He is referred to as the English voice of Israeli wine and is the Wine Writer for the Jerusalem Post. www.adammontefiore.com
