Only a few weeks ago, the Israeli wine was proud to host Jancis Robinson MW, one of the world’s leading wine critics, writers and communicators. She tasted Israeli wines as she would the wines of any other countries and referred to Israel as an Eastern Mediterranean California. She tasted kosher and non-kosher wines and it was not important for her to know which was which. For her, the kosher certification was irrelevant. She was tasting wine.

Mention the price of Israeli wines and there will surely be an argument between consumers who are tired that consumer goods always seem so expensive in Israel, compared to elsewhere, and wineries that do the best they can.  Anyone visiting the world’s largest wine producing countries, will be struck at how inexpensive the wines are in the local tavern or bar. The argument that “Israeli wines are so expensive” is regularly made.  The question is whether it is true.

Jancis Robinson MW, the English wine critic and wine writer, visited Israel for a private visit but also found time to taste Israeli wines.  She came here in great secrecy. Only a few were in the know. Her husband is Nick Lander, the famous food critic and author of The Art of the Restaurateur, one of the best books on the subject I have read. When he wrote an article about the paradox of finding so much Burgundy in Tel Aviv restaurants, there was a facebook backlash against the sommeliers who hosted her. How dare they show her anything else other than Israeli wines! Little did the talk back critics know that an impressive tasting had been prepared by the same sommeliers, offering what they considered the finest of Israel.
The tasting was put together by the Aviram Katz, the sommelier of Basta Restaurant, who is also the wine critic for Time Out & Al Hashulchan, with the help of fellow sommeliers Uri Caftory, owner of Garrigue Restaurant, Shira Tsiddon, sommelier of the Norman Hotel and international sommelier, WSET educator, wine consultant and author of the New Israeli Wine Guide, Gal Zohar. They selected 55 wines from no less than 40 different wineries covering nearly every possible category, (excluding sparkling wines & dessert wines) and they were divided into flights of four to six wines. This was a great feat of organization. The tasting was held at the Norman Hotel in Tel Aviv, whose wine list, won the award as Israel’s finest and I was pleased to have the opportunity to participate.

At Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, we eat sweet foods along with apple and honey, and hope for a ‘sweet year’. So I usually recommend sweet wines to go with the festive meal. As the focus is on sweet, I can’t help but pay attention to the startling rejuvenation of a famous brand in Israel. I also consider afresh the large market for sweet wines, which appears to be hidden from view from many so called experts in the wine business.

Picture the scene. You are sitting at a table overlooking the sea. In front of you are mezze, a wonderful variety of small plates of hors d’oeuvres. A glass of Arak clouded by the addition of water is drunk as an aperitif and then a rosé wine is brought to drink with the meal. You could be in virtually any country in the Eastern Mediterranean or Levant. You could even be in Tel Aviv or Jaffa Port. Mezze, arak, sun and sea are symbols of the region……and rosé is a wine that just reeks of the Mediterranean. It probably symbolizes the atmosphere, climate and food culture as well as any other wine.

The wine communicators are a rare breed of people who convey the story of wine with all the color and emotion that make this such a special product. The communicator may be a wine critic who tastes wine for a living and writes flowing tasting notes and rates wines. It could be the wine writer who paints a tapestry in colorful prose bringing the wine trade to life or the wine journalist, who comes into our living room with the daily newspaper. Maybe the wine educator whose raison d’être is to teach, explain, enthuse and lead to new horizons, or even the winery marketer who is there to convey the magic of a specific product or brand for commercial reasons.

When Baron Rothschild founded a modern Israeli wine industry, his agronomists chose the valleys surrounding the southern slopes of Mount Carmel. This is the so called mountain range that runs south from Haifa to Zichron Yaacov. Thus the first vineyards were planted in Shefaya and the Hanadiv Valley, near Zichron, but also in areas such as inyamina, Givat Ada, and Givat Nili.

This Chanukah why not light your Menora (Chanukiah) using olive oil to celebrate the existence of this elixir, and while you are at it, give your host a special bottle of Israeli olive oil as a gift? Wine is well covered by Jewish festivals and lifestyle events. There is no lack of opportunities in the Jewish year to say the blessing over wine and enjoy a few glasses and feel righteous at the same time. Chanukah though is a festival that I am at a loss to decide which wine to write about, which is great, because it gives me an excuse to write about olive oil, and it really is the festival of olive oil!
I personally feel the olive and the vine are Siamese twins. They are ever present all over the Mediterranean, certainly  no less in the Eastern Mediterranean, but also may be found everywhere in Israel. The beauty of every Israeli landscape contains vines standing up like soldiers or the shimmering green, silvery leaves of the olive tree. The look is Biblical and yet it also is contemporary.

Without doubt, whisky has become the Jewish spirit of choice. It is astonishing how it has simply been adopted by Jews everywhere and it is a constant surprise how many whisky mavens there are within the Jewish community.

You would think Jews from Eastern Europe would be more partial to vodka and those from the Sephardim would prefer Arak, and this is true in Israel. Certainly the largest selling spirit here is vodka and Arak is the indigenous spirit most associated with our corner of the Eastern Mediterranean. However the cachet of whisky looms large, the fascination with the story, taste and complexity has overridden everything else.

What is the Jewish connection to whisky? Maybe, like Chinese food and sushi, with which American Jews are said to have a love affair, whisky has become another sort of ‘safe treyf’. Both Chinese food, sushi and whisky were considered exotic, sophisticated and almost un-Jewish! Lenny Bruce considered it another way: whereas whisky is Jewish and beer is goyish! I suppose the connection started because Jews were more comfortable drinking whisky compared to cognacs or brandies, which had to be certified as kosher because the base product was wine. The best whiskies could therefore be enjoyed without worrying about kashrut. What began as an aspirational status symbol, became the playing field for a raft of new connoisseurs.
Historically in Eastern Europe, Jews were always associated with liquor. By late on in the 18th century, it was said that 15% of Jews living in towns and no less than 85% of Jews in the country, were engaged in the manufacture, distribution or sale of alcohol! It was one of the few industries that they were permitted to take part in and Jews were abstemious enough to be unaffected by the lures of their product.
In the new country, the relationship with alcoholic drinks continued. During Prohibition in the United States many Jewish families found their foothold in the new country by bootlegging whisky. They came from an immigrant community and were hungry for success and acceptance. Bootlegging was high risk. Daring and ingenuity was required, but it was highly profitable. From such beginnings, countless Jews entered the drinks industry as distributors. The Bronfman family from Canada, created Seagram, which became the largest drinks company in the world. Chivas Regal was their greatest creation.

Today there is a very high proportion of drinks companies with Jewish roots in the wine and spirits trade, particularly in the United States. The largest distributors like Southern Wines and Spirits, wine families like Sichel and Hallgarten, and American whiskey brands like IW Harper, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam and Seagram all had Jewish roots.
Gradually whisky became the aspirational American upgrade from schnapps and vodka. Whisky became ever present on the Kiddush table for Shabbat. Now we have Kiddush Clubs. These started as informal groups that would quietly filter out of the synagogue after Haftorah reading, to enjoy an early Kiddush over some prestigious whiskies. Some Rabbis have banned them deeming them inappropriate, others have quietly ignored them, seeing it as a Shabbat attraction. Whatever the view, the Kiddush Club has become a reality and the subject of heated Rabbinical debate. The interest in whisky that started in America has spread to Jewish communities worldwide.
The thorny question of whether to bring a blended whisky or a single malt to a simcha, depends how greatly you esteem your guests. Basically, a single malt is one produced by one distillery, whilst a blended whisky is from more than one distillery. An aged or de luxe blend is one with a higher proportion of aged malt whisky in it. It is always amuses me that to skimp on the Kiddush wine is acceptable, but not to bring a quality whisky is a serious infringement on the pride and ego of the host.
To simplify matters, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, Macallan, The Glenlivet, Glenfarclas and The Singleton are single malts. Ballantines, J & B, Grants and Johnnie Walker Red Label are blends. Chivas Regal and Johnnie Walker Black Label are de-luxe blends.
A malt whisky should be drunk on its own or with just a splash of mineral water. This brings out the aromas like rain does on a rose.  The best glasses to enjoy it to the maximum are either a copita (Spanish sherry glass) or thistle shaped glass (also used for tasting cognac). These are perfect. The traditional wine tasting glass, similar to a copita would also suffice. If the whisky is in a rich after dinner style, like an older Macallan or The Glenlivet, say 18 years or more, I would even drink it in a brandy balloon glass.
Blended whiskies are best drunk in a whisky tumbler with ice, water or a mixer. The Americans will add ice to everything, the English will add ginger ale and the Scots will even add lemonade. Each to his own!
Scotch is made from water, yeast and barley, so there are no kosher issues with the malting, mashing or distillation process. It is maturation which is a potential problem because the whisky may be aged in used sherry or wine casks. If you disregard this because of bitul b’shishim, which nullifies the unkosher aspect, then orthodox Jews may enjoy whiskies like everyone else.
A few years ago when I worked for Carmel we sent used  wine barrels to the Bruichladdich Distillery, to make two wine finish whiskies, with a touch of Israel.  The end results were two unique and very fine whiskies.
My favorite malt whiskies are The Balvenie, Glenfarclas and Macallan (particularly when aged in sherry casks) from Speyside, Bruichladdich and Lagavulin (Islay), Springbank (Cambeltown) and Highland Park ( the Orkney Islands). As my own house pouring whisky, I am very satisfied with Johnnie Walker Black Label, an aged blend, which is a great dram. Johnnie Walker is continually producing new prestigious whiskies in the line to capitalize on the brand name of the world’s largest selling whisky. However I think there is a reason it has become so popular and continues to stand out after all these years. The Black Label represents very good value and if underrated, it is only because it is so prolific.
A few years ago I spent a week touring  Speyside with one of my sons. Then a few years later we did the same again, but this time in Islay and Cambeltown. With all the tastings we did, my personal conclusion was sometimes that the finest, best balanced malts were the 12 year old, more than the older expressions. Maybe a whisky has an optimum time to be in cask….so do not always assume you have to pay more for the rarer edition to get a superb product.
The main Jewish fetish seems to be with Scotch Whisky (spelt without an e), but there is also whiskey (with an e) produced in America (for example Jim Beam, Jack Daniels), Canada (Seagram), Ireland (Bushmills, Jameson) and Japan (Suntory). In the meantime the Jewish fascination with Scotch has reached Israel. Whereas once purchases were made solely in duty free, now prices have come down and every wine shop has a display of serious whiskies at good prices. It seems to fit perfectly the aspirational nature of Israelis, who love to conquer new subjects and show how much they know.
Excitingly there is a flowering, or rather budding, of a new artisan whiskey distilling industry even here in Israel. French Canadian David Zibell has opened the Golan Heights Distillery in Katzrin and markets his product with very stylish packaging and a great story. Winemaker Tal Pelter better known for Pelter Winery, has also bought a distillery and his early products are having rave reviews.
As far as production of a real whiskey, there needs to be time for the requisite cask aging to mature the final product. They have produced the base product, white whisky in its various forms, which does have an interest for whiskey geeks, but there is a reason why whiskey needs to age. It needs that time to acquire the taste, color and complexity.
However there is a product that qualifies as a real whiskey. It was launched only recently. The honor goes to the Milk and Honey Distillery situated exactly where south Tel Aviv borders Jaffa. The whiskey was distilled in January 2014 and then aged for the required three years (31 months in unused American oak casks and then for another seven months in ex Bourbon casks.) The distiller is Tomer Goren, who consulted with the late Dr. Jim Swan, the internationally renowned Master Distiller. The result is not inexpensive, but the product makes history and will be of interest to the curious.
So now, finally you will be able to make a Le’Haim with an authentic Israeli whiskey! Something original and innovative to take to your Kiddush Club! A great gift for someone who has everything!

Adam Montefiore has been advancing Israeli wines for over 30 years. He is known as the ‘English voice of Israeli wine’. He is the wine writer for the Jerusalem Post.
www.adammontefiore.com

All the talk of recent weeks was of the 50th year anniversary since the Six Day War and the unification of Jerusalem. This was also the 50th anniversary of the Golan Heights coming into our hands, and from a wine point of you this was by far the most seminal event.
The Golan Heights proved to be the theatre which fermented the quality revolution of Israeli wine, changing the fortunes of our wine industry forever and bringing back a golden age of Israeli wine for the first time in 2,000 years. The strategic Golan Heights became Golan wine country.

Hard to believe today, but in the early 1990’s most of the wines drunk in Israel were white. Then a few things happened to change the masses to red. Firstly there was the American TV program, Sixty Minutes, which highlighted the ‘French Paradox’. This proved that even with a bad diet, those who drank red wine could be healthier. It did wonders for red wine sales around the world.

At around this time, wineries also learnt to make some entry level red wines in similar style to white wines. That is simple, fruity, easy drinking, refreshing and not astringent. So newcomers to wine, who wanted to show they were amongst those that ‘understood’, could drink a young fruity red wine, lightly chilled and enjoy it, basically like a white wine.

Furthermore, those keen on matching food and wine realized that it was okay to drink red wine with fish and to hell with the rules. Finally a new drinking public decided that quality wines were red wines. So today, for all these reasons and more, over sixty per cent of the wine we drink in Israel is red. However there are trends that indicate a return of interest in white wines.

The reasons are that white wines are far more versatile to match with food than reds. Furthermore, white wines are far more suitable for our hot climate than red wines.

As we approach Shavuot, people begin to think of cheese and wine. In western culture, cheese is normally part of a meal and there is usually a whole course devoted to cheese. The English will normally enjoy cheeses at the end of the meal, after the dessert. This would traditionally be accompanied by a glass of Port, the famous fortified wine from Portugal. The French will serve their cheeses after the main course and before the desserts. This enables the red wine served with the main course to be continued with the cheeses.

In countries like Switzerland and the Netherlands, cheese is often served at breakfast. This would also be true of Israel. The famed Israeli breakfast covers a large range of dairy products, where there are no problems of kashrut, (mixing milk and meat.) In countries like Greece & Spain, cheese will often be served as part of the mezze or tapas at the beginning of the meal.

In Jewish culture though, we have the traditional of serving dairy products at the Festival of Shavuot. This gives the perfect opportunity to hold a cheese and wine party. The phrase, ‘cheese and wine’ rolls off the tongue. They are natural partners like Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire. There is a famous saying in the English wine trade: “Buy on an apple, sell on cheese.” This does not mean that every wine goes with every cheese. For instance, there is regular misconception that red wine is the most natural partner to cheese, but there can be some awful clashes. Funnily enough, white wines can often go better and be more versatile.

There is something satisfyingly rustic with having a meal of freshly baked, crusty bread, with a variety of cheeses and a carafe of wine. Have you ever enjoyed the experience of ordering what is called a Ploughman’s Lunch in an English pub

The wine world is complicated enough. Well the cheese world is if anything even more complicated. There is such variety. Cheese may be strong flavored, fat, acidic or salty. It can be hard, soft, creamy or crumbly. It can be matured, pasteurized or unpasteurized; made from goat’s milk, cow, or sheep. President Charles de Gaulle once said: “How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese And he was talking only about France!

However to prepare a cheese and wine party is relatively easy to do. You will need to decide if you want to go international or Israeli. There are plenty of good quality options here too. As a simple guide, I suggest you choose at least four different types of cheese as a minimum. These could be a hard cheese, a soft cheese, a goat’s cheese and a blue cheese. This is enough to give the necessary variety.

The hard cheese may be something like Emmental or Gruyère. A good white wine match would be a Chardonnay. The Teperberg Impression Chardonnay 2016 is recommended and great value. A good semi dry alternative would be the innovative Carmel 2 Vats, a grapey, aromatic wine blend made from Muscat, Gewurztraminer, Colombard and Riesling.

An aged hard cheese, like Parmesan or Cheddar, would be better with a red wine. I recommend the Chateau Golan Merlot 2014 (not kosher) or the Gross Shoham Onyx 2014. Both show complexity and have the fruit, richness and structure to be a good match. In the same way the English add milk to lessen the tannin of the strong tea they drink, the cheese will soften the tannin of the wine. Remember an older, matured cheese will be tangier with a more pronounced acidity. Note cheeses start bland and become stronger as they age. With wine it is the opposite. Older wines are less tannic and astringent.

The goat’s cheese could be a Chèvre. The options are endless because Israel excels in this category. There some wonderful Israeli goat’s cheeses from boutique dairies. They tend to have a strong goaty character, but can go with either white or red wines. However, the classic combination for a young goat’s cheese is a varietal Sauvignon Blanc, which is very aromatic, totally dry and with a sharp, refreshing acidity. The Tabor Adama Sauvignon Blanc 2016 is one of the best Sauvignon Blancs in the country.

The soft cheese, may be a Brie or Camembert. If this style of cheese is too young, it will be virtually tasteless, and your guest will wonder what all the fuss was about. However if it is older, and runny, it can be so pungent as to be too strong for any wine. A balance between the creaminess and the flavor is what is desired. This is the hardest category to find a match. A creamy, fatty cheese will make most reds seem like water. The fat in the cheese will neutralize the tannin, but an oaky and tannic red wine will taste slightly metallic when these cheeses are ripe and runny.

A Brie or Camembert would best be served alongside a light red wine with lots of fruit, good acidity and no tannin. Any red from the good value Dalton Kna’an range would be ideal.

The classic blue cheeses are Stilton and Roquefort. The match made in heaven is to drink them with sweet wine because the saltiness of the cheese and sweetness play a concerto of matching flavors in your mouth. Opposites attract. The Binyamina Late Harvest Gewurztraminer 2015 is an international quality dessert wine, rich and complex, yet not cloying. Salt accentuates tannin so the myth that red wine goes with all cheeses is shown to be most false when a red wine is matched with a blue cheese.

That only leaves us with the dessert to eat after the cheeses. Obviously this is likely to be …a cheesecake! No surprises there. The best wine to enjoy with the classic New York style of cheesecake is a fortified Muscat.

Serve the cheeses at room temperature, so take them out of the fridge in advance. Decorate the cheese platter with grapes, served cold from the fridge, chutney, with some walnuts and finally a few cut vegetables, like carrots and peppers of different colors. Celery also provides a crisp, refreshing partner to cheeses. Buy some crusty baguettes, which you can cut just before people arrive, and have some healthy crackers available too.

As for wines, we have to be practical. You can’t have available every option I have mentioned. However, for the absolute minimum, you need a white wine, a red wine and a dessert wine. Provide one glass for everyone and you will have prepared the easiest party you have ever hosted.

Israeli cheeses are so good and have gone through a similar quality revolution to Israeli wines. We all love cheeses, but sometimes worry about eating too much for health reasons. How lucky we are that the Jewish faith has catered for us a festival, where we can make the most of the opportunity with a smile!

Nearly one hundred and thirty years after Baron Edmond de Rothschild decided to planted vines in the valleys surrounding Zichron Ya’acov, the esteemed Margalit Winery has launched a new wine from their new vineyards planted there. It is a short in the arm for this most traditional of wine regions.

Rothschild loved the Mt. Carmel area. He fell in love with the sea, vineyards, hills and valleys, and decided to create an Israeli wine industry. He thought this was the Tuscany or Provence of Israel. He planted vineyards and built a very large commercial winery with deep underground cellars.

With time the vineyards of the Mount Carmel region became unfashionable as, in the search for quality, Israeli wine moved northwards and eastwards to the Galilee, Golan and Judean Hills respectively, in search of higher altitude.

Even wineries, with strong vineyard representation there, like Carmel and Tishbi, searched elsewhere for their better wines. The northern coastal region of vineyards was more an historical and folksy footnote, rather than the cutting edge of the new Israeli quality.

Dr. Yair Margalit has been a constant figure of the Israeli wine scene during the last 30 years and he remains one of the founding fathers of the Israel quality revolution. more » His interest in wine began from the time he was a visiting research professor at The University of California at Davis in the chemistry and enology departments.

In 1985, the veteran grower Yonatan Tishbi, decided to form his own winery and invited Yair Margalit to be his first winemaker. After a few years of home experimental winemaking, he founded Margalit Winery in 1989. In the first vintage they produced a mere 960 bottles. Margalit was the first serious boutique winery with quality and staying power.

The first wine was a Margalit Cabernet Sauvignon 1989, which was launched in 1991. It quickly gained a following amongst the wine cognoscenti as one of the best red wines in the country. The 1993 was one of the legendary vintages and it became Israel’s first cult wine.

From these little beginnings, Margalit wines grew in production, reputation – and price, but they never outgrew the ‘small boutique winery’ category. The wines became sought after and the rareness of the production created even more demand.

Yair Margalit would invite prospective customers to the premises at Kfar Bilu in Rehovot on two days a year. He offered them the opportunity to buy wines in advance and at slightly reduced prices. Today the wine lover has any number of wine tastings, launches or boutique wineries to visit on any given day of the year. In those days, the idea was innovative. It was a rare place for wine collectors to meet a winemaker, taste wine and buy wines not readily available elsewhere.

After Rehovot, the winery moved to a packing house just south of Hadera. It has now settled in Binyamina, near the station.

The wine that Margalit became most famous for, was his Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet based blend, but his strictly allocated Special Reserve, a Cabernet Sauvignon with up to 15% Petite Sirah, was also a unique and magnificent wine. Over the years he flirted with white varieties producing a Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. He also produced a Carignan in 1999. It is a fact that the winery grew to specialize in the main Bordeaux varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. However, credit where it is due; the rejuvenation of Petite Sirah and Carignan in Israel, a significant trend of the 2000’s, may be said to have started with Margalit. He also was the first to produce a varietal Cabernet Franc.

During all this time, Yair Margalit generously gave his time and expertise to advise and assist other new boutique wineries. In this way he helped fuel the boutique wine revolution. He continued to teach and lecture at Faculty of Food Technology in Haifa, and became the first professional manager & coordinator of the Cellar Master Course at Tel Hai College. He also found time to write books on winemaking. They are text books eagerly used by budding winemakers, students or especially interested connoisseurs.

Eventually, Yair’s son, Assaf, came into the business. He began by helping his father. After studies at the Hebrew University’s Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot, he went to gain experience at Jekel Winery in California. They became a father and son partnership. When he became winemaker, with the ongoing advice of his father, Margalit wines became more elegant and old world in style and less concentrated. In other words they have changed as the Israeli palate has developed to ensure they are still leading the quality curve. However they have remained specialists in Bordeaux varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

Assaf is a laid back figure. Broad backed, hair swept back in a cuckoo, usually wearing a t shirt, he is quiet, chilled out and easy going. When winemaking or talking about his winery, he undergoes a metamorphosis. He becomes animated, passionate, hands on and the pride and perfectionism shine through. Only then do you receive an insight into why Margalit wines continue to maintain their position as one of Israel’s finest wineries. He is without doubt one of the leading winemaking talents in Israel today. It seems the apple has not fallen far from the tree.

Up to now, the wines came from two vineyards. One is at Kadita in the Upper Galilee, in the foothills of Mount Meron, from where the winery receives its Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The other is in Binyamina, where their Cabernet Franc is grown.

So when the son and the father decided to plant Mediterranean varieties like Syrah, Grenache & Mourvedre, it was a surprise because the winery was so associated with Bordeaux varieties. Like many in Israel, they have decided that an eastern Mediterranean country should also grow Mediterranean varieties. However being Margalits, they were not satisfied with purchasing grapes. They wanted their own vineyards and one would have thought they would go north. However, after a seven year search they found what they were looking for in Zichron Ya’acov, just like Rothschild so long before. Their vineyard lies in the part of the Hanadiv Valley that rises towards Zichron. There they chose a plot with a light, chalky soil to plant their new Mediterranean varieties along with Chardonnay and Riesling.

Only now after a further four years of experimentation they launched their new GSM wine (a Mediterranean style wine made from Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre). The new wine which heralds the new direction is called Paradigma. Their Bordeaux blend is called Enigma. One symbolizes clarity, the other mystery. An interesting choice of names, which at least may encourage you to find your Roget’s Thesaurus!

Margalit Winery continues in a quiet unobtrusive way. All is very low key, laid back and the marketing is like the labels, on a principle of less is more. Let the wines speak for themselves. No frantic press releases, promotions, press events here. I recently tasted the 1996 Special Reserve. The nose was superb but the wine showed its age on the palate. I was then offered the sublime 1997, drinking superbly after 20 years. It was astonishingly good. Without doubt the two Israeli wineries best able to cope with long term cellaring are Yarden and Margalit. Remember that when you buy wine to lay down for your children!

In his own quiet, unobtrusive, but professional way, Yair Margalit, has contributed greatly to Israel wine, as a winemaker, wine educator and as a symbol of the new quality. Now Assaf has taken the winemaking baton. To paraphrase David Ben-Gurion’s eulogy about James Rothschild: “Assaf is an outstanding winemaker, son of an outstanding winemaker, whose family name will be ever associated with the rise of quality Israeli wine. “ A journey from Rothschild to Margalit, and you have in essence the story of Israeli wine.

Margalit Paradigma, Zichron 2015
A blend of 50% Syrah, 30% Mourvèdre & 20% Grenache. Their first Mediterranean expression. Syrah provides fruit, the Grenache perfume and the Mourvèdre texture. This medium bodied wine is deliciously delicate, with bright fruit, a chewy texture and a refreshing finish. Price: 150 ILS

Margalit Cabernet Sauvignon, Kadita 2015
Made from Cabernet Sauvignon and a little Merlot. Very elegant and 2015 was not an easy year. Aromas of black fruit, well integrated oak with soft tannins and a long finish. Price: 199 ILS

Margalit Enigma, Kadita, Binyamina 2015
A Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc & Petit Verdot. Full bodied with deep aromas of blackcurrant and blackberry and ripe plum, a rich, complex flavor and a long balanced finish. Price: 240 ILS

Margalit Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve, Kadita 2015
Made from Cabernet Sauvignon & a little Durif (aka Petite Sirah). This wine is concentrated yet elegant with layers of complexity. The aromas are of black fruits, followed by spice and smoky notes on the palate. A wine to savor. Price: 298 ILS

Back in 1979 I was working for the brewery Charrington, part of the Bass Charrington group. By chance I was put on a wine course at the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) in London. Why Not because I expressed any interest in wine, but because they were short of numbers and I was available. This was the first step in what turned out to be a long career in wine. I remember I was given a copy of Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book for participating in the course. My first wine book. Who was to know that I would later become a contributor to this same book

The rest was in the hands of inspiring teachers and an open minded student. With wine, passion spreads like a rash. It is very aspirational. The more you know, the more you want to know. The wise teacher implants the interest, the passion and then the hunger to know more. They teach you to love the subject and then prompt you to learn about it. The more you know, the more you realize how little you know. The yearning further intensifies. Then wine takes over your life. When you are not drinking, you are tasting it, talking about it or reading about it. It becomes all consuming. Luckily Bass Charrington had wine interests. I was hooked and they sent me back to the WSET for further studies.

Blessed are the teachers that can install love and passion into the willing student. In the late 1980’s when I arrived in Israel, the main wine teachers were Effie Winter, Israel Assayel and Charles Loinger. Winter was an amateur enthusiast. Israel Assayel was self-taught who became a professional pioneer as an importer and retailer. Charles Loinger was the retired director of the Israel Wine Institute who was a consultant for Carmel and lectured on wine.

Incidentally Loinger was recently awarded the Terravino Lifetime Award, which he accepted at the ripe young age of 96. As he stood up unaided and gave a fluent speech, he notified the audience, as though to explain that he was not that old, that he had a brother living in Paris who was 105 years old! Of course we all know wine is good for you. My own famous forebear, Sir Moses Montefiore drank a bottle of wine every day and lived into his 101st year, well above the average age of the time. The proof of the pudding is clearly in the eating.

In the 1990’s the most popular wine course was given by Kobi Gat at Carmel Mizrahi. He was a winemaker, agronomist and sparkling wine specialist with Carmel, who diversified to become host of the most important wine course of the time. At the same time Tal Gal Cohen was creating the best barman courses under his company Eshkolot. Both courses were held at Carmel’s Rishon le Zion Cellars, a poignant thought now that Carmel have evacuated the historic site, closing down Israel’s most historic winery forever. Others students would go to the Technion, where they would learn from Dr. Yair Margalit, winery owner, winemaker, author and educator. He is still offering wine appreciation courses there.

In the mid-nineties two wine schools were started. Firstly was the Soreq Winemaking School established by Nir Shaham. This is the unsung hero of Israeli wine education. Countless new winemakers of domestic, gargiste or boutique wineries have passed through his hands. The school continues to go from strength to strength. He is always quiet, in the background, but he has been no less effective because of that. He has had a massive influence over the last twenty years.

The Golan Heights Winery set up a wine school with Shaked Bros. in the basement of their original Derech Ha’Yayin store in Tel Aviv. The manager of the school was the young Yair Hajdu. The school was not a great success, but Hajdu was able to take the opportunity given to build his own brand. He is today regarded as one of the most respected wine experts in Israel.

Barry Saslove, was a wine lover, who later became owner of Saslove Winery. He began to offer wine appreciation courses with his boundless enthusiasm and ability to convey and share the complicated world of wine.

By the early 2000’s the main wine courses were held by Derech Ha’Yayin chain of wine stores and Haim Gan’s Ish Anavim. This was an independent organization set up in Jaffa peddling wine culture. Over the years this has included wine events, competitions, festivals, auctions, and most important for the aspiring wine student, tastings……and courses. To many, Haim Gan became a guru like figure.

In the last ten years or so, colleges started provide courses which lasted a full academic year. Tel Hai’s Cellar Master Course and Ramat Gan College’s Wine Academy Course provided a longer course with a college certificate presented to those that completed the program successfully. Then, the Ohalo College in Katzrin started offering courses for prospective winemakers, and Ariel is the latest to join the wine education bandwagon.

The main Israeli wine education heroes have been Israel Assayel, z”l, Koby Gat, Yair Margalit, Nir Shaham, Barry Saslove and Haim Gan. They have given so much to the Israeli wine scene. They have both supported and led the consumer wine revolution here. Their praiseworthy efforts over more than 25 years, has now been complemented by two exciting, new initiatives.

Firstly, the WSET, where my wine story began so long ago, has finally made its way to Israel. Founded in London in 1969, it is now active in 73 countries worldwide. People are always curious about London’s place in the wine world. Well for 300 years, London was the center of the wine trade. It remains the most cosmopolitan wine market in the world and a disproportionate number of the world’s most prominent wine writers and experts are British. Wine trends began in London and this was where the Institute of Masters of Wine, Court of Master Sommeliers and WSET were all founded.

The WSET has been brought here by certified educator Gal Zohar. Courses are offered at Level 1, 2 or 3. The course is administered by The Israel Wine & Spirit Institute headed by Gal Zohar, the wine expert, and Ronen Arditi, the restaurateur. Gal Zohar is a graduate of the WSET Diploma program. He is an international sommelier, wine judge in international competitions, a sought after wine consultant by restaurants and hotels and co-author of the New Israel Wine Guide. Ronen Arditi is an owner, educator and consultant for restaurants.

This new set up is to be welcomed to freshen and update wine education in Israel and to bring it to international standards. Certainly for those in the wine trade, it offers a recognized qualification and is arguably the most respected wine education school worldwide. It will be the number one place in Israel for wine education of wine professionals, wine waiters, sommeliers and restaurateurs.

The graduates of the WSET, who studied in the UK, may be found amongst the leading wine professionals in Israel. They include Eran Pick MW, winemaker & CEO of Tzora Vineyards; Aviram Katz, journalist & sommelier; my son David Montefiore, wine culture manager of Tabor Winery & wine department manager of IBBLS; Debbie Shoham, ex Golan Heights Winery, and the prominent sommeliers Mor Bernstein and Shira Tsiddon, sommelier of the Norman Hotel. In Israel only three individuals have the WSET Diploma: Eran Pick MW, Gal Zohar and Chaim Helfgott.

Secondly, in a further exciting development, the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture at the Hebrew University, is opening the first academic degree program in Israel for winemakers, offering an international MSc in Viticulture and Enology. Heading the program is Professor Zohar Kerem, a researcher in food chemistry, wine quality and olive oil, and very well-respected Yotam Sharon, once winemaker at Barkan Winery, and now a winemaking consultant. Other lecturers will include Prof. Ben Ami Bravdo, Prof. Oded Shoseyev and Dr. Ron Shapira.

So for people just curious about wine, wine lovers, wine professionals and aspiring winemakers, the choices and opportunities for wine education, whether informal or formal, have never been better. There is a full spectrum of educational opportunities here. Let’s start to educate and enthuse the next generation, teaching them to love & learn about the wonderful world of wine!

Israel is a country that be seen, tasted and understood through its wine industry. This product made from the humble grape, represents the depth of history of both the Land of Israel and the Jewish people from the very beginnings. It also represents the dynamism, energy, creativity, technology and agricultural prowess of modern Israel. Whether your interest is history, archaeology, gastronomy, people, religion or tourism, you can follow the wine and vine and you will receive all you are looking for.

Passover is of course not just Seder Night and the Festival of Freedom, it is also the Festival of Wine. When and where else, are we commanded to drink four glasses a night The order of the evening is exactly set up like a Roman banquet, with the wines spaced out to last the length of the evening.

In a banquet, there is an etiquette molded by years of practice. A sparkling wine will be the aperitif. The white wine will go with the first course. The red wine will accompany the meat course and a sweet dessert wine will go with the dessert. The order is dictated by custom and common sense. For instance, you don’t eat the meat course before the soup, or the dessert before the main course. Similarly you don’t drink red before white or sweet before dry.

For Seder Night the rules may be similar. A sparkling wine or lightly sparkling Moscato can be the first glass. There are some slaves to tradition who will insist on a Kiddush wine for the first blessing. Others will drink these sacramental wines for the four cups, and then have separate wines for the meal.

I remember Seder Nights as a child with Palwin, (short for Palestine Wine, that Brits were weaned on), on the table. I quite liked it and it felt quite naughty to be drinking wine at a grown-up event. Now I am in the wine trade, I feel ashamed at the memory that I enjoyed it so much! If you do buy a Kiddush wine, I definitely recommend serving it cold because it will taste better.

I do not remember we ever drank grape juice back then, but many choose this as the safe family option today. I personally think a taste of alcohol is important to make this night different from all other nights. If you have children or guests that simply dislike wine, think of a low alcohol Moscato instead. Sweet, slightly sparkling and low alcohol, it is the perfect family wine for Shabbat and festivals. The Hermon Moscato or Buzz Moscato are options which even the great aunt who hates wine will like.

The second glass can be a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or a semi dry Gewurztraminer. This can continue to be enjoyed with the first course of the meal. For the meat course a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah or a blend can be chosen and this will also suffice for the third glass. The fourth glass I recommend a sweet dessert wine, a nice way to finish the evening. Done this way, the need for ritual wines and dinner wines are combined.

Anyway Passover is a time for tradition, and each family has its own customs. Some insist only on red wines because of tradition, others on whites because of the blood libel. It is all open and acceptable to follow your own minhag.

When I am at a small seder, the wines I choose are special and rare, and kept especially for the occasion. Obviously the people present appreciate the wine investment for the evening, so it is justified. The wine aspect is an integral part of our seders. If it is a big seder, then the wine buying is muted down accordingly, not only so there is something for everyone but also something everyone will like. Also you are not going to serve up that twenty year old wine for all your uncles and and aunts, sharing the precious liquid with 20 people, who may not even like it. The size of seder helps to dictate the price you want to pay for the wine.

If you are buying on price alone, there are very competitive prices this year. All very good for the consumer! The Hermon range, from the Golan Heights Winery, are the best in this group. The Mount Hermon Red and White are at record low prices. Other brands which almost by definition will need to be even cheaper than Hermon, are Carmel Selected, Barkan Classic and Segal Red. It is going to be a real buyers’ market this Passover. So look around. Make no mistake, at the promotion prices these wines will stoop to, they are good buys.

If you want to go one stage up, into the three for 100 shekel category, I suggest anything from the Tabor Har range (with the recognizable yellow capsule) or the Recanati Yasmin label. The Har whites, in particular Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer, and Yasmin red are particular recommendations. The Dalton Kna’an label, also offers good value for money.

If your search is for better wines in the supermarkets, I recommend Gamla and the Appellation wines of Carmel. I believe the Appellation Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, (look for the new label, not the old one), is a very good wine that punches well above its weight. At the price of between 45 to 55 shekels, it is a real bargain.

If you are out to impress, then the entry level wines from the some of the best wineries in the country are always best buys and never disappoint, but this is in a category nearer 100 shekels. Tzora Judean Hills, Flam Classico and Castel’s new La Vie line of red and white are options. The Tzora Judean Hills Red is a perennial favorite of mine being perfectly balanced. To plagiarize one of my favorite tasting notes ‘it has everything, but not too much.’ Castel’s La Vie Blanc is a fragrant wine that white wine drinkers will like.

If you are looking for the best of the best, my personal choice would be C Blanc du Castel or Tzora Shoresh White as the white wine (respectively a Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc) and Castel Grand Vin, Flam Noble or Tzora Misty Hills as the red wine. The best sparkling and dessert wine are an easier, more clear cut choice. They are the Yarden Blanc de Blancs and Yarden HeightsWine, both produced by the Golan Heights Winery.

Of course these are from kosher wineries. If I could add in non-kosher wineries, I would have to include the Clos de Gat Chardonnay and a red wine from Margalit Winery. They don’t have a kosher certificate, but they are made by Jews who are not idol worshippers (the reason that the whole issue of kosher wine separation began.) Once they would have been kosher enough with a small k, but that is the subject of another article.

Today the choice is yours and it is your opinion that counts not mine. There are hundreds of Israeli wines producing quality wines these days. It is no longer a question of choosing a good or bad wine, but choosing the one you like or know, or the one with the best deal. It is a great time to be buying Israeli wine. Unlike the airlines and hotels which put up prices at peak times, in the wine trade we heavily discount. So take time to look around and enjoy the opportunity, and buy within your means.

As a rough estimate, the number of 750 ml. bottles you will need for each Seder, including Elijah’s Cup, is roughly as follows : For 6 people you will need 5 bottles; for 12 people you will need 10 bottles.

My final advice is buy what you like. Don’t worry about trying to match the wine to each course. Today we say: ‘Match the wine to mood not to food.’ Or even, ‘match the wine to the person you are buying for.’ I say match the wine to the person purchasing. In other words, buy what the hell you like. Take the pressure off. It does not matter anymore, so choose what you want to drink. If you are the wine buyer, going to all that trouble for your guests, you might as well choose something you will enjoy.

The Judean Hills are flowing with wine, echoing the words of Amos the Prophet. Recently, four of Israel’s finest wineries decided to pool their efforts to advance the Judean Hills as a relatively ‘new’ quality wine region, in exactly the same place where wine was made thousands of years ago.

In Biblical times this region was a center of wine production. In those days, people drank far more wine than today, because it was safe, whereas water was a carrier of disease. Vines were grown in terraced vineyards, brought to a nearby ‘gat’ or limestone wine press for fermentation. The resulting wine was put into large amphorae (pointed clay vases with large handles) and then stored in cool caves. The wine was later exported and it was much prized by neighboring countries. Wine was one of the mainstays of the economy.

After the Muslim conquest, the wine industry simply dried up. Of course, individual Jewish families in places like the Old City of Jerusalem continued to make wine at home purely for religious ritual, using food grapes grown by Arabs in Bethlehem and Hebron. However, the once proud industry was laid waste.

The revival of Israeli wine had to wait until the late 1880’s. Then Baron Edmond de Rothschild built wineries and planted vineyards. As far as the Judean Plain was concerned, he planted vineyards in the flatter part of the Shefela, south east of where Tel Aviv is today. It was only in the 1950’s and 1960’s that there was a program to plant vineyards in the rolling hills known as the Judean Foothills. This was encouraged by the Jewish Agency. In the seventies and eighties there were further plantings in the higher elevation Judean Hills. However, these were vineyards to supply the large wineries. The objective in those days was quantity and the word quality did not enter the equation.

In 1988, a restaurateur named Eli Ben Zaken planted a vineyard and produced a wine. He was a Francophile and called his wine Castel Grand Vin and he put Haut Judée on the label, Judean Hills in French. This was a tiny production of a handcrafted wine, but it was the first attempt at quality in the region and the first time the appellation appeared on the label. In 1995 Serena Sutcliffe, MW, Head of the Sotheby’s Wine Department, wrote it was the finest Israeli wine she had ever tasted. With great passion, absolute perfectionism and great attention to detail, Domaine du Castel was born and brought quality to the Judean Hills.

At the same time, a veteran grape grower named Ronnie James, who grew grapes that were sold to the Carmel Cooperative, felt an urge to produce his own wine from his own grapes. In 1993 he founded Tzora Vineyards, and became obsessed with creating a Judean Hills terroir. His charm, smile, and ‘salt of the earth’ character touched and motivated many people.

Almost by example, these two pioneers succeeded in changing the focus of a region. New vineyards were planted, a series of small wineries opened and pursuit of quality became the order of the day. Now the Judean Hills is thriving and one of the most dynamic wine regions in the country.

So, it is not surprising that Castel and Tzora are two of the four wineries. They have been joined by Flam Winery and Sphera, and have called their new consortium The Judean Hills Quartet. Their objective is to spread the message about the Judean Hills, rather in the same way that the Golan Heights Winery did with the Golan a few years ago. They are four of the best.

Domaine du Castel is quite simply the winery that has set the style and quality for Israeli winemakers. They have just moved in to a magnificent new winery at Yad Shmona, near Neve Ilan. Eli Ben Zaken has twice built the most beautiful winery in Israel. That is quite something. The new winery is a real cathedral (or should I say Beit Mikdash) to quality.

Tzora Vineyards has continued to develop since Ronnie James passed away, before his time. One of his last decisions was to bring in a young tousle haired winemaker in 2006. His name was Eran Pick, and he has since become Israel’s most famous winemaker having become Israel’s first ever Master of Wine. He is devoted to making wine from individual plots within the Shoresh vineyard. He is a determined artist with a great deal of talent, drive…and important in the wine business, patience. It is so appropriate and fitting that Tzora’s viticulturist is Dor James, Ronnie’s son.

Flam Winery is the creation of Israel’s most prominent wine family. Two brothers, Golan and Gilad, and their sister, Gefen, founded Flam Winery and they chose to build their beautiful winery in the Judean Hills at Eshtaol. Their father Israel, was the legendary chief winemaker of Carmel, over many years and their mother Kami, runs the finances of the company with an iron grip. It is a true family affair. Golan Flam is the winemaker, who studied in Italy. He is dry, poker faced and silent, until you get into a vineyard where he becomes positively talkative, as though his passion has burst out like a bubbling brook.

Sphera is a winery which has a slogan ‘White Wine Professionals’ and it is devoted to making white wines only. The owner winemaker Doron Rav Hon, who studied in Beaune in Burgundy. A perfectionist whose raison d’être is minimalist, precision and delicateness. Sphera is one of the main white wine pioneers in the country.

Those who follow the most influential wine critics in the wine world, will not be able to ignore the high profile of these Judean Hills wineries. Castel was the first Israeli winery to gain four stars in Hugh Johnson’s Wine Book, and has since been joined by Flam. In Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, Castel has scored a best for Israel 94 points and is arguably the best performer year in and year out with all their wines achieving high scores. Flam is one of the few Israeli wineries that have scored 93 points. As far as the Wine Spectator is concerned, the highest ever score for an Israeli wine was also by a Judean Hills winery, this time Tzora Vineyards. In addition, all Tzora’s wines scored more than 90 points and one of them featured in the Top 100 Wines of the Year. Finally Stuart Pigott, one of the world’s experts on Riesling, rated the Sphera Riesling as one of the top five in the world.

So, what is special about the Judean Hills The Judean Hills rise from 300 to 900 meters starting in the foothills and rising to the Jerusalem Mountains. The climate is Mediterranean which means warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters. There is usually no rain in the growing season, and the vineyards do not suffer from the humidity of the coastal regions. The region benefits from cooling winds from the Mediterranean Sea, and the cold air circulating from the Jerusalem mountains at night time. The soils tend to be a shallow Terra Rossa on a deep bedrock of limestone. They are well-drained and very rich in minerals. The Judean hills are covered with vineyards, but they tend to be small and varied. This encourages small winery winemaking and there are approximately thirty wineries in the region.

Quite apart from this, the region is beautiful. Pine forests surround the vineyards, limestone rocks lie scattered amongst them, and garrigue, the Mediterranean brush, sprouts close to the ground in clumps. In the spring, wild Mediterranean herbs, like zaater and oregano, mingle with the beautiful wild flowers. If you are lucky, you will see deer frolicking amongst the vines. The viticulturists place of work, is a playground to others! If you look around, you will come across fossils which underline the rich history this land has undergone over millennia.

The most surprising thing is the unusually cold spells that may found in the valleys and corridors of the Judean Hills. When you visit, the winds and temperatures will surprise you.

In wine, the place where grapes are grown is important. That is why a Californian label with Napa Valley on it, will create greater expectation (and cost) than if it was written Central Valley. In Israel, the most famous wine regions for quality are arguably the Golan Heights, Upper Galilee and Judean Hills. This new initiative will help advance the Judean Hills further and introduce it to the general wine world, outside the kosher confines.

Israeli wine has undergone a number of key events which have propelled Israeli wine forward in terms of image and recognition. Now that Israeli wine is truly on the map, it is interesting to look back at the stepping stones on the way to recognition.

When all the talk is of quality Israeli wines which win prizes worldwide, you will be surprised, at how much grape juice and Kiddush wine is still being produced these days.

Israel produces approximately 50 million bottles a year from wine grapes. However a surprising ten million bottles of this is grape juice. These are grape juices usually made from wine grapes, marketed in glass bottles and sold on the wine shelves in Israeli supermarkets. I say ‘wine grapes’ because once wine was made from wine grapes (Cabernet, Merlot etc) and grape juice was made from food or table grapes but these days there are enough wine grapes spare. Producing grape juice is a great way of using excess grapes.

Grape juice really came in its own with the anti-alcohol movement of the 20th century which spawned Prohibition in America. The temperance movement was convinced that partaking of alcohol including wine, was a sin. Many thought that whenever the word Tirosh was used in the Bible it referred to grape juice and not new wine. It was an interpretation based on wishful thinking. Grape juice is but a short stepping stone on the way to wine and then wine vinegar. Certainly in Biblical times they did not have the techniques to preserve grape juice. Harvest grapes and naturally all they want to do is ferment. There are yeasts on the skin of the grapes and in the air that can’t wait to start fermentation. Just try and stop them. Making wine was then a way of saving the product. Leaving it as grape juice would have been impossible.

Of course when pasteurization was invented by Louis Pasteur, an American clergyman named Welch adapted the techniques to allow him to produce a commercially stable grape juice and a new market was born. Today, the giant of kosher grape juice in America is Kedem. They started to make their grape juice in the 1950’s, often using the Concord grape, so beloved by the American palate. Their grape juice has remained the choice of religious Jews in America, despite attempts of others to take a share of the market.

In Israel, the main grape juice is the Carmel Tirosh produced by Carmel Winery since the 1930’s. It is the largest brand in the Israeli ‘wine’ market. Until recently it was known simply as Tirosh. For consumers the word Tirosh meant Carmel. However, in the 2000’s exclusive use of the name was challenged in court and now every grape juice producer has a product named Tirosh.

Just as Americans prefer the Kedem Grape Juice above all others, the Israelis prefer the Carmel taste, but it has become a more competitive business. Other wineries are today producing large quantities of grape juice including Arza, Hacormim, Jerusalem, Segal, Teperberg and Zion. The Carmel Tirosh though, remains the Rolls Royce of Israeli grape juices. It is arguably their most famous product in Israel, which has always caused problems image wise. They make very good wines today, and no quality winery wants their grape juice to be their most well-known product!

Carmel Tirosh is made 100% from wine grapes with no water, sweetener or coloring agent added. The red, (or rose as it may be more accurately described), is made mainly from Carignan sometimes with small amounts of Argaman and Petite Sirah, whilst the white is made from Colombard and Muscat of Alexandria. It is a product that families have grown up with (‘yayin for yeladim’ – wine for children) and grownups who wish to avoid the alcohol or over sweetness of kiddush wine, will continue to use it for Shabbat and festivals. It is the ultimate family product.

The other product is Kiddush or sacramental wine. Approximately four million bottles of Kiddush wine are produced annually In Israel. This is 10 % of the total amount of wine produced. This market sector is dominated by massive brands that have nurtured Jews over a lifetime of Seders, Shabbats and Festivals. Who has not heard of Manischewitz , Mogen Dovid or Kedem in America or Palwin in Britain These are brands with a big following. However, arguably the most famous Israeli Kiddush Wine is Konditon.

Konditon is a word that comes up in the history of Greek and Roman wine, as well as in the Jewish literature. It was a word to describe a spiced wine. In the 1860’s the Shor family decided to produce a Konditon style wine again. In those days wine was not bottled but sold in small casks. There were no labels or kashrut certificates. You bought from someone reputable whom you knew. When bottling and labelling became the norm, Konditon became not just a style of wine, but a brand.

The wine was flavored and sweetened, but this was not new. This is what they did in Biblical times to preserve the wine and make it tasty. Wine has been made this way for thousands of years.

Hacormim is today managed by Eli Shor, a charming, kind man with boundless enthusiasm. He has a winemaker, but Konditon is his baby. He delights in describing how he flavors the wine, building the flavor. Everything is designed to recreate the wines written about in the ancient sources, and by so doing, continuing the Shor family tradition.

The traditional, classic Konditon, is fortified with brandy to roughly 14% alcohol. Its parchment like label was designed by a Bezalel artist depicting scenes from Masada & Kumran. This retails for just under 30 shekels. It is most regularly used as a Kiddush wine, but Eli bristled when I said this, and said that they prefer to categorize it as a dessert wine.

Now there is a new prestige, de-luxe edition, the Konditon 18 which comes in an attractive, stylish package. This is as a fortified dessert wine. It is made from a blend of Caladoc, Argaman, Carignan, Petit Verdot and Muscat Hamburg. It has spices from the Jerusalem area added, along with a touch of Etrog zest, also Silan (date honey) which provides the sweetness and brandy aged in the winery’s own cellar which provides the alcohol. The final wine reaches 18% alcohol, hence the name and it is matured for 36 months in oak barrels. It comes in a handsome presentation box and costs 80 shekels.

Hacormim tell the story of how my distinguished forbear, Sir Moses Montefiore, visited the Shor Winery and it was this that persuaded him to invest in Jerusalem. Visit the winery and you will still see his parents Yechiel & Nechama still coming to work, well past retirement age. When I visited recently, Nechama, sharp as a button, said : “Oh, a Montefiore once visited us 25 years ago.” What a memory! It was me! When I made Aliya I arrived on their doorstep, eager to learn about the different Israeli wines.

Loving history like I do, I especially appreciate the use of the old Shor family logo on the labels. A nice touch. The other members of the family have spawned new boutique wineries to leave the liquid religion image behind. Zion Winery begat 1848 Winery and from Arza Winery came forth Hayotzer. Hacormim though, went retro and have gone back to the old family logo, Shorr 1848 (spelt with two r’s then) for their Konditon wines.

Carmel was Israel’s first commercial winery, founded by the Rothschild family in the 1880’s. The Shor family founded Israel’s first recorded winery in 1848 in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Carmel’s growers are now in their sixth generation. These are largely the same families that planted Carmel’s first vines. They were the owners of the cooperative and now remain part owners. How rare is it for shareholders of a company to stay the same over 130 years The Shor family is in its seventh generation. Two of my children are in the wine trade. That is a mere two generations in this business. How special it is that the Shor family are still making wine after nearly 170 years. The Carmel Tirosh and Hacormim Konditon are like liquid time capsules representing the tradition and history of the wine growing families of Carmel and the winemaking Shors. Here’s hoping that they continue for many more generations!

Farewell to Rishon Le Zion Wine Cellars. The final death throes have taken place and the historic winery of Israel is finally closed. It has been a long time coming. The last harvest was received there back in 2010, but offices, warehouses and the bottling plant remained. Last year the bottling plant moved to Alon Tabor and in February 2017, exactly four years after the new owners purchased Carmel Winery, the remaining employees packed their belongings and evacuated the premises for the final time.

It has been a ghost like property for some years, run down and dirty, but the place even in a state of disrepair still reeked of history. Indeed it was the largest winery in Israel for no less 120 years. In a wine industry where nearly all the wineries have been founded in the last 30 years, this represented a valuable jewel of Israeli wine representing history, heritage and culture. Whilst I don’t deny that progress is not always respectful of the past, it is also true that a part of the soul of Carmel Winery has flickered and gone out.

The story of the winery was the Zionist dream come true. It operated in three different centuries, the 19th, 20th and 21st, under the Turks, the British and the State of Israel. It represented both the story of Israel and the story of Israeli wine.

The first modern experimental vineyards were planted in Rishon Le Zion in 1882. This was the year that Baron Edmond de Rothschild sent an agronomist to survey the land and decided to build the water tower that can still be seen in the park across from the winery. After visiting, he decided to build wineries and plant vineyards and create an Israel wine industry.

When the foundations of the new winery were set in 1889, the Sultan was concerned about the amount of building materials entering the site. (Remember this was the Ottoman Empire.) He demanded building stop immediately. He feared the Jews were building a fortress. Some diplomatic smooth talking and a gift in the right direction allowed the building to continue.

The accounts books of the period are written in French (this was before Hebrew became the accepted language.) In it there is an entry entitled baksheesh, with a list of the bribes given. In those days they were recorded.

During the first vintage in August 1890, all the wine turned to vinegar. The French agronomists did not appreciate how hot it is in August. So the second year they imported an ice machine from Egypt, and put blocks of ice in the large fermenting barrels to bring down the temperature. The next year they made do with spiral pipes which they put inside barrels and pumped cold water through them. Both of these measures were only moderately successful.

So in 1893, Rothschild realized he had no alternative but to build the deep underground cellars to keep the temperatures cooler. He built six cellars at Rishon, each fifty meters long and the task was finished in 1896. The cost of building Rishon Cellars was 6 million francs. This was more than it cost the Rothschild family to buy Château Lafite, the famous Bordeaux winery.

However, Rishon Le Zion Wine Cellars was a state of the art winery and very large even in world terms. The winemaker was from Bordeaux, the cuttings from Château Lafite and the viticulturists were France’s finest. The first ever telephone used in Israel was at Rishon. It enabled the manager of the winery to speak with his cellar workers. Also the first time electricity was ever used was at the winery.

David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, worked at Rishon Le Zion Cellars in 1907. It is said he led the first strike there and he may have even been fired in the end. Even then as a young man he was very competitive. He bet his fellow workers that he could tread the grapes longer than they could. He did it for three consecutive days and won his bet, but the smell of fermenting wine made him feel so nauseous, he was not able to enjoy wine for years afterwards.

The name of Rishon Le Zion, or ‘Richon’ spelt the French way, Carmel and Palwin were the first brands of the company. However in the early days, Rishon would appear more prominently on the label than the other two.

Levi Eshkol, Israel’s third prime minister, managed the vineyards surrounding the cellars in 1915. Early photos show vineyards, not houses, up to the walls of the winery. It was like a true French Château! Unfortunately, money was more important than aesthetics and real estate was more profitable than vineyards. The vineyards were grubbed up and houses replaced them. It was the close proximity of the residential area which was one of the pressures that caused the winery to close. However the last vineyard did not leave Rishon until well into the 1970’s.

In 1934 Israel’s first brewery was opened adjacent to the winery. It was called Palestine Beer Breweries. Its first brand was Nesher (Eagle) which still exists. Israel’s best selling beer Goldstar was first made at Rishon in 1950.

There was a wall between the brewery and winery and workers used to barter before Shabbat “give me a bottle of bottle of wine and I will give a couple of beers.” Folklore says the winemaker and brew master used to meet after work, and drink until the early hours!

Of course, the only people drinking beer then, were the British. When they left, beer sales plummeted and the brewery closed in 1960. All that is left is the eagle embossed in the stone step at the entrance to what was the Brewery offices, and then became Carmel’s Accounts Department.

Only in 1957 did James Rothschild, the son of Baron Edmond, donate Rishon Cellars to Carmel SCV, the parent company. Thus the Rothschild involvement with Rishon lasted from 1882 to 1957. James Rothschild also donated the money to build the Knesset and started a foundation called Yad Hanadiv, which still supports Israel.

The winery always ordered some limousin oak barrels for maturing its brandy, which was far more popular in those days. Wine was then traditionally aged in large old oak barrels. However in 1976, the winemaker, Freddie Stiller, decided to take some of the small oak barrels from his brandy program and age his wine it. The result was the legendary Carmel Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1976. It was the first Israeli wine aged in small oak barrels and Israel’s first wine of international quality. It was a remarkable wine that lived for twenty years and was a forerunner of the quality revolution to follow.

As mentioned, Rishon was always very associated with brandy. It had four beautiful old copper pot stills provided with German reparation money after the founding of the state. It was housed in the spirit tower, where a continuous still was also situated. The Extra Fine Brandy was one of the first brands of the winery, when they began to distill excess grapes in 1898. The famous 777 brandy was originally branded as Rishon 777.

In 1998 the Carmel 100 Brandy won the outstanding award of Best Brandy Worldwide in the prestigious International Wine and Spirits Competition in London. This was a brandy that was aged in oak barrels in the legendary brandy cellar, with its original wooden slatted roof that in places allowed the rain to leak through. Here the aromas of the angel’s share (brandy lost to evaporation) will be remembered by all who entered this paradise.

Back in 1887 Baron Rothschild demanded that the farming villages plant Bordeaux varieties because he wanted to make a really fine wine. Most of his agronomists were against it, but the Baron’s wish prevailed. The grape varieties were planted, but the experiment ultimately failed, because of complaints by the growers, vineyard disease and there was no demand for expensive wine.

However in 2006 Carmel launched its first Carmel Limited Edition. The historic Rishon winery building is illustrated on the label. This was a prestige wine blended at Rishon which was made from the five main Bordeaux grape varieties. It took over 100 years, but the launch of this wine, which received a score of 91 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, meant that Baron Edmond de Rothschild’s vision for a Bordeaux style wine finally came true.

The last regular harvest was in 2010 and by 2011, the Zichron Ya’acov Cellars was equipped to receive the grapes that previously arrived at Rishon. In 2013 Carmel Winery was bought by a consortium of international and Israeli investors, headed by Kedma Capital. The new owners decided to close Rishon Cellars finally and to build a new bottling plant at Alon Tabor in the Jezreel Valley.

I have two sad thoughts. Firstly can you imagine the Mayor of Amsterdam allowing Heineken to leave the city One would have hoped the city mindful of culture and history, would have done whatever it took to keep this treasure within the city boundaries. Let us hope and pray that the future developments will include something more tasteful and less commercial than the restoration of Sarona.

Secondly, it was not me that said: “A company that does not respect its past, has no future.” However having worked for Carmel for sixteen years and been part of the management for much of this time, I know better than almost anyone else the wealth of historical information that was there. Rare old equipment, unique old bottles, priceless documents, hand written hundred year old account books etc. It is a real tragedy if everything has not been carefully collected, packed up and preserved for future generations. I am sure efforts have been made, but I fear not commen surate with the long history and value of the material. Fortunately the Rishon Le Zion Museum has done a better job than the winery of preserving some form of archive.

At least the old winery buildings and cellars will be preserved. Hopefully the memories and stories, and the Carmel folklore, will keep the cellars alive.

When I visit restaurants, I invariably study the wine list, looking for balance. It has to match the restaurant in style, size and price. I want to see a list that caters for all and that challenges and entices. Wine is an integral part of a good restaurant, but it does not have to be more than that. The difference between being merely interesting and providing good service to showing off in a pretentious way, is not so great. Wine may often be the focal point of what is best and worst in any restaurant. Balance and suitability is the key. I always value those that take wine seriously, but in the right context, which brings me to R2M.

My introduction to R2M was Coffee Bar. It swiftly became one of my favorite restaurants in Israel maintaining standards year in year out. Don’t be confused by the name…..or the area where it is situated.

It is a restaurant that understands the theatre of the restaurant business combining hospitality and quality food with fiercely good service. Everything is in the right proportion, but not too much. The menu and wine list are always interesting without being pretentious and the service is always tip top without arrogance. It will never be the absolutely the best quality in Israel, but the overall package gives a fight to any other establishment in Israel. To use a boxing term, it is one of the best pound for pound restaurants in Israel. Opened in 1994, it still maintains a high minimum standard and consistency, which is the envy of its competitors.

My children and I are notoriously ‘hard to please’ customers. We don’t only delight in eating, but also in analyzing and discussing each course, the wines and service, ad nauseum. The dissecting of the whole experience is part of the fun for us. We have all been in this business, so we do admire standards in others. We can drive our dining companions crazy with this obsession, sometimes even other family members, including my late wife. “Don’t talk about it….just eat” they would say. I digress simply to make the point I am pretty demanding, but even so, it is pretty difficult to leave Coffee Bar without positive feelings.

R2M is arguably the number one restaurant group in Israel. Apart from Coffee Bar, they own other outlets which are close to the best of their type in Israel. There is the Montefiore Hotel (great name by the way!), a pioneering boutique hotel in Israel; Then The Brasserie, a 24/7 operation which imports the French brasserie style as if directly from Paris; The Bakery, the place where you can spoil yourself with something delicious and fattening; Rothschild 12,a hip bar where music and hospitality combine; Finally Delicatessen, where you can enjoy one of the best breakfasts in the city or purchase some of the quality ingredients that make the group what it is. No outlet replicates the other. Each venue is a totally different concept, but each has set the standards for others to try and emulate.

However I write about wine not restaurants and it is their attitude to wine which I respect so much. The wine selection and style of wine list at every venue matches the concept and price, and the variety available is as up to date as tomorrow. The choice reflects both the needs and perception of the customers. They are not wines lists solely to impress but also fit seamlessly into the objectives and theme of the restaurant.

Now there are no famous sommeliers serving these wines. Wine service is done by the servicing waiter. It is all about efficiency and hospitality, but this is not to imply wine service is not of a high standard at all levels. However R2M is built on service not just for the sake of it or to draw attention to themselves. They don’t aim to be pretentious because they can justify higher prices. No, the service is inbuilt in the culture in order to enhance the overall dining experience.

The R2M Group does not have superstars, or PR companies pumping out press releases. The owners and chefs are remarkably low key. The outlet is the brand. However the person in charge of beverages is a kind of superstar.

I am referring to Elad Shoham. He is lean and lanky, balding with a newish ginger beard and a permanent quizzical look. Once I was served by him at the Montefiore Hotel, and no doubt he has the languid, fluid, economy of movement of someone born to give service. Those who are gifted, glide unobtrusively. Do you remember Muhammed Ali floating like a butterfly or have you ever watched Roger Federer’s footwork If you have admired them, you will know what I mean.

I remember the first great restaurants I visited were Le Manoir aux Quatre Saisons in England, Trotters in the USA and Les Crayères in France. The difference between these cathedrals of gastronomy and all the other good & successful places was an elevated, almost uncanny level of service. In Israel I often think the food reaches high international standards, but the overall dining experience falls down on service issues.

Now, Elad Shoham is someone who his hyper active and likes doing. He can barely sit still long enough to speak to me. He is fidgeting, desperate to get back to the action. He tells me he started at McDonalds as a 15 year old. This was his entry into the pressure cooker of food service. His introduction to fine dining which changed his outlook and gave him his career, was at Aioli Restaurant. There the foodie in him came out. The world of fine wine and the culinary possibilities opened a window in his mind. At the same time he did everything and anything in the kitchen or on the floor, just to soak up the knowledge and atmosphere of the restaurant business.

At this stage he was not sure whether he wanted to be in the kitchen, but he began to be entranced by the world of bars, cocktails and wines

Then he joined the R2M and developed along with the group. He was part of the kitchen staff of Hotel Montefiore for a while and floor manager of the Coffee Bar. Eventually the theatre of the restaurant floor, contact with the customer and buzz of service won the day and wine became his new passion. He had the urge to taste, learn about wine, visit wineries, meet winemakers and develop his knowledge. He eventually became the sommelier of the Hotel Montefiore, then wine manager for the group and more recently was put in charge of all Beverages too.

The wine list at Hotel Montefiore maybe is not as grand or as long as some. Awards were recently awarded to The Norman Hotel for the best wine list in the country and to Toto Restaurant for the best range of wines by the glass. Chloelys Restaurant received the prize for the best cellar and King David Hotel’s La Regence was given the award for the best kosher wine list. However, no wine lover will complain about the choice, range, price or service of wine at Montefiore. The oligarch looking for the expensive wine, or business lunch customer looking for wine by the glass, will be satisfied. It is one of the outstanding wine venues in Tel Aviv. At the other end of the scale, Delicatessen lists interesting wines at great value prices to purchase.

Apart from the wine selection and variety by bottle, glass and magnum, there are three other reasons why I single out R2M has having an enviable wine program. Firstly the level of wine service is very good and staff knowledge his high. This shows an excellent and ongoing wine training with tastings thrown in.

Secondly, there are very few restaurants that have the budgets to buy wines for long term aging. Everything is immediate. Wine lists change by the day and the days of the telephone book sized wine list is disappearing. Yet, visit Hotel Montefiore and you have the opportunity to buy different mini verticals (different vintages) of Castel Grand Vin, Clos de Gat Ayalon, Flam Noble, Margalit Cabernet Sauvignon and Yatir Forest. This is virtually unique because the restaurant has to buy wine and store it for the future. In today’s restaurant world, fewer and fewer restaurants are prepared to do this.

Then there is Haruzim. This is the house wine of the group. Most restaurants searching for a house wine would select something off the shelf and slap a special personalized label on the bottle. Those with higher standards would go to the trouble to taste existing wines and choose their own blend. You would think the energizer bunny of sommeliers would choose the easier route because it is quicker. No, R2M is different. They choose the fruit from the vineyard, make their own red, white and rosé wine at the Soreq Winery Wine School. They then age it, blend it and the wine experts at each particular outlet will sit together and democratically select the final restaurant wine.

It is typical of R2M, to take the longest, most painstaking route to produce the entry level wine. Talking about caring about ingredients and success through people. It is because of this approach and the investment cellar that the group caught my eye from a wine point of you.

So what is the secret Elad Shoham is not a shrinking violet and has bundles of self-confidence. He is knowledgeable yet curious and dynamic, and most significantly he has the absolute backing of the R2M management. A recipe for success. Visiting any R2M outlet is a delight for the wine lover and connoisseur. Bravo!

If the 1980’s heralded the birth of the quality revolution in Israeli wine, and the 1990’s the development of boutique wineries, the first decade of the 2000’s has witnessed the revival of the historic & traditional wineries of Israel. Large wineries have responded to the industry’s advances by rejuvenating themselves. These famous wineries, part of the history of Israel, are today, without exception, making some pretty good wines. Quality is the new name of the game and in the competitive wine industry of today, wineries have no alternative but to sink or swim.

The change began with a newly expressed wish to reduce the dependence on kiddush wine and grape juice. This is what I call liquid religion. However they not only expressed the desire to focus more on table wine, but they were also determined to go for quality.

Internationally trained winemakers were employed, new wineries built, existing wineries refurbished and for the first time ever, these wineries started to focus on their vineyards in a more serious way realizing that quality wineries ‘grow wine’ and not grapes. The most visual result of the change, was the new names that were introduced. Carmel Mizrahi, Eliaz, Efrat and Askalon, were consigned to the dustbin of history, to be replaced by the names we are familiar with today such as Carmel Winery, Binyamina, Teperberg and Segal.

The original names are important, because they are a reminder that the modern Israeli wine industry did not begin in the 1980’s. Yet the advances these wineries have made in the 2000’s, has shown that it is not only the new & boutique wineries that can produce quality wine.

More recently three more wineries, deeply imbedded in the liquid religion market, have also began their own revolutions. They are: Arza, Jerusalem and Zion. These are big wineries, comfortably in the list of the top ten largest in the country.

Arza is a winery founded by the Shor family in 1847/8. It was the first recorded winery in Israel, though in those days it was a tiny, domestic winery specializing in sweet wines for a religious market. The miracle is that 170 years later the Shor family still exists and is still making wine. As the family has grown, they have split into three separate wineries, all situated in the same street of Mishor Adumim.

Arza is managed by Moti Shor, the seventh generation. They are a large operation specializing in grape juice, Kiddush wine and inexpensive supermarket wines. Yet they have decided to break away from the traditional image by forming a new boutique winery called Ha’Yotzer. They appointed an internationally trained winemaker and a new CEO to lead the new winery to the promised land.

The winemaker Philippe Lichtenstein is tall, bespectacled, born in France and studied in Montpelier. He has a thick French accent, which is an asset to anyone in the wine trade. But he is also a very good winemaker with an excellent palate. He is best known for being winemaker and later manager of the Zichron Ya’acov Wine Cellars.

His story, of bringing the tastes and flavors of Provence to the hills of Jerusalem, has been adopted by the winery and the name of the winery itself, (author or creator), reflects on the importance they place on their winemaker.

The wines with brand names like Bereshit, Virtuoso, Lyrika, come in quite a flashy presentation that certainly stands out from the shelf. The labels feature a silhouette, not dissimilar to Opus One, one of the most famous and iconic wine labels.

The Jerusalem Wineries situated in Atarot, northern Jerusalem, is another undergoing a kind of quality renaissance. Founded in 1976, also by a member of the Shor family, it was acquired by the Guetta family in 2006. They ploughed the same furrow as Arza, but have decided to invest in quality. They appointed a new CEO, Col. Erez Weiner, who was better known as senior aide to the Chief of Staff of the IDF, Gaby Ashkenazi, and a new winemaker, Sam Soroka, one of Israel’s finest.

Weiner, (what a great name for someone in the wine trade!), is an impressive figure. Calm, authorative and frightfully organized, he has taken to wine like a duck to water. A bottling crisis must be insignificant to the sort of situation he is used to. He seems to relish the sheer variety of the job which takes in the agricultural aspect in the vineyard, production at the winery, and marketing and sales throughout Israel and overseas.

Sam Soroka must be one of the most experienced winemakers in Israel. He studied wine in Adelaide and has made wine in Australia, California, Canada, France and Israel. He first came here in 2003, worked for Carmel and then Mony. He is also consultant winemaker to Montefiore Winery. Ever the artist, he has certainly become known for making award winning wines at these three wineries.

Jerusalem Wineries celebrates being the only winery within Jerusalem by having a series of wines identified by significant dates of winemaking history using the Jewish calendar. So you will find wines named 2900, 3400, 4990 and 5600. Innovative, even interesting for the wine historian, but slightly complicated. Their new look artist collection labels are brighter and easier to like. Some of the wines are already good and this is a fast improving winery to be watched.

The last winery to have a makeover is the Zion Winery. This is another branch of the Shor family situated in Mishor Adumim, also managed by the seventh generation. In this instance, it is Moshe Shor who is steering the new direction. What they have done quite frankly blew me away. They have made enormous changes, largely unseen, all to the end of investing in quality. They have refurbished the winery totally, introducing the latest technology and the winery is spotless. This is the example for any winery wanting a makeover, but thinking they can cut corners. Others should take heed. Changing a label and a introducing a new name alone is not enough.

However they have done that too. A few years ago they introduced a small winery called 1848 for their new quality table wines. Each label represents a different generation, and the boutique winery is the brainwork of the dynamic Yossi Shor, the eighth generation. The wines are beginning to receive the credit their investment deserves, and more plaudits are most likely on the way.

The three wineries are in the process of making changes. They have all decided on the quality route. Don’t be put off by the confusing nature of their labels, something they share. However, the wines are good and most are very reasonably priced. Farewell liquid religion; Welcome quality and value!

Adam Montefiore has been advancing Israeli wines for over 30 years. He is known as ‘the ambassador of Israeli wine’ and the ‘English voice of Israeli wine’.

Out of the wines I tasted, my favorites were:

Ha’Yotzer Virtuoso Shiraz 2013
Fruity, easy drinking with good balance and a satisfying freshness. Good value. PRICE: 50 ILS

Ha’Yotzer Lyrika GSM 2012
A wine made from Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Aromas of strawberry, raspberry, light in the mouth with a good acidity. PRICE: 80 ILS

Jerusalem Wineries Marselan 2014
A blend of Marselan, with a little Petit Verdot and Merlot. Marselan is a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. It has settled well in Israel. The wine has aromas of bramley fruit, with the oak quite apparent and has a refreshing finish. The label features a painting by David Gerstein. It is part of a limited edition offer of four wines. PRICE: 55 ILS

Jerusalem Wineries 4990 Petite Sirah 2013
Perfumed aroma of violets, with sweet ripe fruit, wrapped in vanilla with a long finish. Good wine. PRICE: 75 ILS

1848 Winery Fourth Generation Barbera 2013
Fresh nose of wild berries and cherries, lively flavor, with a surprisingly tannic finish. Best served lightly chilled. PRICE: 85 ILS

1848 Winery Seventh Generation Merlot 2011
Made mainly from Merlot with a little Syrah & Petite Sirah, the wine has delicate aromas of plum and blackberries and a rounded flavor with a long finsh. A fine wine. PRICE: 120 ILS

67 Wine is one of the iconic wine and spirit stores in Manhattan. It was founded in 1941 by Joel Weiser and it is still a family owned business. His son owns it today. There is an inventory of over 8,000 bottles. They have a first class selection of aged and current wines, a well-oiled site for internet sales www.67wine.com<span style=”vertical-align: bottom;”> (http://www.67wine.com)</span> and a very efficient distribution service. There are two floors of good value wines mingling with the jewels. At one end of the upstairs section there is a super new stainless steel tasting table with a spittoon and ice bucket built in. An impressive operation, however it is as a retailer of Israeli wines that they caught my interest.

It is one of the first liquor stores in the city, to create an Israeli section separate from the Kosher wine section. So whilst the Kosher wines can be found downstairs, of course along with a good selection of Israeli kosher wines, the non-kosher Israeli wines may be found in the more generously spaced upstairs, in its own section.

I always believe that the Israeli brand should stand on its own, whether kosher or not kosher. Kosher is not a country and Israel is not an island, so our true place must be be alongside the wines of the Eastern Mediterranean countries like Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon and Turkey on both wine lists in a restaurant and on the shelves of wine shops. You can add to that North Africa, if Moroccan or Tunisian wine is present and even the Middle East, if Syrian and Jordanese wine are listed. Don’t mock, they all have good wines, but realistically we are talking about the Eastern Med countries, and in particular Greece, Lebanon and Israel. To me that makes a fascinating region, with the history of the birth of wine culture in its midst.

The Israeli wines at 67 Wine are situated next to Californian Merlots for some unfathomable reason, instead of being part of their region. However Liquor stores in New York City are notorious for a lack of space. They are not that big and suffer from enormous inventory. This is undoubtedly the reason.

However as a symbol and an example to other stores, 67 Wine should be frequented, praised and encouraged for it is at the forefront of a change in the way Israeli wines are marketed in this top heavy kosher wine market economy. Despite the advances of Israeli wine, it has been well-nigh impossible to get out of the Kosher section, especially in East Coast America where the Kosher consumer is so dominant. The Kosher section is normally at the back of the store by the toilets or rest room and the quality table wines often mingle with Kiddush wines like Manischewitz, Mogen Dovid and Kedem. Over fifty percent of Israeli exports go to America. It is the country not only with the most sales and but also with the most potential for future, incremental sales. However Israeli wine is submerged by Kosher which kind of defines our image.

However, now 67 Wine believes Israel should be considered like every wine producing country.

The person, or rather the pioneer, responsible for this change is Sadie Flateman. Curly, frizzy haired, with large bright, intelligent eyes and a shy smile, she is the modest and quiet buyer of wines from Portugal, the Loire, Beaujolais, Californian Whites and Merlot, Sake and dessert wines…and Israel of course. With a B.A. in Art History and past experience in Art Marketing, Production and Curation, she now has a B in her bonnet about advancing Brand Israel and making Israel known as a wine producing country like any other.

She is professional and well qualified. She has earned The Sommelier Society of America Certification Diploma and the WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Level 3 Award in Wines and Spirits. She is also a certified Sake Specialist. The specialist buyer in 67 is also a marketer and seller as she works seamlessly with the other experts on the floor. I noticed no customer waited long and the expertise in this store is thorough yet modestly used. The knowledge here is well above the Manhattan norm. Sadie puts it well: “I am honored to be a Buyer at one of New York’s oldest and most historic wine shops. It is a privilege to be in the presence of this caliber of wine professionals and customers, who teach me so much daily.”

This slight, rather delicate looking woman must have steel running through her veins. She recently went a step further. She organized an Israeli Wine Symposium, which was three years in the planning. She visited Israel, talking up her unlikely dream, but this impressive lady, through passion and determination, not through a position of authority or with any budgets to speak of, made it happen. She persuaded the Temple Emanu-El Skirball Center to host it. In short no less than 300 people purchased the tickets and attended the symposium. First there was a lecture and presentation. Then eleven importers of Israeli wines offered tastings from over fifty wineries. What was particularly notable, it was an occasion when specialist kosher importers mixed with general market wine importers and kosher wines intermingled with non-kosher wines. As such it was a unique event. It was totally Sadie’s initiative and it was only her drive and determination that made the event a success.

When one meets Sadie one begins to understand. Her love of art, production and curating comes together at the table. She is a real foodie. She fell in love with Slow Food concept at the age of 17 years old. Eating out with her parents was part of growing up. She really sees the food and wine business as an art form with their enjoyment as a kind of production offering entertainment. She loves to educate, inform and elevate the wine drinking experience.

It was only in 2011 that she began to work at 67 because she wanted a job. She only took on Californian Merlot and the Kosher section because no-one else wanted them. By 2014 she was moving Israel out of the Kosher section. When she visited Israel for the first time she visited twenty five wineries. This is not a lady that does things by halves. She paid her respects to the Golan Heights Winery “where it all started” and particularly loved the quirky, edgy, more individualistic wineries, like Clos de Gat and Shvo.

She returned frustrated at how Israel sold itself in America and wanted to create change. In her words she “decided to do something and be a bridge.” And she did. Now she is already planning the next step.

Brand Israel is critical to the advance of Israeli wine. The word itself is more important than Yarden, Carmel, Castel or any individual winery name. This calls for more support from those government and wine authorities with budgets and for the wineries to put aside ego and self interest, to work together for the greater good. Israeli wine is such a positive ambassador for Israel…and you can’t give a bottle of hi tec as a present. However wine organization here, is dysfunctional, to say the least. All the positive developments so far have been individual winery led. So until we get our act together, we need to support the Sadie Flatemans of this world. They can teach us how it is done.

As an afterthought, I can’t resist passing on another tidbit about the 67 Store, which tickled and amused me. Apart from the professionalism and the smoothness of the 67 operation, my favorite part of the store is the sign outside saying dogs are welcome. If they come in they will get a treat. When you enter the store, you see why. Two small dogs are resident in the store and run the roost. In fact I believe they are the true managers. If you visit, Mookie and Shay may not be able recommend the best Cru Beaujolais, but they will definitely provide a warm welcome and a wag.

Wherever the soil is poor and unfertile throughout the Mediterranean basin and the Levant, vines and olive trees have always been planted. They both thrive where other trees and crops don’t grow. The vine and olive tree have a rugged beauty that is as old as time. Yet their fruits, the humble grape and olive, produce super enhanced products, which people thought were gifts from the Gods in ancient times. I am referring to wine and olive oil.

Many Jewish festivals have wine associated with them which certainly helps when struggling to think of an article for the next deadline.  When arriving at Hannuka, it was a difficult decision. I feel moved to write about hearty red wines because we are in December, but the weather just does not feel wintery. Instead, I have chosen to write about the product, which is at the center of the Hannuka story. I am referring to olive oil.

I believe it is appropriate for olive oil to appear in a wine article because they are partners and go together like salt and pepper or humus and tehina.  They grow together as olive trees and vines in the same climate and conditions, are cultivated in olive groves and vineyards in the same growing regions and later appear on the same table together as olive oil and wine.

Olive oil and wine go back to the very dawn of the Jewish people in Israel. Deuteronomy refers to a land of olive oil and wine. Thucydides wrote that man became civilized when he began to cultivate the olive tree and vine. Today, they together they are the best expression of the Mediterranean diet, and are symbols of the new quality Israeli cuisine. The wine and olive oil quality revolutions in Israel were forerunners and are now standard bearers of the culinary revolution here.

I never forget when I was a young wine buyer in England, a famous Italian winery wanted to give a gift. I was rather hoping for one of the winery’s better wines, but instead was surprised to receive a bottle of their finest olive oil. Only later when I came to Israel and began to appreciate the wonders of olive oil, did I truly appreciate what a special and personal gift it was. I learnt that the pride in a handcrafted olive oil was no less than in a great wine.

The olive was first cultivated in the Levant and Crete virtually simultaneously. From its roots in the areas of Syria, Israel & Lebanon, olive cultivation spread to Turkey, Arabia, North Africa and Spain. The Hebrew word for olive is Zayit, which is similar and the obvious root to the Aramaic Zaita, Arabic Zait, Armenian Dzita, North African Zeit and Spanish & Portuguese Azeite. Those countries using the word olive, trace their roots to Greece, not to the Levant.

The olive tree grew wild in the natural forests of ancient Israel. Olive oil, like wine, was an important commodity for trade & export. There is evidence that olive oil from Canaan was exported to Egypt and Greece over 4,000 years ago. In ancient Israel, olive oil was used for food, cooking, medicine, illumination, cleanliness, cosmetics and for anointing kings or priests during their consecration.

Archaeologists have found a wealth of information from ancient oil presses, storage jars and weights found throughout the country. It is in Israel that the earliest mortars for crushing olives and the oldest surviving vestiges of olive wood were discovered. In the Lower Galilee, they recently found residue of olive oil in clay pots dating back a mere 8,000 years!

The most complete olive oil production center was at Ekron, the Philistine capital, where 114 large olive oil presses were excavated, clearly indicating the size of the olive oil industry in ancient times.

In the Israel of today there are place names evoking the importance of the olive: Beit Zayit, Har Zayitim – The Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane (Gat Shemen – an oil press) are the most famous of these. Even the emblem of the modern state of Israel depicts a menora (an oil lamp candelabra), which in ancient times was lit using olive oil as fuel, with a relief of an olive branch and leaves on both sides.

The Israeli Arab population has always grown olives for food and oil, but in the last 25 years with the development of Israeli food & wine culture, there has been enormous growth in the interest & quality of Israeli olive oil. Today the olive industry really symbolizes Israel because every community, whether Jews, Arabs, Druse or Circassians, are involved in the cultivation of olives.

Israel has a Mediterranean climate, so much of the country is suitable for the cultivation of olive trees. Olive groves cover Israel from the mountains of the Galilee to Revivim & even Neot Smadar in the Negev and from the coast in the west to the hills of the east.

The biggest concentration of olive groves still lies in the Galilee, northern Israel. The Lower & Western Galilee are arguably the most famous areas for olive production. However the valleys surrounding Mount Carmel, the Sharon Plain, the Golan Heights, Judean Hills and central Negev are all now sites for the production of quality olive oil.

Unlike wine, where most of the grape varieties are international, even global, the olive varieties are more indigenous. The Souri, which is sometimes referred to as the Suri or Syrian olive, is the main local variety, particularly popular in the Galilee. It is one of the oldest varieties in the world – thought to have originated in the Lebanese town of Sur (Tyre). It is a small, oval olive producing an aromatic, piquant olive oil, which is green, peppery with a hint of honey.

Barnea is a variety developed in Israel by Professor Shimon Lavie. It has become an international variety planted in Australia & Argentina. This small, oblong olive is easy to grow, providing good yields and can be planted densely. It produces a sweeter, delicate olive oil with a light fruity taste and an aroma of mown hay.

The Nabali Baladi originated in Nablus. The improved Baladi, known as Mohsan, was introduced to Israel from the Arabs of West Bank after 1967. A larger olive than the Souri, it is easier to cultivate, and gives good yields. It is more neutral than the Souri & Barnea.

Apart from these, there a host of international varieties are also grown in Israel. These include Manzanilla and Picual from Spain, Novo & Leccino from Italy, Fishulin from France and Kalamata from Greece, and many others.

Strict quality controls are maintained by the Israel Olives Board. Only olive oils which pass their stringent tests are able use the special sticker for ‘Quality Approved Israeli Olive Oil’.

Olive oils are tasted in a similar way to wine. The reverence is the same and the vocabulary is similar. The vagaries of the climate, choice of variety and date of harvesting can affect the final product, just like wine and olive oil should be stored in a cool dark place, which is exactly how wine should be stored.

Olive oil is so central to the Mediterranean diet that it is no surprise that it should strongly feature in an Eastern Mediterranean country like Israel. Israelis love to cook with olive oil. A fresh fish is likely to be grilled with only fresh herbs & olive oil added. In the quality restaurants, olive oil is used to enhance carpacchio or simply drizzled onto bread. A small dish of olive oil may appear on the table in place of butter. At home it will be enjoyed with humus or labane. Pita bread dipped in olive oil and za’ater, the herb of Israel, is a popular breakfast in the region.

On salads, Israelis will add olive oil, lemon juice & parsley, instead of the traditional European salad dressing of oil & vinegar. Whereas in the southern Mediterranean the custom is to use olives in the cooking, in the eastern Mediterranean, olives are presented as a starter or as part of a mezze served on a number of small plates in the center of the table. In its love of olive oil & olives, Israel is no different from other countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, like Greece & Turkey.

Israeli olive oils are considered to be more aromatic, characterful & strongly flavored, than the more delicate European olive oils. For a more authentic Hannuka experience this year, why don’t you light your Hannukia with olive oil this year Of course, as with all festivals, there should always be a glass of wine nearby!

Never forget that wine and olive oil grown and produced in the land of Israel, are the essence of modern Israel. Yet they are perhaps the only products that also connect us, as if by a thread, to our forefathers in ancient and Biblical times, when these two elixirs were revered, maybe even more than today.

Robert Parker, a young, humble lawyer from Monkton, Maryland, was a wine lover. He began tasting wines, writing tasting notes and publishing them for a small data base of followers. No different to many wine bloggers today. He called his newsletter The Wine Advocate. That was in the late 1970’s. He became the most powerful and influential critic the wine world has ever seen.

He received his big breakthrough with the 1982 vintage of Bordeaux. Many frowned at the quality of the wines that year. However Robert Parker, brisling with confidence in his tasting ability, stood firm that it was one of the great vintages. When he was proved right, the legend was born.

He saw himself as an honest, crusading critic representing what was in the glass, breaking through the waffle exhibited by the pin stripe suited and tweed jacket brigade of mainly British experts at the time.

He worked very hard, had a phenomenal palate and indestructible memory. These combined with the needs of the time to create an aura of invincibility. He introduced the 100 point score which has been adopted almost worldwide. As a wine writer, I don’t like scores for wines. I think it is too finite for an art form that is constantly changing. However as a veteran of the wine trade, I soon change my view. A good score and I am crowing as much as anyone. As for the consumers, they loved it. It made things so much simpler. A score of 90 points could make a wine, with it selling out within weeks. A score of 89, and it would continue to languish on the shelves. Some wineries even adapted how they made wine in an attempt to achieve a higher score. That was the measure of this man’s influence on wine in the last thirty years.

In the mid 1990’s I worked for the Golan Heights Winery and thought it was strange that he had not tasted Israeli wines. I thought complacently, that if he tasted any, he should start with Yarden.

So, no less than four times I sent wines to him for tasting. The first two times, I heard nothing more. Israel was just not on the horizon in the mid-nineties. The third time I sent the wines, I telephoned to check they had arrived. The phone rang and at the other end someone answered “Robert Parker speaking.” The great man answered himself. Still though, the wines were not tasted or at least the scores or tasting notes were not published anywhere.

The fourth time, the Golan Heights representative in the USA, who was then Brad Haskell, tasted the wines with Pierre Rovani, then Parker’s assistant. He was courteous, complimentary, and our hopes were high, but nothing came out of it.

Roll on to 2007, a pusher named Hezi Levy from Chicago met Robert Parker at some event, and bemoaned the fact that Israeli wines had never been scored. Parker gave a commitment that he would arrange a tasting and he gave the job to Mark Squires, one of his elite tasting team.

The results are history. Squires tasted approximately 100 wines. The tasting was published in the Wine Advocate of December 2007. Yatir Forest then became the first Israeli, Eastern Mediterranean or Kosher wine to score 93 points. It created a great deal of excitement in Israeli wine circles. By then I was working for Yatir Winery, and without doubt this score made the winery’s name.

When Robert Parker’s 7th Wine Buyer’s Guide was published, Israel was an impressive newcomer with nine pages, the same space that New Zealand received, and more than South Africa.

Mark Squires goes further back with Robert Parker than everyone else in his tasting team. He actually met Parker over 25 years ago on the Prodigy wine forum, where he was the board leader and Parker was the paid expert. When that collapsed, Squires started his own site. Later, when Parker started his own, he invited Squires to bring his forum on board in 2001.

The chat forum was always fun, informative and picante. Squires often received a tough press for this, but it was an impossible job and he managed it very well as social media changed, developed and became more independent and opinionated. Then in 2006 Mark Squires was brought into the tasting team. He became responsible for Israel, Greece, Lebanon, and Portugal amongst other countries.

Mark Squires lives in Philadelphia. He was also a lawyer, who became enchanted with wine, which took over his life. Bald, bespectacled, with a round, genial and generous face, he is sharp witted, fiercely intelligent and does not suffer fools gladly. He has a personality beyond wine though. He can talk just as passionately about politics, history or photography.

He visited Israel and toured the wineries, saw the whites of the eyes of the winemakers, and the differences between the various regions. I hosted him at Carmel Winery at Zichron Ya’acov and Yatir Winery at Tel Arad. Originally there was to be one tasting of Israeli wines a year, but this very soon became more because of the number of wines he received. From 2007 until today that has been a lot of wines!

I will say two things to Mark Squires’ credit. Firstly his tasting notes are beautifully written and you really feel when reading them that you get into the essence of the wine. Secondly he is one of the very few critics who taste over a couple of days. Indeed the Yatir wine that did so well, only achieved that score because it had improved so much the next day. I remember seeing a film of the legendary English wine expert Michael Broadbent MW, of Decanter and Christie’s fame, tasting with a stop watch in front of him and returning to a wine every half an hour. Well whereas most wines are tasted (and scored) with a sniff and shluk (Israeli slang for a taste), before hurriedly moving onto the next one, it seems wholly appropriate to give this complicated beverage time to show itself.

By the sheer weight and regularity of tastings, Squires must be arguably the number one expert on Israeli wines today. We no longer have our own Daniel Rogov, the critic who passed away before his time in 2011. Though there are Israeli guides, and even a wine journalist who boldly announced “I am stepping into Rogov’s shoes”, none has yet the international credibility or gravitas to create a standard by which consumers and wineries can check themselves. (And the person who crowned himself the new Rogov no longer writes about wine!)

There are other magazines that taste Israeli wine, but these are not close to the number of wines Squires tastes in a year. Usually the results of their tastings are published just before the holidays emphasizing the kosher niche where Israeli wine is embedded, particularly in America.

Of course the Robert Parker brand is the one known even though there is team of experts that taste most of the wines these days. So even if it is Mark Squires tasting the wine, wineries invariably put the letters RP and the score on shelf talkers in wine stores. Of course Robert Parker is the brand that sells. Though it would be fairer and more honest to admit the tasting was by Mark Squires on behalf of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

So what does Mark Squires think about Israeli wine He has written: “The corner has clearly been turned qualitatively. Israel has a real wine industry that deserves consumer attention. There are attractive wines with typicity and some distinction….Many are classic and charming and the best will impress anyone.”

As a fervent campaigner that Israel is part of the Eastern Mediterranean, I loved his quote: “A wine epicenter that includes countries like Greece, Israel and Lebanon, might look familiar to someone a couple of thousand years old, but it is certainly a new part of the wine world for the rest of us.” It makes clear that Israel is not part of the new or old world of winemaking, but is part of the ancient world.

In the last ten years three Israeli wines have top scored at 94 points. They are the Alexander Amarolo 2011, Clos de Gat Sycra Muscat 2006 and Castel Grand Vin 2013. A further eight wines have scored 93 points (Castel and Margalit wines twice each; and one each made by Alexander, Flam, Yarden and Yatir). Let’s hope that Mark Squires & Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate will continue to taste Israeli wine. Who knows We may even one day break the glass ceiling and receive 95 points!

Do you know that until the last quarter of the 20^th century, woman winemakers were regarded with suspicion. In the Catholic ‘old world’, of France, Italy and Spain, the superstitious wine folk would not allow women to become part of the winemaking process, because it was thought a menstruating woman could make the wine go bad. This lack of respect for the female species lasted far longer in wine than is realized, even in enlightened countries.

The breakthrough in the United States really began forty five years ago, to an extent that the exclusion of women is no longer an issue. In Israel things have taken longer.

Kosher wine producers also disdained woman winemakers for a different reason. They believed in gender separation, so the idea of allowing a woman winemaker to upset the concentration of the orthodox workers was unacceptable and simply unheard of.

They echoed views deeply imbedded in the wine trade throughout the ages. In the great wine cultures of Egypt, Greece and Rome, it was the men that made the wine. In the wine tastings held by the Greeks and the Romans, men drank the wine. Women were only present if needed for alternative entertainment.

In any case, the wine trade for years was very sexist and chauvinistic. Wine tasting and talking about wine is a very man thing based on years of a tradition which in many instances excluded women. Even today most of the wine writers, sommeliers and wine folk are men.

Two new findings made people think again. Firstly, some serious studies proved that women are in fact better tasters than men. They have better natural palates. Secondly came the realization that women purchase most of the wine in supermarkets, which is most of the wine full stop!

There were early cracks in the glass ceiling though. In 1986 Tali Sandowski became the first female winemaker in Israel when she joined the Golan Heights Winery. After gaining her first degree, she relocated to UC Davis, got her winemaking degree and then returned to Israel. She remains at the Golan Winery until today as their longest serving winemaker. In the 1990’s Carmi Lebenstein became the first woman in an executive position when she became Marketing Director of Carmel.

Since the beginning of the 2000’s, four of the largest ten wineries (Carmel, Binyamina, Galil Mountain & Golan Heights) have had woman CEOs, and there have been many woman winemakers like Irit Boxer Shank of Barkan Winery, Orna Chillag of Chillag Winery and Meital Damri of Carmel Winery (ex Midbar). Others like Roni Saslove, Naama Sorkin and Yael Sandler worked at Saslove, Dalton, Saslove and Binyamina wineries respectively before moving on. So the prejudice is just not there anymore. That is not to say that woman winemakers abound! However there are more women in the wine trade than ever before, and not just winemakers, but in a variety of roles. For instance Michal Akerman, the viticulturist of Tabor Winery and Sharona Belogolovsky, the owner & manager of Vitkin Winery. Then there is Ruti Ben Israel, the sommelier who opened Carmel’s Center for Wine Culture, organized the first wine festival for the Mount Carmel region and now is involved with the Shefaya School winery. There are others.

The latest addition to the women wine folk is Nitzan Swersky. She followed a much trod route into wine. She did not have a wine background, but started with a barman’s course, which pricked her curiosity. Then she did a wine course at Haim Gan’s Ish Anavim. At roughly the same time she was sent by Segal Wines on an incentive and learning trip to Sicily and Tuscany. She was hooked!

I first met her when I was on a stand at the Vin Italy Exhibition twelve years ago, showing Carmel wines and Handcrafted Wines of Israel, a consortium of some of Israel’s finest boutique wineries, to the world. She was studying oenology at the University of Milan (after studying Italian) and volunteered to help on the stand. Most young volunteers use an invitation to a wine show to visit as many stands as possible and taste as much as possible, but to avoid anything like hard work. What I remember of Nitzan, was she worked harder than all of us put together, hardly ever leaving the service counter let alone the stand. She was pretty, petite, vivacious and the visitors tasting Israeli wine for the first time loved her perky character.

She completed her studies returned to Israel. Then she travelled to Spain to do a second degree (after studying Spanish….of course!) and then to South Africa to gain experience. There she worked at Mulderbosch Winery, a very fine, well known winery, where she learnt a great deal from Mike Dubrovich, who was a mentor figure for her.

Next time I saw her she was part of the winemaking team at Barkan Winery, who she joined in 2011. Here she worked at what was then Israel’s second largest winery as an associate winemaker. It was an invaluable experience, but was also far removed from the hands on, handcrafted winemaking that she preferred. She decided big winery winemaking was not for her, but still got two harvests there under her belt.

What she did in the meantime was marry and she had a family in super quick time. Now she has four children aged 8, 6, 3 and one year old, so fulfilling the life’s dream of a happy marriage and a house full of children. However she had still not satisfied the wine dream and assuaged the passion to make wine.

In 2014 this busy mum found time to put the nappies and lunch boxes to one side for a few moments to fulfill her dream and make not only a wine, but her own wine.

She called it Ahat (feminine for Ehad, one.) She decided to make a white wine only. Why Because white is ‘in’ and coming back after twenty years of reds dominating the tastings of the wine intelligentsia. I agree with her. White wines are so much more suitable for our hot, humid climate. There is so much more variety in white wines than red, and they go better with food. In this decision she echoed similar decisions by excellent Sphera Winery and the small Zimbalista Winery. I have little sympathy or understanding for the wine snob who says: “I only drink red”, as though to emphasize he is more of a maven because he only drinks the ‘real stuff.’

Nitzan knew she did not want to make wine from more mainstream varieties like Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. So she made a wine which was a blend of Roussanne and Viognier, two reasonably new immigrants to Israel, which are both suitable for the Mediterranean climate. The grapes come from Givat Yeshayahu in the Judean Hills.

Only 2,000 bottles were made of the Ahat White 2014. There is something strikingly individual about the beautiful label in a botanical drawing style. The wine has a nose of grapefruit, and green apple with tropical notes. It coats the mouth. The oak treatment is noticeable but it supports rather than masks the fruit and the wine finishes with a soft but refreshing acidity. The fruit stays with you right through from the first sniff, until the long, balanced finish. It retails at 120 shekels. This is worth buying if you can find it, but it is also a marker that Ahat Winery is one to follow and look out for in the future.

It was interesting to hear that the grape variety she would most like to work with is Chenin Blanc. This is a variety making a comeback here, and some practitioners, like Sea Horse and Shvo Vineyard are making great, but very different Chenin Blancs. It is a wonderfully versatile variety with a great deal of potential here.

She is generous in her praise of winemakers who have helped her. She mentions Yiftach Peretz (Binyamina) and Ido Lewinsohn (Recanati), who were on the same Milan degree course, and then goes on to give credit to Avi Feldstein (Feldstein Winery), Eran Pick MW (Tzora) and Doron Rav Hon (Sphera), in her words “each for something different.”

I can’t help thinking that Nitzan Swersky is wonderful role model. She has learnt her trade, had a family and now makes the most individual and personal expression of a wine that is possible to make. The busy mother, rushed off her feet in the normal day, has found time for wine. She is a an example to young mothers and aspiring winemakers everywhere, and I salute her!

“If we stop here, they will kill us.” So said Vered Ben Sa’adon, as we passed through the last Arab village, before arriving at the Har Bracha vineyard, just south of Nablus. An alarming prospect for someone not used to travelling these roads. At that moment, I felt more like a stiff whisky than a glass of wine.

We arrived at the high altitude vineyard at 850 meters above sea level. It was sparse, stony, and slightly bleak. The expanse of green vineyards was familiar and strangely comforting. There was a feeling of Biblical Israel. It was also quiet. An absolute silence. The only activity, was the of evangelist families who had arrived that morning from America and were already building huts and preparing containers for a period of work and contemplation in the Holy Land.

Har Bracha was a name I knew in a wine context from the early 2000’s. When Carmel Winery began its own mini quality revolution, it released a series of single vineyard wines. One of which was the much praised Har Bracha Merlot 2002. Of course, at the time I worked for Carmel. Now this was a mighty Merlot, one that really wanted to be a Cabernet. It was a tannic, big wine that needed a few years to soften. Even the last time I tasted it, it was still showing its personality.

The name Har Bracha proved too toxic for marketing to the general world and it was dropped, but this one time flash of lightening was enough to encourage the local growers to develop their vineyards.

The people who had sold their precious fruit to Carmel were Erez and Vered Ben Sa’adon. They first planted vines in 1997. On the strength of this success, they expanded their vineyards. Erez studied wine at Tel Hai College and at Ariel and they founded the Erez Winery in 2003. Later the name was later changed to Tura. The winery is situated in Rehelim, which is east of Ariel. There, they have built an attractive and original visitors center with a long tasting table, which just invites you to sit down and have a shluk of wine.

Erez is a grower type, probably happier to be amongst his vines than with people. He is the thinker and stategist who has the drive to implement his dreams. Vered is vivacious, feisty, talkative and enthusiastic. Vered describes it best; She said Erez ‘does’ and she ‘talks’! In fact they are a great team, one complimenting the other.

Vered has a fascinating background. She was born in Holland to a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother. Her grandmother on her mother’s side was engaged to a member of the Gestapo. Anyway to cut a long story short, in the funny way these things happen, the mother eventually came to Israel, converted and her three year old girl was brought up as an orthodox Jewess.

The Ben Sa’adons are growers who also sell their grapes to a number of wineries in Israel, though many will not admit where the grapes come from. They have flirted with all sorts of agriculture including producing honey and olive oil. They also produced a great cider, but now sell their apples on, wanting to concentrate on wine.

Different areas are becoming known in Israel for different varieties. It is unwise to generalize, but maybe the Upper Galilee is Cabernet land. The northern Golan Heights produces the freshest white wines. The Mt Carmel region is best for Carignan, whilst the Judean Hills is excellent for Chardonnay, Syrah and Petite Sirah. In the same vein, it is possible to say that the Samarian Mountains are known for producing some of the finest Merlot in the country. The Tura and Shiloh Merlots are regular prize winners.

Samaria is the northern part of the West Back, otherwise known as ‘The Territories’, or ‘Yehuda and Shomron’. I prefer to describe the region as the Central Mountains which is a non-political way to describe the topography. In fact the same mountain range runs down the spine of the country from Har Bracha or Mount Grizim to Hebron.

Of course mention the word ‘Samaria’ and certain people the world over, termed by some as ‘leftists’, will not touch the wines because they come from Occupied Territory. Even in Tel Aviv the debate is no less vociferous. Many restaurants will not list wines from there.

However, you need not worry for the well-being of the Central Mountain wineries. There are more than enough Jewish communities worldwide, and in Israel too, that may be termed by others as ‘right wing’, who practice reverse discrimination and buy the wine precisely because they come from there. Of course when used in this way, the words ‘right wing’ or ‘leftist’ are pejorative terms, used to convey a feeling of utter disgust by the ‘other’ side of the political equation. Everything is political in Israel, including wine it seems!

Tura is a proud winery first and foremost, but they also consider themselves as ambassadors for the region. Vered Ben Sa’adon is a determined advocate of wines from Central Mountains and is not afraid to call out those, whether journalists, restaurateurs or members of the public, who give their wines a miss. She is almost missionary in her determination to advance the region. Just to reemphasize the point, the words: ‘Wine from the Land of Israel’ is written on every label.

I visited as a wine guy interested in the development of a new wine region in Israel in the exact place where Biblical Israel flourished. A viable wine route has been created with a number of successful wineries and young vineyards planted along the way. The wines are good and getting better. The passion of the farmers and wine growers is immense. To work in wine requires passion. To work the land as pioneers is one sort of passion. To settle the land of Biblical Israel as religious Jews, requires another sort of passion. Together, this is a triple dose. These wine pioneers are not shrinking violets, but they are recreating a wine trade to mimic their forefathers of ancient times.

My own view is that I don’t believe in boycotts, because you either have to boycott everything or nothing. You can’t credibly be a boycotter on one issue only without exhibiting prejudice. On the other hand I believe every restaurant or customer has the right to buy what they want and every journalist has the right to write about which wines they want. It is a free world. I believe in ‘Live & Let live.’ As far as it goes with critics and customers, you win some and lose some. That is the way of the world. Anyway, in my opinion, no Israeli winery suffers lasting damage from boycotts from anywhere. Furthermore, most Israel wine is sold in places where the effect of BDS is zilch. Where there is bad publicity, contrary to the wishes of the boycotters, it normally works to the advantage of the winery or region.

Tura Winery is arguably the most visual representative of the northern Central Mountains. They have three labels. Mountain Vista is their entry level label for bright, up front wines. Mountain Heights is their reserve label and Mountain Peak, their flagship wine. They regularly win awards in both Israeli and international competitions. They use the services of Itai Lahat one of Israel’s best winemaking consultants, which underlines their ambition and professionalism. They have a winery slogan ‘Patience & Inspiration’. I think it is a mistake. It should read: Patience, Inspiration and Passion.

TURA MOUNTAIN VISTA ROSE 2015
Nicely colored pink rose made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes. It is fruity with a touch of sweetness but nonetheless, is very refreshing. Price: 90 ILS

TURA MOUNTAIN VISTA GEWURZTRAMINER 2015.
This will be popular. Fruity with floral notes, with a pleasing sweetness. Price: 90 ILS

TURA MOUNTAIN VISTA HEARTLAND 2014
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon 67% and Merlot 33%, aged for 12 months in French oak barrels. The wine is rich, spicy and the oak is apparent but in balance. Price: 129 ILS

TURA MOUNTAIN HEIGHTS MERLOT 2013
Rounded, full bodied red with warm berry fruit and plum, with more than a touch of vanilla. The wine is oaky, has soft tannins and good acidity. Long finish. Price: 129 ILS

TURA MOUNTAIN PEAK 2013
This the prestige wine of the winery. It is a Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The wine was aged for 22 months in oak. The result is a full bodied wine with aromas of black currant and blackberry with black cherry, a dominant oak presence which coats the mouth and a long balanced finish. Price 200 ILS

I recently met Haim Spiegel, the Director of Food & Beverage and Procurement at Dan Hotels, one of the stalwarts of the Israel hotel industry. These days, F& B Managers in Israeli hotels seem younger and the job has changed with time. It seems to be more a fire-fighting role than it used to be. F & B Managers can be seen rushing from crisis to crisis wielding big bunches of keys, in order to keep the show on the road. The F& B Manager today seems to be a stop gap before another stepping stone up the greasy ladder. Today F & B, tomorrow Front of House. The old style Food & Beverage Manager, equally at home in the kitchen and wine cellar, with a lifetime’s experience is not only rare but a threatened species.

I say this not to denigrate a whole new generation of F& B enthusiasts, but by way of introduction to Haim Spiegel, We met in a café, but as always, he was dressed immaculately. He always wears a dark suit, usually with a white shirt and always with a tie. If you saw him at the Old Bailey Law Courts he would not be out of place. I have known him for over 25 years. During all that time he has been the address for all things food & beverage in the Dan Hotels, setting and maintaining the standards for their hotels all over the country. I often sometimes feel he is the Food & Beverage guardian for the country, for he is a true master of his craft.

Haim Spiegel is stylish in all he does. An absolute and total perfectionist, he is the ultimate foodie, immersed in the history and folklore of gastronomy, yet as up to date as tomorrow regarding the latest trends. He is quietly spoken, but misses nothing. Rather like the wise owl in children’s books. (Do you remember: “The wise old owl who lived in an oak; the more he saw the less he spoke…”) He is the antithesis to the usual Israeli that knows something. He does not raise his voice to draw attention to himself, but when he does speak it is normally brief, pithy, smart and of value. In other words, worth waiting for. He is a Food & Beverage expert through and through.

He is also pretty sharp on wines too and has played his part in advancing Israeli wines to the outside world. Not for nothing, he is invited year after year to play a crucial part at the annual Eshkol Hazahav (Golden Cluster) Wine Competition, organized by Studio Ben Ami. This is the Oscars of Israeli wine. Haim Spiegel oversees the tasting and the competition to ensure it is held to the highest moral and professional standards and then presents the awards. He is seen as the credible figure to do this important job by the wine industry, being totally above board and with no conflict of interests.

Normally as people become older, or have been around in a job for a while, they tend to become more conservative. Furthermore the hotel world can be as conservative as you can get. So I was surprised, delighted and excited to hear Haim Spiegel’s views on wine service and about his campaign to advance the accessibility, service and sales of wine in Dan Hotels. The Dan Hotels Group is the oldest, most prestigious hotel chain in Israel. It comprises 14 hotels and it is the most recognized name in the Israeli hotel industry.

The whole idea revolves around the idea of creating what Spiegel call ‘Wine Friendly Hotels’. King David is the first, and others such as Dan Tel Aviv, Dan Accadia and Dan Carmel may be next on the agenda. Of course, the King David Hotel is the most famous hotel in Israel and known throughout the world for its rich history.

This pioneering idea was dreamed up and is being implemented by Spiegel. He realizes wine is Israel’s number one ambassador. Today we are more known for Hi Tec, but you can’t give a bottle of Hi Tec as a present. He appreciates that a bottle of wine is prohibitive item to purchase. It is expensive and many people do not want to drink a whole bottle. So he believes that the future is serving wine by the glass.

The focus is on variety, attractive prices, accessibility with helpful, knowledgeable assistance. The grand Oriental Bar of the King David Hotel has been relaunched as a Wine Bar. Wines are carefully chosen to show the finest of Israel as every price point. A number of wines are made available by the glass at attractive prices. A Eurocave dispenser is used to ensure quality is maintained. You don’t have that awful feeling of buying a glass when you don’t know how long the bottle has been open or how it has been kept.

You can purchase by the glass, or in a most praiseworthy innovation, buy smaller glasses in flights of two, three or four wines to sample one against the other, or simply to broaden the tasting experience. Prices by the glass range from 30 to 54 shekels, unheard of in most hotels. The wines by the glass in the Wine Bar are divided in to two categories. There are the ‘Classics’: Carmel Kayoumi Riesling, C Blanc du Castel, Maia Mare Nostrum and the Flam Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. Then there are Wines of the Month which include the Binyamina Unoaked Chardonnay, the Kishor Savant Riesling, Montefiore Cabernet Sauvignon and Recanati Wild Carignan. The range is chosen to be of interest to the wine expert and to educate the curious. In the other food and beverage areas there are a further six wines by the glass, making fourteen in all.

The King David Wine Bar not only champions Israeli wines, but also Israeli beers and spirits. The hotel lists beers from the Alexander and Herzl boutique breweries and also spirits from the Pelter and Julius artisan distilleries. So if you want to glug the Alexander Blonde or Herzl Dolce De Asal or nose and sip the Pelter Gin or Julius VI Brandy, you can. The bar menu, carefully chosen by celebrated chef David Biton, offers a few snacks to compliment but not dominate the wines

Then comes the product knowledge aspect. The hotel has appointed a sommelier who has grown in the job and is learning and developing his knowledge day by day. I met him dressed in a spotless white tuxedo. After all this is the King David! His name is Daniel Gidey. He made aliyah from Ethiopia in 1986 on his own, leaving his family behind. He had learnt to speak English and so was immediately drawn to a life in hotels. He started working for Isrotel as an 18 year old and spent his time as a bartender and waiter in bars and restaurants. He took the bar courses and got his F & B diploma at Hadassah College and ended up as Assistant Manager of La Regence, the prestige restaurant of the King David. Today he has climbed his greasy ladder to become the first sommelier of a hotel in the Dan’s Wine Friendly Hotel program.

He is backed by a good support team, hand selected by Spiegel. Gal Zohar, an international sommelier, wine consultant and author of the New Israeli Wine Guide, is the consultant who helped select the wines, develop the concept and train the staff. He is the leading light of the next generation of Israeli wine experts. The Food & Beverage Manager, Elie Fischer, is far from the type of F & B manager I described, but an experienced Frenchman from Paris, who has been imported for his experience, expertise and for his dynamic, youthful approach to energizing service and encourage ever improving standards.

The bar is open from 17.00 hours until 12.30 am. Guests are tourists, residents of the hotel and the hotel is pleased to encourage walk-ins from outside. This represents marvelous opportunity to sample the Middle Eastern grandeur of one of the world’s great hotels, which won’t cripple you financially. You don’t need a mortgage to buy a glass and a snack.

We in the wine trade have spent a lifetime building ivory towers of wine expertise which are elusive to the usual Joe or Yaacov. We have made wine exclusive. If you don’t understand and can’t compete with knowledge, how on earth can you enjoy it Wine has become like opera. It is only for those who understand. If you can’t give fluent tasting descriptions containing baskets of fruit, you don’t belong and cannot be part of the club. This is fundamentally wrong and it is important to rip up the pretension, and to take a lead in making wine more accessible. There are many progressive outlets, but what makes the King David initiative interesting is that it is the King David & Dan Hotels, which would normally be a byword for formality in wine service.

King David, the man, employed someone to look after his vineyards and another person to look after his vineyards. These were maybe the first Jewish viticulturist and sommelier. How appropriate it is that King David, the hotel, is bringing wine sales in a formal setting into the 21st century. Looking forward for more hotels to join the pioneering Wine Friendly program.

I set off for Cremisan Winery full of curiosity. After all this was the winery that first decided to focus on the land’s indigenous grape varieties. Maybe, they do not have the nobility of Cabernet Sauvignon, but they do exist and this is news to many wine lovers in Israel.

Secondly I was mindful of the long history. Flashback to the end of the 19th century and there were very few wineries. There was the large Carmel Mizrahi, the first commercial winery, Shor & Teperberg, two domestic wineries in the Old City of Jerusalem, producing mainly Kiddush wines, Friedman in Petach Tikvah and Mikveh Israel. Then there were the Christian owned wineries, one in Sarona owned by the Templars, and the two monasteries, Latroun and Cremisan.

Cremisan is therefore part of our winemaking heritage. I always believe we should take time to learn more from the wine producing countries around us. I include countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, such as Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey and Greece. Even Syria has a winery which is ranked by some above any Israeli winery. So we should be very humble, look around and learn what we can. We should also learn from those from within who are different. Only then we can really understand about ourselves and our terroir.

We should not forget the crucial role played by Monasteries during the Dark & Middle Ages. They kept the wine trade alive and also staked out the future quality wine regions of Europe. The wine industry of today has a great deal to thank the Church, both for its survival and focus on quality. It is interesting also that the Catholic Church not only needed wine for their ritual, but also appreciated good food and wine. Think of the great cuisines of Europe. What do they have in common, that the countries are all predominately Catholic!

I navigated through the Christian town of Beit Jallah, found with difficulty the imposing Monastery and then drove down to the winery. It suddenly occurred to me how Christians in our area are an endangered species. This seems to be ignored by the world media that is so focused on Israel, that they sometimes don’t see what is happening in front of their noses.

The Cremisan Monastery was founded by Father Antonio Belloni, an Italian Catholic monk, in 1885. The meaning of the word is Kerem Zan, the vineyard of Zan. The Monastery belongs to the Italian Salesian Order. It is situated on the northern slopes of Mount Gilo, northwest of the Palestinian town Beit Jala. It is 5 km from Bethlehem and 12 km from Jerusalem. The Monastery made wine to finance Father Belloni’s social activities to help poor children in the Holy Land and to provide a livelihood for local families.

The most striking thing is the terraced vineyards and olive groves in the shadow of the Monastery and winery. They must be some of the most beautiful vineyards there are. Vines vie with olive trees to showcase those two most stubborn and permanent products of our region. Whether you call it Israel, Palestine or the Holy Land, and talk about Biblical times or today, the products are the same: Wine and olive oil.

In fact, remains found in the vicinity of Cremisan show the existence of human inhabitation back in the Bronze Age. Ancient terraces, and old wine & olive presses, provide evidence of agriculture from the same period.

For years Cremisan simply made wine to satisfy the needs of the Catholic Church and their own communities. When I first came to Israel, the wines were only visible in export markets. Once I visted Aqaba in Jordan, saw the wines and purchased them there out of curiosity. Later I remember finding them in the Christian Arab owned liquor stores in Jaffa. They were also sold to regional monasteries. In those days their better known wines were a rustic red called David’s Tower, the well-known Messa, a Communion wine and their Marsala dessert wine.

Until the middle of the 1980’s, many Israelis were visitors at Cremisan Winery and tasted wines from the Monastery. These days, because of green line and border complications, visits are rarer. However I found it a fascinating and beautiful place to visit. Those seeking the wines without going there, can continue to purchase them at the monastery of Bet Gemal, in the Jerusalem Hills, south of Bet Shemesh.

Previously, the winemaker for forty years was Father Lamon, an Italian monk. He began making the wine in 1968. In 2008, a new project was started with Italian assistance to study and improve native grape varieties. New equipment, advanced technology, imported expertise of an Italian winemaker and agronomist, all combined to rejuvenate the Cremisan Winery. Their spacious winery now combines the new and old under one roof. The new look wines were launched originally at Vinitaly and later at the Sommelier Exhibition in Tel Aviv.

A young Italian winemaker was employed, two young Palestinians were sent to Italy to study viticulture and winemaking. Most significantly, one of Italy’s most famous winemakers, the legendary Riccardo Cotarella, became the winemaking consultant. He is a giant of winemaking and one of the most famous wine consultants worldwide.

There are three vineyards. The Bethlehem area including the monastery itself, were the source of grapes for many years. In 1968, after the Six Day War, they also used grapes from Bet Gemal. Too. They also buy grapes from Dir Raffat and Hebron. Recently they decided to focus more on their unique local indigenous varieties. They studied the varieties, made a short list of those with the best potential and ended up working with Baladi Asmar, Dabouki, Hamdani and Jandali.

Their new wines appear under the stylish Star of Bethlehem label. Creating particular interest is the Hamdani Jandali white blend. It finished first in a tasting of Israeli & regional white wines conducted by the famous wine critic Jancis Robinson MW. It has since reached the finest restaurants in Tel Aviv and exports have increased. Only last month it received 90 points in the Wine Spectator.

Cremisan Winery started a trend. Last year Recanati Winery released a Marawi, which is a synonym for Hamdani. An Israeli winemaker and Palestininian grower using an indigenous grape variety grown here long before politics was the primary issue of the area. I see that as a beautiful cooperation. Ariel University and Hebron University in their different ways have both researched the potential of these indigenous grape varieties, and the work is ongoing.

For years the management of the winery was in the hands of the priests. Today the qualification is professionalism. The winemaker and agronomist is Fadi Batarseh, who never drank wine when he was younger, but decided he wanted to study something different. He went to all the trouble of learning Italian so he could study in Italy. He wrote his thesis on the indigenous varieties, also worked in Italy in the Trentino and Orvieto regions, including at Cotarella’s Falesco Winery. He returned in 2012. The Executive Director of the winery is Ziad Giorgio Bitar, who is young, dynamic and efficient. Together the new team has brought Cremisan Winery into the 21st century.

Most of vineyards in the Palestinian area are in the Hebron region. Approaching Hebron is like being in Spain. There seem to be vineyards everywhere, however most grapes are used for table grapes or raisins, are made into jam, or a grape syrup called dibs; Anything but wine. Leaves are also a precious commodity, being used to produce a dish also prominent elsewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean, stuffed vine leaves.

Cremisan Winery has a permanence that outlives the shallowness of daily politics. They play an important pioneering role in our wine industry and whether their buildings end up in Israel or Palestine, is not the issue. No doubt it is important for them, but one thing I do know. They will continue to be an oasis of tranquility in our stormy waters, and anyone truly interested in wine or with the slightest smidgeon of curiosity, should add them to their list of wines to taste and places to visit.

Cremisan Dabouki 2015
Dabouki is the most planted white variety in the Palestinian vineyards. It is also planted in Israel, where in the past it was used for distillation for brandy or arak. The wine has soft tropical fruit aromas, a fat mouth feel and a broad finish. Price: 50-55 ILS

Cremisan Hamdani Jandali 2015
This is a nice wine made with two Palestinian varieties. The wine has tropical notes, lined with grapefruit and lime. It has reasonably good acidity with a refreshing finish. Price: 50-55 ILS

Cremisan Baladi 2013
A light red wine with prominent acidity. More cranberry or pomegranate than ribena. Less good than the whites, but better on my second tasting. It should be served chilled. Price: 50-55 ILS

Cremisan Brandy
I had to make do with a brief sniff from a cask, but the nose was rich, warm with a dried fruit aroma. When they bottle their brandy, aged over decades, it will be well worth a special purchase. They also produce a wonderful olive oil.

When I was in England, I was known for being Jewish. Having come to live in Israel, I instead became known as the ‘Brit’ or ‘Anglo’, which is short for Anglo Saxon. An Anglo covers anyone from an English speaking country. Considering the English speaking countries are highly involved in producing wine or selling it, it is surprising that there aren’t so many wineries here with an Anglo influence.

There is of course the legendary winemaker from the Golan Heights Winery, Victor Schoenfeld, who hails from California. Paul Dubb from Tzuba Winery is from South Africa. Sam Soroka, winemaker of Jerusalem Wineries, and Barry Saslove once of Saslove Winery, are from Canada. Then there is Alex Haruni from England, whose Dalton Winery has just enjoyed its 20th year anniversary, and it continues to thrive. It is a great success story.

Dalton Winery was the first commercial winery in the Galilee and they were forerunners of a trend. Fast forward until today and there are many Galilee wineries. Someone once told me there were has many as sixty, taking into account wineries of all sizes.

Also the Galilee has become an area where many wineries, even from the center of the country, planted vineyards. The result is that today the Upper Galilee in particular, is covered with vines, which intermingle with the forests, stony ridges, plunging mountains and running streams. It is Israel’s most beautiful wine region. The Galilee and Golan combined, has in the last 20 years become the largest vineyard area in Israel.

Finally, the very Industrial Estate where Dalton is situated, has itself become the heart of the Galilee Wine Region. Apart from Dalton, Adir and Carmel also have wineries there along with other smaller wineries. Furthermore Recanati are building there too. So Dalton really were the pioneers. They were there first.

Alex Haruni was born in London from a family with Indian roots that dealt in precious stones. He first came to Israel as a 24 year old in 1991 to learn Hebrew. When his father Mati Haruni, was looking to invest in Israel, he specifically chose the Galilee. He wanted a business connected to the land, which would involve tourism and showcase the benefits of the Galilee. It was primarily a Zionist project, tinged with the usual business objectives.

They slipped into wine. Armand Maman had an established vineyard and as was the new trend of the time, he had started making his own wine. He needed help and this was the opportunity. Now the Harunis knew nothing about wine. They were whisky drinkers. However they dived in, learning about wine as they went along. They learnt by trial and error with all the ups and downs.

Building a winery is not easy and returns are far slower than in most business. At some times Mati must have thought it would have been more profitable to sell mineral water, Coca Cola or Johnnie Walker. Sometimes they must have wondered what on earth they got themselves into. However they persevered. They had worked out that they needed to reach 300,000 bottles to be profitable. In 1995 they produced 30,000 bottles.

I remember some of the original bottles were very flash and the labels slightly garish. I say this because with development over time, when Alex Haruni absorbed himself in the business, Dalton was to become one of the most stylish, best marketed wineries in the whole country.

Alex Haruni is very measured and cerebral, talking slowly to be sure of what he is saying. Rather like a seasoned veteran in the diplomatic service. However when someone ruffles him, he can respond with a surprising sharpness that shows the passion flowing within, even if it usually held carefully in check.

It is fair to say that Dalton was the winery that his father built, but it was Alex that filled it with content. His father was very wise at the outset to employ a consultant, something only the Golan Heights Winery did in those days. They started a long relationship with flying winemaker John Worontschak that continues until today. Worontschak is an Australian living in England, and advises wineries all over the world. He still comes here three times a year.

Alex Haruni is one of the most interesting people to talk to in the wine trade, because he has learnt at the sharp end. He is knowledgeable enough to act as a judge in international competitions. It is not a ‘look at me’ winery, and Alex is not a ‘look at me’ type of owner. He manages in a very modest way but he is innovative, and everything he does is stylish and well thought out. I call his a ‘less is more’ approach, and the winery is reflected in this image.

Dalton Winery today produces just under a million bottles a year. The entry level wines are called Canaan. Then there are the Dalton varietals, the D series, the Alma blends, Reserve label and the Single Vineyards. The Homage label of a red and white wine is the prestige label that honors his parents, Matatia and Anna, who invested and persevered. The result of their effort can be seen not only in where Dalton is today, but also where the Galilee is today as far as both wineries and vineyards are concerned.

Alex Haruni is a supporter of new talent. He did not hesitate to appoint a Russian Oleh Hadash (new immigrant), Arkadi Papikian, as a winemaker. His next winemaker was a woman, Naama Sorkin. In those days there were very few women winemakers. His latest appointment is Guy Eshel, which shows confidence in new blood. Eshel is young, with impeccable credentials but as yet untried. One day, if not already, Eshel will thank Haruni for his support and the opportunity. Mind you Haruni will also be grateful for gaining such a young talent for the winery’s immediate future.

As far as wines are concerned, they have also shown innovation. The red Zinfandel was for a time a rare serious attempt at a quality wine from this variety. Their wonderful Petite Sirah shows they are not just tied to the famous grape varieties. They were also the first winery to introduce Pinot Gris and to revive Semillon as a quality variety and amongst the first to produce Mediterranean style blends.

Haruni is a great fan of Shiraz. He believes it grows particularly well in Israel and shows Israel at its best. He likes varieties such Albarino from Galicia in Spain and Gruner Veltliner from Austria. He also has hopes for Jandali, the indigenous variety here, which he believes could develop in to something worthy. Like all of us, he wishes wineries would work together better to market Israeli wine abroad.

So congratulations are in order. We should thank this Anglo for bringing us twenty years of growth and stability in the topsy-turvy world of Israel wine. Under Alex Haruni’s wise stewardship, even better years are ahead of them.

Dalton Alma Vin Gris 2015
An onion skin colored pale pink rosé made from Grenache and Barbera. Very delicate fruit notes with great acidity. Refreshing. Vin Gris (literally grey wine) is the terminology often used in France & Morocco for a pale rosé. PRICE: 75 ILS

Dalton Pinot Gris 2015
Crisp, fresh and fruity, with citrusy notes providing a refreshing finish. One of the first releases of this variety in Israel. PRICE: 65 ILS

Dalton 20th Anniversary White 2014
Limited edition wine made from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. It has a tropical fruit nose balanced by green apple. It is rich, oaky and flavorful. It shows good complexity as it warms up. Don’t serve it too cold. PRICE: 90 ILS

Dalton Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2013
A smooth & deep red, with black berry fruits notes, hints of ripe plum and sweet vanilla. Full of flavor, with a silky texture and a broad, tannic finish. PRICE: 110 ILS

Dalton 20th Anniversary Red 2013
Limited edition. A blend of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz with small amounts of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Merlot. A full bodied, powerful wine with a bold black fruit nose, velvety texture and prominent oak flavors of vanilla. It has a long balanced finish. PRICE: 200 ILS

In a praiseworthy development, Tabor Winery has created the first ecological vineyard in Israel by fulfilling the guidelines laid down by the Society of the Preservation of Nature, over a three year period. Furthermore, they intend to extent this policy to 90% of their vineyards.

An ecological vineyard is more known as self-sustainable in wine terms overseas. This fits in to a range of environmental friendly standards in the vineyard, which are good for the health of the surroundings, the quality of the vines and also the soul of the practitioners. Sustainability is all about maintaining an ecological balance between nature and the vineyard. Putting the morals back into vineyard growing, if you like.

For those that want harmony with nature, there are a number of buzz words like organic, biodynamic and natural. Firstly there are organically grown vines. In this instance the wine is not organic, but the fruit is grown organically. This is achieved by avoiding synthetic pesticide or additives. An organic wine is made without adding sulfites at the winery.

Biodynamic farming is similar to organic, but takes into account astrological and lunar influences, and is practiced by believers with an almost religious fervor. There is almost a mystical quality to the beliefs. Burying a cow horn filled with dung is one thing they do, but before you pooh pooh it, some of the finest wineries swear by it.

Then there are Natural Wines, a broad church without official definition, which basically means making wine in the laisser faire method without additions or unnecessary interventions in winemaking. Some kosher wines will be suitable for vegans and vegetarians, depending on the fining material used.

There has been organically grown wine (like the Yarden Odem Vineyard Chardonnay) and even an organic wine, Bashan, which was founded as a kosher and organic winery in the 2000’s, but it unfortunately did not last. However in Israel we are behind the curve in production of ethical wines.

Planting a vineyard to produce wine is in itself a peaceful act. In ancient times, it was considered important enough for a soldier to stay home and look after the vineyard rather than go to war. However in terms of nature protection, creating a vineyard is a violent act because of the necessary preparation of the land. It creates a scar of disturbance to the local flora and fauna.

So Tabor Winery decided to attend to this issue in their Ramat Sirin Vineyard. This is a large vineyard site, which is kept immaculately, with its own unique terroir. It is situated in the Lower Galilee on a soil of volcanic tuff and basalt stone, at 400 meters altitude with a view of Mount Tabor, Mount Hermon and the Sea of Galilee.

They allowed a cover crop to grow, planted 400 trees within the boundaries of the vineyard, created nesting areas for birds, and placed piles of stones and boulders to encourage the return of wild life. The flora and fauna that settles will create its own ecosystem and a new order of things in which the natural balance of nature is respected and encouraged. The results were recorded and monitored over a three year period.

Michal Akerman is the person responsible for this initiative. She is tousle haired with a perky smile and large, bright eyes. She is a peculiarly Israeli blend, with grandparents from Syria, Morocco, Poland and Germany and a father from Peru! Her work on a kibbutz gave her a love of the land. She worked with dates, mango, avocado and citrus. After the army, again on kibbutz, she first became responsible for a vineyard, but it was for table grapes. She then travelled to South America and found herself working in vineyards in Chile and Mendoza, just to earn pocket money. Almost without realizing, she slipped into a career as a viticulturist.

Whilst studying at the Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot, she joined Barkan Winery. After finishing her first degree, she worked in South Africa for a year, before returning to Barkan as Chief Agronomist in 2004. Barkan was then in a campaign to become the largest winery in Israel and by the time she left, they had 8,000 dunams of vineyards, many developed on Akerman’s watch.

In 2009, she was head hunted by Tabor. She was happy to go to a smaller winery where her decisions would have a greater effect. She was also delighted to work for a grower CEO, who understood how important vineyards are to the final quality of the wine.

She is a great one for balancing the old and new in agriculture. She likes to deal with the hand provided by nature with the added assistance of new technology. She keeps her finger on the pulse by receiving all kinds of statistics from weather stations transmitted in real time to her cell phone, but is most at home sniffing the earth by visiting a vineyard. When we met, she just had to visit a vineyard on the way, to touch base, and show the vines she had not forgotten them.

Michal explained to me: “The new practices become a way of life. We can’t control everything and have to be part of nature.” What impressed me most, was her insistence on also tasting the wines with the winemakers, even from different plots. This is certainly someone who believes she grows wine, not grapes.

Under Michal’s management, the vineyard area has grown from 550 to 2,400 dunams. Tabor as a winery is situated in the Lower Galilee, and the majority of its grapes come from the Galilee and Golan, however Akerman has the flexibility to find the best fruit which takes her all over Israel. During her time she has also brought new varieties to the Israeli wine scene like Roussanne and Tannat.

Tabor Winery was founded in 1999 by four grape growing families of Kfar Tabor. The winery is today managed by Oren Sela, the younger generation of one of them. The winery is owned by the Central Bottling Co., the country’s premier beverage company responsible for producing or representing mega global brands such as Coca Cola, Carlsberg and Johnnie Walker. The wines are distributed by IBBLS, the importers & distributors of Diageo, the world’s largest spirits company.

However for all that hype and the association with big brands, the winery is managed by one of the founder growers, with the attention to detail in the vineyards of a small boutique winery. The winemaker is the same as when the winery started on its way. It has grown for sure. It is now the fifth largest winery in Israel producing two million bottles a year.

What is interesting is that the success of the winery is not just in the good value stakes, where you would expect Tabor to shine, but also the highest quality arena, where their wines compete with Israel’s finest. Their success across the range is very impressive.

In the recent past, the Har ‘Mount Tabor’ Chardonnay was selected in the Top 100 Best Value Wines of the Year by the Wine Enthusiast, one of the important wine magazines in America. It is extremely rare for an Israeli wine to be on this list

The Adama Merlot scored 93 points in the Wine Enthusiast, then the highest score ever, for any Israeli wine given by this magazine. The Adama Roussanne was recommended by Oz Clarke’s Wine A to Z and the Sufa, a red wine blend, was recommended in Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book.

The prestige Limited Edition received the top score of any Israeli wine in the Wine Spectator last year, and Tabor Winery was the only Israeli winery invited to the New York Wine Experience, the world’s most prestigious gathering of the finest wineries in the world.

And that is abroad where tastings are blind, and labels don’t carry the baggage they do here. In Israel, Tabor has also excelled. It was the leading winery with no less than five gold medal trophies in the Best Value Competition 2016, for wines up to 79 shekels. Even more impressive, it was also the leading Israeli winery in the Eshkol Hazahav 2016 competition, the Israeli wine Oscars, with four gold medal trophies. The Adama Sauvignon Blanc is a banker, seeming to wine gold in both competitions year after year.

I always think that kosher as a concept would be easier explained to the non-Jewish, general market, if accompanied by self-sustainable vineyards. The two really seem to go together. So I applaud this pioneering initiative by Tabor Winery, and hope their lead is followed by other wineries.

Regardless of sustainable practices in the vineyards, it is also a winery with proven and sustainable quality at every price point. It seems that those that care about vineyards and the environment, also make wines with good karma. What goes around, comes around.

There is nothing new under the sun in winemaking. When at Carmel’s Zichron Ya’acov Wine Cellars, I would pass the large barrels on display, and explain that “they were used to ferment the wine 125 years ago.”

In fact, it was so hot in July and August in 1890, pre electricity, that they had to import a special ice machine from Cairo, and large blocks of ice were lowered in bags into the barrels to reduce temperatures during fermentation.

In about the 1920’s, when Soleh Boneh was founded, cement tanks replaced the large barrels because they gave more capacity. Originally they did not line the cement tanks, and the wine became tainted and had to be poured away. Then the cement tanks were lined with glass. Think how expensive that must have been.

Twelve years ago I would show these cement tanks as museum pieces explaining “this is how we used to make the wine.” Fast forward to today. Big barrels are back in. Carmel Winery has introduced a fleet of new fourdres (5,000 liter barrels) into its cellars. These provide gentle oxidization, without imparting too much oak flavors.

Likewise cement tanks. The new winemaker liked the results of wine stored in cement tanks. The wine drops bright better in cement than in stainless steel, it is good for temperature retention and the cement produces an oxidation mid-point between an inert stainless steel tank and a small oak barrel.

So a number of small Italians, were employed from a company specializing in revitalizing cement tanks, to restore the cement tanks one by one. Today they are lined with epoxy and used with pride. Cement is back in throughout the world. Who said progress is only looking forward & not looking back

However large barrels and cement tanks is looking back in years counting in the hundreds. This pales into insignificance when you compare making wine in Kvevri . These are large oval, egg shaped earthenware vessels used for fermenting and storing wine. They were used for winemaking up to 8,000 years ago. Later the Greeks and Romans called them pithos and dolium respectively.

They are enormous containers, made from terra cotta, red clay, which are fired in an open fire. They are sometimes larger than a person, and always handmade, so each will vary slightly in shape. Kvevri are used again and again. Some in Georgia go back centuries. They should not be confused with amphorae which were used later, more for storage and transportation.

Hugh Johnson relates in his ‘The Story of Wine’, how in Georgia, you would visit a family winery and the family would have a private cellar, yet there were no out buildings housing barrels or tanks. The only clue was a series of molehills in the ground nearby where these large containers were buried.

He writes that the family would hollow out a log, slop the grapes from a harvest into it and stamp on the grapes until all the must or juice had been released. Then the juice, grape skins, pips and all, would be scooped up and placed in these massive containers, stoppered up and buried deep in the soil.

The temperature of the ground would be cool, and the wine slowly fermented over a long period. In the spring the family would ladle the wine out into another Kvrevi, this time leaving the skins behind and the wine was stored this way until it was drunk.

Delightfully there are still families making wine this way in Georgia and some modern winemakers in Friuli, Slovenia and Georgia, believing in tradition, nature and retro, have also returned to making wines this way.

Why not in Israel I hear you ask Well, one enterprising family has introduced Kvevri to Israel. This was under the direction of Lina Slutzkin who founded her Kadma winery in Kfar Uriah in the Judean foothills in 2010.

She was an engineer who worked for Intel for twenty years. The Slutzkins then bought a farm and she got an itch and decided to do something completely different.

She wanted a winery, but was determined to be different from everyone else. She sought encouragement, but most people lacked her imagination and thought she was crazy. One encouraging beacon was Nir Shoham, owner of the Soreq Winery Winemaking School. He taught, encouraged and advised her. That was enough to send her on her way.

She had made Aliyah from Georgia as an eight year old girl in 1972, and adopted Israel without feeling the slightest sentimentality to her mother country. She is quite adamant that when she came to Israel, she shrugged off her Georgian past forever. She explained that she did not look back but then said wistfully: “but those who think France has the best cuisine in the world, don’t know Georgia!”

Anyway to make her dream come true, she returned to Georgia for the first time in 36 years and went in search of some Kvevri to bring back to Israel. Making these is an ancient and rare artisanal craft, passed down in families over thousands of years, but it is a declining art.

She had to find the few remote villages where these large containers are still made. That was the easy part. Then she had to pack them safely and ship them to Israel. Drama and no little determination was the order of the day, but, wonder of wonders, they arrived safely.

Unfortunately the soil temperature in Israel was too warm for the Kvevri to be buried in the Holy Land as they are in Georgia, but nothing was to prevent Lina from achieving her aim.

The winery sought advice from winemaker Dr. Arkadi Papikian, one of the leading wine consultants in Israel, and Professor Amos Hadas, author of ‘The Vine and Wine in Archaeology of the Land of Israel’. Professor Hadas explained that pottery containers used for fermentation were never buried in the soil in Ancient Israel.

Eventually they decided to stand the earthenware vessels in a cold storage room. Cold maceration, fermentation and malolactic fermentation all take place within these containers making them the only winery in Israel that makes wine in this way. Then the wines are aged in oak barrels in the usual way.

Lina explained that they wanted to combine these ancient vessels with modern techniques to make wine in a country with such an ancient winemaking history.

The benefits of the Kvevri are that fermentation is longer and more even and the narrow conical base means less prolonged contact between lees (sediment) and wine. It is moving and exciting to see these vessels of winemaking history in use here in Israel. Well worth a special visit.

Another reason is to taste the cheeses, cut vegetables and the delicious Georgian paste from a secret recipe and the scrumptious bread baked by Reuven Grafton, a local baker. You need another reason Maybe it is to meet Vlad, Lina’s husband from St. Petersberg. He is a fascinating walking encyclopedia of wine information from ancient history until today. Unfortunately he works in Hi tec by day, but if you can catch him helping out on his days off, you are the winner.

Future dreams Maybe, to bring the Georgian variety Separavi, to Israel, to ferment in her Kvevri. Now that would be interesting!

Modern winemaking technology here may give the impression Israel is in the New World of winemaking. The return of cement tanks and large barrels reminds us of our Old World roots. However Slutzkin’s Kvevri, the discovery of a very large 3,600 old wine cellar at Tel Kabri in the Galilee and the hundreds of old limestone wine presses that decorate our landscape, help to remind us that our true beginnings are in the Ancient World. It seems what goes around, comes around.

The wines I tasted were as follows:

Kadma Chenin Blanc 2014
A white wine with a blowsy, tropical fruit aroma. Its sweetness is quite apparent, but is offset somewhat by a clean finish. It will be popular amongst those who like semi dry wines. Price: 90 ILS

Kadma Gemino 2013
This was my favorite wine, made from a blend of Sangiovese and Merlot. It has a cherry berry aroma with an earthy, peppery backdrop. It has medium weight, with a refreshing finish.
Price 70 ILS

Lirae Kadma 2013
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with aromas of blackcurrant and ripe plum. It has a full flavor with a vanilla coating.
Price: 80 ILS

Copia 2013
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese. The wine is full bodied, fruity with black fruit dominant and exhibits a certain mouth filling complexity. Good finish.

Netofa Winery beats the drum for wines of the old world. The name of their one of their labels, Domaine Netofa and the growing region written on the label, Basse Galilee, give a clue. There is a French connection here somewhere.

Of course when you meet the winemaker, Pierre Miodownik, all becomes clearer. He was born to parents of Polish origin. That explains the name. They came from Lublin and settled in France way before the Holocaust. They lived in the Languedoc in a place called Beziers. Now this is a big wine producing area which produces more wine than the whole of Australia together.

Here the young Pierre learnt his winemaking as an apprentice, ‘on the job’, by helping out at the wineries around him and he fueled his Zionism, by working on a kibbutz. Gradually, he was able to find a niche making much needed kosher wine at non-kosher wineries, but as he became more knowledgeable and experienced, it frustrated him that kosher wine was not better quality.

He received his opportunity when Baron Edmond de Rothschild (grandson of Hanadiv – The Known Benefactor), decided to make kosher wine. He needed a religious winemaker. Miodownik fit the bill. Together they made the first quality kosher wine in France in 1986.

Then, Royal Wine, the world’s largest importer & distributor of kosher wines, thought if he is good enough for Rothschild, then he is good enough for us. He had made wine which they had sold previously. For the next 28 years, Pierre Miodownik became the European winemaker for Royal Wine making kosher wines in France, Spain and Portugal. He helped make kosher cuvées at some fairly famous wineries including Bordeaux Chateaux Giscours, Léoville Poyferré, Pontet Canet and Taylors Port in Portugal.

After becoming the main figure of Kosher winemaking in Europe, he then decided to conquer Israel. Pierre combined his winemaking skills, with his Zionism and religion by founding a winery in Israel. He made aliyah with his wife Corinne and seven children. Knowing the most important thing in a winery is the vineyard, he first planted a vineyard in the Lower Galilee.

Netofa Winery has 120 dunams of vineyards which are lovingly grown with great expertise in the Ein Dor area, in the foothills of Mount Tabor in the Lower Galilee. The first vintage was 2009, and first complete vintage was 2010. They now already produce 75,000 bottles a year.

The winery has a dream team. Apart from Miodownik’s winemaking skills and French charm, the winery has a sharp, savvy wine knowledgeable CEO, Yair Tebboulle, who was born in Israel, but his father was from Bordeaux. Then there is Yitzhak Tor, a man of the soil, who has a lifetime experience in vineyards and Israeli agriculture.

Shahar Marmor is the viticulturist managing the Netofa vineyards. He is from one of the founding families of Tabor Village. He studied winemaking in Margaret River, Australia and is young, good looking with some experience at Carmel & Amphorae wineries. He is undoubtedly a great asset to Netofa, because he understands better than most, the difference between growing grapes and growing wine.

They make the wine at Or Haganuz Winery. There is nothing wrong with that. There are many negociant wineries and negociants who make their wine at another winery or at what is known as a ‘custom crush facility.’ As Or Haganuz has the quality equipment and the capacity, why not It certainly makes good sense financially.

The Israeli wine revolution was made with Bordeaux varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc were the first Israeli wines to be noticed for quality. However, today the worm is turning. Mediterranean varieties are in and Netofa is one of the new wineries leading the way.

Pierre Miodownik selected grapes which are Mediterranean in origin and considered more suitable for the Israeli climate. These include Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Roussanne from the region where Pierre cut his winemaking teeth. To these he has added a touch of Spanish & Portuguese planting Tempranillo and Touriga Nacional.

He loves Chenin Blanc and this is where his main focus on whites. He had experience of this making wine in the Loire Valley. He likes this variety, its quality, the way it develops all the time and its ability to age. Chenin is the comeback kid of Israeli wine and there are few wineries that swear by it. Certainly it is something different from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay all the time!

I drove north to Mitzpe Netofa to visit the winery, and instead was welcomed to one of the most luxurious wine rooms in the country. Firstly it is slightly secret and secluded. It may be found in a side entrance to a rather grand synagogue building, which already gives an expectation of quality. Netofa’s wines are good, but with divine assistance as well, they are even better!

You enter a heavy sliding door, unmarked from the outside and imagine you have gone into a gentleman’s cigar club in the West End of London. The room is plush and exudes quality. You are in a wine den, with low lighting. There is a chunky table surrounded by eight easy, plush leather armchairs. Sit in one of these, and you don’t want to move. Then there is a display of bottles with lighting and mirrors that gives a feeling of wow.

Here they hold workshops at different levels. These range from the most basic wine tasting to a picnic, with wine of course, where you can inhale the Galilee air and enjoy the beautiful views. Their wine room is certainly a comfortable place to taste wine. I would book just to sit in one of those chairs again!

The wines I tasted which are all kosher, are as follows:

Domaine Netofa White 2014
Unoaked Chenin Blanc with herbaceous notes. I got cut grass. It was harvested at the end of July to preserve the freshness and acidity. It is sharp, in a good way, refreshing and is a great advertisement for Chenin Blanc in Israel. I preferred it to the oak aged version.
Price: 65 shekels.

Latour Netofa White
A varietal Chenin Blanc aged for 8 months in old oak barrels. The wine has a straw color, a whiff of wet hay and melon. It has a good minerality with long length.

Price: 85 ILS

Netofa Tinto
A blend of Spanish and Portuguese varieties. The 40% Tempranillo and 60% Touriga Nacional combine with 10 months aging in large barrels. The wine is full of sweet, ripe fruit with a fat juicy flavor.
Price: 75 ILS

Domaine Netofa Red 2013
A blend of Syrah and Mourvedre aged seven months in barrel. The wine is fruit forward but not jammy, light to medium bodied, with a meaty mouth feel and a refreshing finish.
Price: 65 ILS

Latour Netofa Red 2012
An elegant blend of Syrah and Mourvedre aged for 13 months in French oak, 50% new. It has a delicate fruity nose, a great balance in the mouth with well integrated oak notes and a long finish. This was my favorite of the reds.
Price: 100 ILS

Netofa Tinto
A blend of Spanish and Portuguese varieties. The 40% Tempranillo and 60% Touriga Nacional combine with 10 months aging in large barrels. The wine is full of sweet, ripe fruit with a fat juicy flavor.
Price: 75 ILS

Netofa Dor
A limited edition production of Syrah aged for 15 months in barrel. This is a big wine. concentrated and oaky. If it must be said, slightly more new world in style, than the rest of the portfolio.
Price: 180 ILS

LBV Netofa
An outstanding port style wine made from 80% Touriga Nacional and 20% Tempranillo. It is a Late Bottle Vintage wine made in the classic port style. It is aged for four years in oak barrels. Sweet, rich and complex, full of ripe fruit but not lacking in an acidity which makes it far more drinkable than you would think. Very rare, but an experience. (There is a also less expensive Ruby port style wine which is also very good.)
350 ILS

One of the seminal events that marked the development of the kosher wine industry took place exactly thirty years ago. This was the production of the first Rothschild kosher Bordeaux wine. Until then most kosher wine in France was simple, inexpensive and more prized for its hechsher than its quality.

At this time a young Jewish guy called Pierre Miodownik, of Polish parents, was becoming frustrated at the lack of quality of the wine he drank and dreamed of producing quality kosher wine. He knew it was possible if he had the right opportunity. He lived in the Languedoc. It was scarcely a center of the Jewish community, nor was it then known as a place for quality wine.

Miodownik had slipped into wine because it was all around him. Languedoc was even then one of the largest producing wine regions. As a religious Jew, he became involved in making kosher cuvées to supply demand, but with no pretention to quality. He knew the wines were not great, and sought a way of doing better. This quiet, slightly diffident, unassuming Frenchman then got the opportunity of his life. He was put in contact with Baron Edmond de Rothschild himself.

Baron Edmond de Rothschild was the grandson of the Baron Edmond de Rothschild we revere so much in Israel. The grandfather founded Carmel Winery, built the two largest wineries in Israel at Rishon Le Zion and Zichron Ya’acov and planted vineyards all over Israel. In doing so he founded the modern Israeli wine industry.

His son James donated Rishon Le Zion and Zichron Ya’acov Cellars to Carmel Winery in 1957, thus ending the family involvement with Israeli wine, and founded the Yad Hanadiv Foundation.

However the family’s immense support of Israel continued. The grandson with the same name also benefited Israel by founding the Caesarea Rothschild Foundation. Furthermore, Yad Hanadiv helped to build the Knesset, the new Supreme Court Buildings, the Mishkenot Sha’ananim Music Center and a current project is the National Library. The contributions are endless.

Baron Edmond the younger, was a part owner of Château Lafite Rothschild. His cousins, stemming from the English branch of the family, owned Château Mouton Rothschild. These are two of the great Bordeaux Châteaux, purchased by the family in 1868 and 1853 respectively.

When Baron Edmond decided also to enter wine, he had an opportunity to buy Chateau Margaux, another of the great French wineries, but instead decided to be a wine pioneer and to create. He went for Cru Bourgeois instead of Premier Cru Classé and purchased Château Clarke in the more unfashionable, comparatively unknown region of Listrac in the Medoc, Bordeaux. He invested a fortune in Château Clarke. The estate was modernized, the vines replanted, and the wines improved no end. He succeeded in bringing this region, and that of Moulis, to the attention of wine lovers.

When the shy Miodownik met the Baron, he was nervous, but the Baron could not have been nicer or more welcoming. He told him about his grandfather’s commitment to Israeli wine and the Rothschild’s ongoing contributions to the Jewish community. He told him he felt almost an obligation to continue the support of the Jewish community by producing kosher wine.

This was the opportunity young Pierre sought. The Baron empowered him and told him to do it, whatever it took.

So they produced a wine called Barons Edmond de Rothschild Haut Medoc from the 1986 vintage. It was not inexpensive, carried the Rothschild name and was from Bordeaux. It was watershed wine in the niche world of kosher. After this it became more fashionable for famous Châteaux in France to produce kosher wine. However though many of those who have dabbled in kosher wine do not make it every year, the Rothschild wine continues to be made, year in, year out, not missing a vintage.

Pierre Miodownik went on to become the most revered kosher winemaker in Europe, and Baron Rothschild continued to produce high quality, fine wines in the general wine world through his wine company, which was called Companie Vinicole Baron Edmond de Rothschild (CVBER).

The CVBER today owns the Bordeaux Châteaux in the up and coming regions of Listrac and Moulis. Châteaux Clarke (Listrac) and Château Malmaison (Moulis) were purchased in 1973, followed by Château Peyre-Lebade in 1979.

After Baron Edmond passed away in 1997, his son Baron Benjamin and wife Baroness Ariane continued the growth of the company with a joint venture in South Africa with Anton Rupert (Rupert & Rothschild) in 1997 and in Argentina with Laurent Dassault (Flechas de los Andes) in 1999.

They then returned to Bordeaux to purchase Château des Laurets in Puisseguin-St. Emilion. This was followed by the founding of Macan in Rioja, a joint venture with Vega Sicilia, the greatest name in Spanish wine, and Rimapere in 2012, in partnership with Craggy Range in Marlborough New Zealand.

CVBER is a well-run company with a fascinating list of wineries, each producing some very high quality, authentic regional wines, which remain true to their origins and local terroir. Despite their immense contribution to Israel and to Israeli wine, unfortunately they have not yet made the leap to having a joint venture or partnership with an Israeli winery. However they list some serious wines for serious wine people, which are well worth seeking out.

The latest initiative has been a joint venture between the three great Rothschild wine houses in production of a high quality Champagne called Champagne Barons de Rothschild. This includes a kosher cuvée.

CVBER continue to remain loyal to Baron Edmond de Rothschild’s wish to make quality kosher wine. To make a kosher wine in a non-kosher winery can be costly in terms of time and money. Quite frankly it can be a nuisance to an efficient winery. Yet to her credit, Hélène Combabessouse, the Commercial Director of CVBER, who must be frantically busy all the year round, can be found at most of the large annual kosher tastings whether in London, New York or Tel Aviv. She faithfully presents the kosher portfolio, with patience, a smile and a certain French elegance. It really does show a real commitment to the Jewish community and kosher wine, that CVBER have continued to serve this niche market for the last thirty years.

The kosher wines produced by Compagnie Vinicole Baron Edmond de Rothschild are distributed by Royal Wine and Kedem Europe. The wines I tasted were as follows:

Champagne Barons de Rothschild NV
A kosher cuvée was made of the new champagne…..and this really is a fine result. It has some good toastiness on the nose, with a touch of brioche, a creamy acidity and a very refreshing finish. Without doubt this is one of the best kosher sparkling wines out there.

Les Lauriers Des Barons Edmond Benjamin Rothschild Rosé 2014
Made 100% from Merlot. It has an onion skin pink color, with very delicate berry aromas balanced with a sharp and refreshing acidity. An ideal aperitif.

Les Lauriers Des Domaines Edmond de Rothschild 2013
This wine is mainly Merlot balanced by Cabernet Franc and a little Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is deep red in color, with ripe plum and black berry on the nose with soft tannins and effect of oak aging nicely integrated.

Barons Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Haut Médoc 2013
The Rothschild Haut-Médoc is made 65% from Merlot and 35% from Cabernet Sauvignon. It is really the second wine of their three estates Clarke, Malmaison and Peyre-Lebade. Medium to full bodied with good black berry and blackcurrant notes, quite soft in the mouth with a pleasing finish.

Flechas De Los Andes Gran Malbec 2013
This is my favorite. A 100% Malbec which is full of up front fruit, with a mouth filling flavor, vanilla notes from the oak and a long satisfying finish. A great mouthful of wine.

There are the four products that really symbolize the culinary revolution in Israel more than any others. These are bread, wine, cheese and olive oil.

The festival of Shavuot gives us the opportunity to enjoy all four together. It is amongst other things a harvest festival celebrating the first fruits and the grain harvest. As it is a tradition to eat dairy products, what could be more appropriate to enjoy a selection of Israeli cheeses, a hunk of bread, with olive oil drizzled on it of course, washed down with some Israeli wines.

Once there was only a choice of white cheese, yellow cheese or salty cheese in Israeli supermarkets. Quality wines were few and far between. Olive oil was something one bought in a soft drink bottle in local Arab villages. Bread was called Achid, a rather basic version of black bread.

In the early 1980’s a few small dairies were founded which specialized in producing handmade goats’ cheese. Barkanit in the Jezreel Valley, Ein Kammonim in the Lower Galilee and Shay Seltser in the Jerusalem Hills were the pioneers that started the gourmet, boutique cheese revolution.

The wine revolution started with the Golan Heights Winery, also in the eighties, and the whole industry responded by moving to quality. The gourmet bread revolution started with Lechem Erez, (‘Erez Bread’) on the initiative of the famous Chef, Erez Komarovsky in the nineties. Then, Zeta from the Lower Galilee, Halutza from the Negev, both now large producers, and Eger from the Mount Carmel area, heralded a revival of quality Israeli olive oil.

Today there are no lack of specialist dairies, boutique wineries, regional olive presses and artisan bakeries that have sprung up all over Israel. The large producers and major brands have also responded, so production of cheese, wine, bread and olive oil in Israel today, is unrecognizable from even fifteen years ago.

There is a connection between these products that runs like a thread from Ancient Israel to modern times. The famous Persian poet Omar Khayyam summed it up correctly writing romantically about: “A flask of Wine, a Loaf of Bread – and Thou.” Go to Tuscany today and they will say that the holy trinity of Wine, Bread & Olive Oil is the basis of the Mediterranean diet.

However this all began in the Bible, when Wine, Bread & Olive Oil were the three mainstays of the economy. Wheat, Vines & Olive Oil were amongst the Seven Species blessed in Ancient Israel. When the spies sent by Moses returned after scouting out the Promised Land, they returned with a large bunch of grapes to illustrate that this was a land …”flowing with Milk and Honey.” This image of two men carrying a large bunch of grapes on a pole between them is preserved appropriately in the logos of both Carmel Winery and The Israel Tourist Board.

So I recommend that this Shavuot represents an opportunity to celebrate the flowering of gourmet Israel with these four most fundamental regional and historical products.

The world of cheese is probably more varied even than the world of wine. President De Gaulle said about France, “How can I manage a country with so many cheeses” It is a complicated world to learn, but there are basic guidelines for matching cheese & wines, which may be followed:

Red wines do not go with soft, fatty, creamy, salty or smelly cheeses.
Often dry white or even sweet wines will far better combinations.
Try and match the acidity of the wine and cheese.
Try & contrast the saltiness of the cheese.

To simplify the issue, most cheeses can be placed in the following categories:

Hard Cheeses
A hard cheese which is firm, and not aged too much, will go well with a medium to full bodied red wine. Cheddar and Parmesan are classic examples of fine red wine cheeses. However if the cheese is older and more pungent, the wine needs to be more mature and less tannic to avoid a clash. For this you will need older vintages.

Soft Cheeses
This is the hardest category to find a match. A creamy, fatty cheese will make most reds seem like water. The fat in the cheese will neutralize the tannin. Alternatively an oaky and tannic red wine will taste slightly metallic when these cheeses are ripe and runny. A pasteurized Brie or Camembert would best be served by a lightly oaked Chardonnay with good acidity. If you prefer a red wine, then one which is soft, full of fruit and with no astringency will be adequate.

Blue Cheese
Salt accentuates tannin so the myth that red wine goes with all cheeses is shown to be most false when a red wine is matched with a blue cheese. A sweet dessert wine or fortified wine, are far better matches. The salt and sweetness contrast to enhance both cheese and wine.

Goats Cheese
This category produces Israel’s finest cheeses. They have a strong character but can go with either white or red wines. The classic combination for a young goats’ cheese is a varietal Sauvignon Blanc. An aged goats’ cheese can be matched successfully with a mature well-structured but not tannic red.

Cooked Cheese
Cooked cheese goes better with white wine. A cheese sauce, like Mornay, will usually be matched well with an oaky Chardonnay, the weight of the sauce being matched by the intensity of oak. For a Fondue, a Sauvignon Blanc is recommended.

For a quiche, I recommend an unoaked chardonnay. A Pizza is best served with a fruity rosé.

Cheesecake
Finally with a rich New York cheesecake, there is nothing better than a fortified Muscat.

Sorry to disappoint red wine lovers, but as you can see, white wines are generally far better accompaniment to cheeses and dairy products than red wines. The reality does not chime with the popular image of blocks of cheese and carafes of red wine.

There are trends that indicate a return of interest in white wines. Certainly the quality and variety has improved no end. Many wineries are now making some really fine whites with typicity and authenticity, which was lacking not so many years ago.

Don’t forget that white wines are far more versatile to match with food than reds. They are also far more suitable for our hot climate than red wines. Who wants to sit on the balcony at home drinking a 15% alcohol, oak aged red wine on a hot summers evening, when a crisp dry white is also an option

So this Shavuot can also be a time to appreciate Israel’s quality white wines. It is a festival that does not only provide an excuse for an annual cheese and wine tasting, but it can also be a celebration of the four products which connect modern gourmet Israel with our Biblical roots. A glass of wine, a slice of cheese, a hunk of bread, a drizzle of oil….and thou.

Israeli wine has always had a special place in its surrounding society. It has had the same relevance and prominence from the days of Ancient Israel in Biblical times, until now in modern Israel. In ancient times wine was a major industry and vines, grapes and wine were frequently used as imagery that people could relate to. Just read the Bible.

In modern times, wine still plays a crucial role. The settling of the country, the planting of vineyards and production of wine has helped develop the country. Time and again the farming villages or settlements have set the political tone. Wine was at the forefront at every stage of Israel’s history.

The vineyards planted in the 1880’s are an example. The idea of working the land and making it your own was adopted by the Labor Zionism movement. The fact that David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister worked at the Rishon Le Zion Cellars and Levi Eshkol, Israel’s third Prime Minister, managed the vineyards, only underlined the importance of wine as a symbol of the new Israel. When Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism, visited Israel in 1898 he was taken to see the Carmel Winery as an active example of the Zionist dream come true. Carmel developed and maintained a new Israeli wine industry through all the problems of building the state.

Wine was prominent enough an issue, to attract the intervention of politicians. When Joseph Seltzer from Hungary wanted to found a winery in 1952, he did so, on the site of a disused perfume factory in Binyamina. There were disputes about the approvals given and only when David Ben Gurion, by then Prime Minister, became involved was the issue solved and Eliaz Winery, now renamed Binyamina, was formed.

Political intervention was also apparent in the development of the Golan Heights Winery. The Wine Growers Cooperative was against it and they had a person of influence in the right position to lead the opposition. Pessah Grupper was the Minister of Agriculture, as well as being a veteran member of the Wine Growers Cooperative, and later the chairman. This time the future of the new winery was preserved only due the strong intervention of Ariel Sharon, then the Minister of Trade & Industry. He managed to secure the approvals to push through the move to its permanent premises in Katzrin.

Sometimes it was wine that put a region on the map. The positive attributes of settlement pioneering, Israeli agriculture and advanced technology combined in the Golan Heights Winery. The Golan area came to be very much associated with the success of its wines. Its Yarden wines gained international acclaim. Wine became the most visual export from the Golan Heights and undoubtedly contributed to the fact that this area, new to Israel after the 1967 war, was swiftly adopted by the Israeli consensus.

The area known as the Territories, (aka the West Bank by lefties or Judea and Samaria by rightists), was more politically fraught. I prefer to call it from a wine region point of view, the Central Mountains. Companies opening businesses there received favorable rates and inducements and Barkan Winery was founded there. Eventually the issue of the Territories became an issue. Barkan moved to a new winery in Hulda, became Israel’s largest exporter and close to the largest winery in Israel.

In the last ten to 15 years, there are a number of new wineries that have opened in the Central Mountains. It is in their interest to show the Israeli settler as placid farmer types planting vineyards and growing wine. Again, wine is at the center of the political issues of the day, but they are using wine and wine tourism in exactly the same way as Carmel Winery and the Golan Heights Winery were used to settle the country and the Golan before them.

Those with an anti-Israel agenda like the BDS, and the relabeling proposals of the European countries are doomed to fail if their objectives are to cause financial damage. Most Israeli wine is sold in Israel and most of what is sold abroad is channeled to the Jewish market. The late legendary wine critic, Daniel Rogov, put it very succinctly: “There are domestic and overseas customers who simply won’t buy the wine because it comes from the occupied West Bank.” He went on: “In contrast there are many others who will look out those wines precisely because they come from there.” Sales will not be affected. Maybe the bad press will even boost sales.

The main damage is one of image yet wine remains Israel’s most presentable product which represents the land, agriculture, technology and Israel’s creative energy. However bashing of Israel through wine is certainly not new. I remember the crisis when I represented Yarden and the London store Selfridges succumbed to pro- Palestinian protesters outside the store and delisted the wine. That was over fifteen years ago. Meetings were held with the management and the wine was reinstated. The similar issues with the Sweden’s Systembolaget and more recently the German store KaDeWe, also involved the Golan Heights Winery.

Only the most fervent, anti-Israel campaigners categorize the Golan Heights as politically problematic and yet it is included in all the propaganda as being part of the Occupied Territories. When people rage about the Territories and include the Golan Heights, their whole argument is undermined. Likewise it is a massive failure of Israel diplomacy that the Golan Heights still has this mark of Cain on it.

After all, the Golan has been annexed to Israel, there are no Palestinians there and the adjoining country is Syria, which is in the process of disintegration. Who do the critics want Israel to hand the Golan back to The hypocrisy of it all! It is not even in any western country’s interest that the Golan should go back to any of the existing players, but the blanket approach continues.

Many see everything in Israel as political, but at least wine gives you a glimmer of hope to present the most acceptable face of Israel. You don’t always receive the welcome I did when presenting wine to Polish sommeliers when one asked me: “Why should we sell Israeli wine when you murder Palestinian children.” They don’t teach you to answer to that in wine school! However wine is one of Israel’s finest quality exports and arguably Israel’s finest ambassador. Reactions like that are rare, especially in Poland where I have many wine connections.

Wine has certainly made me a lot of friends. The people I have met with a glass in hand include right wing settlers from the territories, left wing pacifists from Tel Aviv, ultra orthodox Haredim, Israeli Arabs, Palestinian Christians, not to mention winemakers from Lebanon and Turkey. We have absolutely nothing in common, apart from an interest in wine. So I see wine as a bridge and unifier rather than something divisive. I wish people here would drink more wine than coffee, and then perhaps it would be a calmer place!

Most people in the wine trade believe wine should be separated from politics. You don’t need a flag to grow grapes and wine should be judged on quality. In other words it should be above the fray. The wine from a vineyard in Alsace did not change because it was from France or Germany. It was still the same terroir regardless of the country.

After 130 years of pioneering, it is still wineries and vineyards that are in the center of the Israel discourse. Only recently a prominent right wing politician described those Israelis that did not buy or write about wine from the Territories as enemies of the State and agents of Palestinian propaganda. Others see a difference between Eretz Israel and the State of Israel and refuse to touch a bottle from there. And that is a debate within Israel.

Every restaurant and individual must be allowed to make the decision to buy or not based on personal opinion, as with every consumer product. The freedom of what to buy without harassment is a basic right. Live and Let Live. It is only a drink made from grapes after all! Thankfully, there are enough quality Israeli wineries of every type, from every corner of the country, to provide a great deal of choice, whatever your political persuasion or religious affiliation. However I do not believe in boycotts on principle and believe they drastically weaken the arguments of those that propose them.

Wine continues to be an attraction for the full spectrum of political views, covering every corner of the country, whether disputed or undisputed. So it seems those that want to glorify or vilify Israel, from outside or within, will continue to do so, using wine as the medium.

Ring the bell! Israel now has its first ever Master of Wine and it is a truly amazing achievement. There are only 129 living MW’s in the world today from outside the United Kingdom and there are only four from the Eastern Mediterranean basin. Our own Eran Pick has now joined this distinguished elite.

A Master of Wine is part of the most prestigious wine community in the world. Anyone, who has the letters MW after his name, commands instant respect.

Think how many wine professionals there are that we all look up to, whether winemakers, critics, buyers and wine educators. Well, out of all those respected, talented people, there is only one in Israel who is entitled to truthfully refer to himself as an MW.

I have been many years in this business, but always hold the MW’s with enormous respect, even a little awe. I never thought I would see the day when we would have an Israeli MW and thought it even more unlikely that a winemaker would have the time and the exposure to wines other than their own, to succeed.

Make no mistake, it is a phenomenal achievement, but Eran Pick is a phenomenon.

He is a father of three young children, winemaker of Tzora Vineyards which he combines with being CEO of the winery. He is also the breed of winemaker who makes wine in the vineyards. As such he is a wine grower, beautifully described by the French word ‘Vigneron.’

The grower’s world is the size of his vineyard. He is intimate with his vines. His focus may be on an individual vine or a particular bunch of grapes. The world is his vineyard and the vines are his children. He meticulously plans what each vine is going to be when it grows up. The grower will nurture, cajole and encourage that vine, to be the best bottle of wine that there can be.

Then the winemaker, part artist, part scientist, receives the precious fruit, which he will endeavor to transform into a fine quality, authentic wine, which reflects the special and unique terroir and character of his vines.

To be a CEO requires a breadth of vision. You need to manage, be a strategist and the wine grower and winemaker don’t always get their way.

Not sure if it is easier or more difficult when these tasks are all handled by one person! How does Pick find the time to do all this, look after his young family and study to be an MW Obviously he has 30 hours in his day, when most of us make do with 24!

Eran Pick was born in Kfar Saba, and lives in Tel Aviv. He always wanted to be an architect but a bottle of German Riesling from the Mosel Valley opened a window in his mind.

He started off like so many with a wine appreciation course with Barry Saslove and a growing interest in wine encouraged a change of direction. He completed his B.S. degree in Viticulture and Enology with Highest Honors at the University of California at Davis. He travelled, with ears and eyes open to work in Barossa, Bordeaux, Napa and Sonoma. He joined Tzora Vineyards in 2006.

He is tall, quietly modest with a slightly old world English charm about him. His humor is very British too. Subtle, dry, not picked up by everyone, but always bang on the nail.

The world of wine is currently mourning the premature death of Paul Pontallier, the winemaker of Château Margaux. One of my proudest moments in wine was representing the Golan Heights Winery at the New York Wine Experience in 1999. This was the first time an Israeli winery was ever invited to the most exclusive wine event in the world.

I stood alone representing Israel. I looked around and saw only famous wineries. Virtually next to me was Paul Pontallier himself, pouring the wines of Château Margaux. I felt I had intruded into a private symposium (Greek wine tasting) for the wine Gods.

Paul Pontaillier, who will be sadly missed, was a role model. Quite apart from what he achieved, I am thinking more of his character. The self-sufficiency. The quiet modesty. The steely, inner self confidence that was not always visible to the outsider. The perfectionism. The curiosity. The ability to take calculated risks. The absolute professionalism. Paul Bascaules, his assistant was quoted as saying: “What I learnt from him was doubt and humility. He said many times if you don’t doubt, you don’t learn.”

Paul Pontallier’s passing was announced when I was writing this article and I make no apology, that this is an article about Eran Pick. I don’t want to diminish Pontallier’s memory in any way and Eran Pick is at a comparatively earlier stage in his winemaking career, but it suddenly occurred to me that in trying to describe Pick, I came up with these exact same phrases. I can pay Eran Pick no higher compliment.

He is quiet, a listener, who believes in his way, but soaks up information and is not afraid of taking risks. He is fascinated by all stages of winemaking. The building blocks and the process interest him as much as the final result.

Caro Maurer MW pointed out that from the first moment “his talent, his dedication, his ambition” were obvious, but she went on: “.. but…it was his sincerity which made him stand out. I assume it was a result of weighing self-doubts and self-confidence.”

I am always writing that wine is a product of a person and place. This is never more true than of Tzora Vineyards. The winery was founded in 1993 by the Kibbutznik, the much loved Ronnie James. He was a self-taught grower who tended vines. He wanted to create a winery rather than selling his precious grapes to the large wineries. He was a man of the soil, salt of the earth, with a warm smile, a ready laugh and an engaging personality. Probably the opposite of Eran Pick, apart from one characteristic, he was determined to explore the terroir of his vineyards.

James was a pioneer of the idea of wine being representative of place. His world view and character gained many friends throughout Israel. He was not to know, that arguably his most inspired decision was bringing Eran to be the winemaker in 2006, and when James sadly passed away, Pick took over.

The winery has since gone onwards and upwards, making high quality wines that reflect the specific terroir. The names of the wines give the game away: Judean Hills – the region, Shoresh – the vineyard and Misty Hills – a plot in the vineyard. It is all about place.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Tzora is at the same time one of the fastest improving wineries in Israel as well as being one of the finest wineries in Israel.

The team is professional as can be. Dor James, son of Ronnie, is fittingly the valued vineyard manager and the icon Jean-Claude Berrouet, of Petrus fame, is consultant. However Eran Pick MW, the Master Vigneron, is in charge. He is the conductor and plays the lead instruments.

The Tzora wines I tasted were as follows:

Judean Hills Blanc 2014
A blend of mainly Chardonnay and a little Sauvignon Blanc. The nose is more Chardonnay and the Sauvignon comes through in the mouth and finish. The wine has a creamy tropical fruit nose, a pleasing fatness and flavor in the mouth cut by the excellent acidity.
PRICE: 100 ILS

Judean Hills Red 2014
This is a best buy. Always performs. Made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petit Verdot and Merlot. The nose is slightly rustic, with red fruits to the fore. There is a touch of leather on the palate, a sour red fruit finish and the wine is beautifully balanced. Flavorful and refreshing, yet restrained. A great food wine.
PRICE: 100 ILS

Shoresh Blanc 2014
The only varietal in the Tzora portfolio. It is made from Sauvignon Blanc. Many Israeli sauvignons flatter to deceive with a dancing nose and lack substance in the mouth. This wine is the opposite. There are aromas of tropical fruit, citrus flowers with a flinty, minerally mouth feel and the aromas last all the way to the long finish. PRICE: 140 ILS

Shoresh 2014
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot. It has a combination of black fruit and spice with a hint of greenness, soft tannins and good acidity giving the wine a long balanced finish. It has good structure. It is still a baby and needs a little more bottle age.
PRICE: 140 ILS

Misty Hills 2013
Misty Hills is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grown in a particular plot sometimes shrouded in mists. Hence the name. I love the weight and grip of this wine. It has great up front fruit, delicate not jammy, with spicy and herbal notes, well integrated oak flavors and an almost refreshing finish. Elegant, showing depth and finesse.
PRICE: 240 ILS

There is also a dessert wine called Or made from Gewurztraminer. It is extremely limited production. Very well regarded, but I have not tasted it. It is on my list….

Passover comes around again. To me it is the main wine event of the year. A family get-together, with too much food and a lot of wine. The Seder is set up like a real Roman

banquet, and so are the wines.

Many relate the Arba Kossot, the four cups of wine, to G-d’s four expressions about how the Exodus would come about: “ I will bring out……deliver… redeem…take….” However I am told in the Mishnah, the drinking of four cups, is mentioned as fitting in with different stages of a meal, as in any banquet.

This fits in with my theory. The wine connection has its historical roots in the Greek Symposium, which was a glorified wine tasting, and the Roman banquet, in which food & wine were celebrated without restraint! The first glass is the aperitif. The second glass is with the starters and continues with the fish course. The third glass is also with the meat course and the fourth glass is after the meal.

There are no rules as to which wine to choose, so my advice is follow your own customs and buy what you yourself like, without becoming over wrought if it is the correct choice or not. Customs differ depending on the family minhag. Some people will start with sparkling or a light semi sparkling (frizzante) wine. Many use a sweet Kiddush wine for the first glass, because of tradition or because guests will be drinking on an empty stomach. Families with children may insist on grape juice. Whilst there are some who will reserve only the very finest wine for the first cup, considering the first blessing the most important. They will follow this with a dry or semi dry white wine, then a red wine and finish with a sweet dessert wine and a great deal of singing.

As for question of whether to buy white or red, there is always a view to support your opinion. Some will only use red wines believing they are more appropriate. Others may use whites, because red wines remind them of the blood libel. There is no right or wrong, just personal preferences.

I recommend for the usual large family gathering, that usually makes do with Kiddush wine and grape juice, to buy instead Moscato, Carignano or Red Muscat wines. You will find them under the labels like Buzz, Hermon, Dalton, Selected and Teperberg. These are usually low alcohol semi sweet, and slightly sparkling. They are perfect for young families and for those who drink wine as a necessity, but do not really like it. You will discover that everyone likes Moscato. Serve them cold from the fridge. These are the best Jewish wines invented for many years. They tick all the boxes.

If there is a little wine pride in your family and you appreciate a bargain, the best buy area in supermarkets is the ‘three for a hundred shekels’ sector. These are the best QPR (quality per price) wines in the market and they will be on promotion before Passover. You may even find a better offer than that.

I am referring to brands like Barkan Reserve, Carmel Private Collection, Golan Heights Hermon, Recanati Yasmin, Segal Merom Galil, Tabor Har and Teperberg Impression. My favorites in this section are the Private Collection Shiraz and Mt. Hermon Red amongst the reds. As for dry whites, the Har Chardonnay and Yasmin White give great value for their buck. If you want semi dry, you can’t beat both the Har and Impression Gewurztraminer.

Next stop for the wine loving family is the 50 to 100 shekels category. Here the wine shops offer the best range. All the large wineries have wines in this category. What is a surprise is that many smaller boutique wineries are these days also offering wines less than 100 shekels. The wine shops are a treasure trove for the wine lover looking for something different or new. You will have fun browsing and do not hesitate to ask for assistance from the staff, who should be wine knowledgeable.

I certainly believe this is a time for patriotism. I will usually only drink Israeli wines at Passover, and think this should be so if the Seder is in Jerusalem, London, Paris or New York. I believe not only that Israeli wines are the finest kosher wines in the world and but that they also provide more variety in different styles and at varying price points than anywhere else. Some believe that Chateau Something at a cut price, offers better value, because it may be from France. I disagree.

For those who constantly moan Israeli wines are too expensive, when you visit the supermarkets and wine stores in the weeks before Passover, you will find special prices, deals and promotions abound. There will be an enormous choice of wines at very attractive prices. It is a buyer’s paradise. Most of the talk about pricing is because the media, wine critics and special tastings all center around trophy or medal winning wines. However these may be the wines people talk about. They are not always the wines people actually drink!

I am always being asked what I drink and what my choice is. It is our family tradition to hold a special tasting on Seder night, based on a theme. A month before Passover, my children are asking, “well what are we going to drink this year.” They don’t ask about the food!

Two of my children and I, work in the wine trade and between us, we are proud to represent four different wineries. It is a common question: “So who wins the battle of what to drink in your household every Shabbat” The usual answer is nobody, because when we are together, we invariably taste something new.

This Passover though, we are staying close to home. Each family member who works in wine, will be asked to bring their best red and white wine to our Seder. Responsibilities have been divided up. I will bring both the Carmel Limited Edition and Admon Vineyard Chardonnay from Carmel Winery, and also the Yatir Forest and Viognier from Yatir Winery. My son, David will bring the Tabor Limited Edition and Shahar (a Riesling) from Tabor Winery and my daughter, Rachel will bring the Kerem Moshe and Montefiore White from Montefiore Winery. The reds are similar, either Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux style blends based on Cabernet Sauvignon. The whites could not be more different.

This will be our first Seder without my much missed wife, who passed away before her time. She loved port. So as a special concession against my Israel only rule, we will also be opening a Taylor’s 1980 Vintage Port. It is particularly appropriate, because this was the year we met.

Whatever your poison, remember the mitzvah in the Mishnah is that even the poorest in Israel must be given not less than four cups of wine to drink. The quality, style and cost of wine is not important. Buy within your means to allow everyone to partake in this particular mitzvah. It is obviously not economically sound to pay for expensive wines with an enormous family, where only a few souls will appreciate it. On the other hand, we have to drink, so buy something you like. The beauty of Passover is that Jews all over the world, whether religious, traditional or secular will celebrating the Seder with four glasses of wine. Let’s wish everyone a Kosher & Happy Passover …and LeHaim!

Wine has brought me in touch with many worlds. Firstly, most obviously, is the world of Agriculture. Wine is an agricultural product. The place where the vineyards are situated and the way the vines are grown, is crucial to the quality of the final wine. In the trade we talk about growing wine, not grapes. You can’t make good wine from bad grapes.

Then there is the Science and Art of winemaking. Each winemaker veers either towards one or the other. Some wines are made more technically and others are made with artistic freedom but in the end it is a combination of both that makes winemaking so fascinating.

The wine trade is known as the world’s second oldest profession, so it also puts you in touch with History. (This is a family newspaper, so we won’t go into the oldest profession!) The story of our sliver of land from the earliest Biblical times until today, may effortlessly be told through the story of wine. Thucydides wrote that man became civilized when he began to cultivate the vine. Californian wine icon Robert Mondavi used to quote Petronius’ statement that ‘Wine is life.’ It is true that it permeates through everything.

With history comes Archaeology. In the Eastern Mediterranean where wine culture was born, there are ongoing archaeological finds to support the evidence of the long history. Findings of cellar caves, amphorae and goblets, let alone all the numerous wine presses, paint the picture that wine is as old as history itself.

Gastronomy is also a world I have entered thanks to wine. There is a holy trinity of wine, people and food. Wine is not made to be tasted alone, but to accompany food with friends and family. If one of the legs of this three legged stool is missing, then it is just not the same experience. The stool collapses.

With appreciation of fine wine, comes the appreciation of good food. Together, you reach the mathematical impossibility of one plus one equals three. One enhances the other, but neither is a whole without its partners. Pity the poor person, who goes from formal tasting to tasting, as many wine lovers do. They think they are experiencing wine, but they are missing the point.

Then, last but not least, there is the world of Religion. Wine is of fundamental important to both Judaism and Christianity. As Jews, every Sabbath and every festival holiday is sanctified by a glass of wine. At Purim we are entreated to drink a great deal, at Passover we have to drink four glasses, Shavuot is a time for a cheese and wine party and Succot is really the wine harvest festival. Need I go on. For Christians, the Communion centers on this exalted beverage. Wine is one of the building blocks of Western Judeo-Christian society.

When Israeli wine grows up, it wants to market itself as an Eastern Mediterranean wine in the wider wine world. It should be sold alongside the wines of Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and Lebanon on the shelves and wine lists. Jews may buy it because it is Israeli. Christians may be interested because it is from the Holy Land. The wine anorak will be interested because to them it is a new, slightly exotic wine country. The sommelier will take a look because he may see Israel as the quality producer of the Eastern Mediterranean wine region. However kosher The k word is barely mentioned because it is too much associated with the image and quality of sweet sacramental Kiddush wines.

We should be humble. Until recently even tiny Cyprus produced more wine than Israel. We are not as important as we sometimes think. There is something like thirty five countries making more wine annually than Israel. Gallo of Sonoma, the largest winery in the world’s ‘boutique winery’, makes more wine than the whole of Israel put together. There is even one single vineyard in Monterey, California that yields more tons at harvest all the vineyards of Israel.

We look enviously at New Zealand wine. They are a relatively small country, which succeeded in making quality wines, creating a quality image, whilst maintaining the highest average price for wine sold in the UK and USA. Israel is chronically bad at selling itself. In this aspect, the failures in foreign policy and diplomacy are no different. One prominent politician once said ‘we don’t need hasbara because our story is so good.’ How wrong he was.

We are far away from doing a New Zealand. Even Lebanon and Turkey have generic bodies marketing their wine brand overseas. Israel Apart from the short lived Handcrafted Wines of Israel that I founded and managed thirteen years ago, there is nothing. It is each winery for itself and Brand Israel suffers.

The largest 12 wineries have well over 90% of the wine market and they all produce kosher wines. However most of the small boutique, domestic and garagiste wineries are not kosher. Therefore we have the paradox: most Israeli wine is kosher but the majority of Israeli wineries are not.

I for one am proud to produce kosher wine that Jews everywhere can drink, and it would be crazy from a marketing point of view to make wine that over 20% of your captive audience can’t touch. So for combined reasons of religious belief, a feeling of Klal Israel and economic expediency, making kosher wines is in vogue. Even some top quality small wineries like Flam, Tulip and Vitkin, that previously produced non-kosher wines, have reverted to becoming kosher. Furthermore, Pelter founded a new sister winery called Matar to enter this market.

All this is helped by the fact that the quality of Israel’s kosher wines is so good. After all we want to be good Jews AND make quality wine! Well, Israeli wine, that ‘happens also to be kosher’, is good enough to score 94 points in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, to gain four stars in Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine book, to win the Decanter International Trophy or the award of Best Winery at Vin Italy.

However, we need to understand there is massive over production throughout the world. More serious wine producing countries than Israel are struggling to sell their wines. Supply swamps demand. Over 90% of wines sold, retail at under $10 a bottle. Most Israeli wines sold in export are over $10 bottle! It is well-nigh impossible for Israel to really compete in the mass market because of high price and small quantities.

It is therefore a great benefit that kosher Israeli wineries have the kosher market. Who else will drink all these wines from the vineyards we keep planting, as though the market is certain and selling wine is the easiest thing in the world. If you look at it like this, the kosher wine market is not only a benefit, it is also a blessing and necessity!

The kosher wine laws are the oldest in the world. The agricultural laws (Orla, Shmitta etc) are from the Bible, as is the prohibition against using wines used for idol worship, and the other laws building a fence around wine come from the Babylonian exile 2,500 years ago. There is a whole range of Jewish religious laws with respect to wine, but they are spread out all over the place. It is hard to know where to begin. That is until now.

A new book is shortly to be published which will be of interest both to the Talmid Chacham and to the wine lover drinking kosher wines. It is by Rabbi Daniel Yaakov Travis and is called Wine and Wisdom.

His introduction explains the benefits of the book better than I can. He writes: : “Wine connoisseurs have developed a taste for fine wines….I encourage them to take their expertise one step further and to add the halachos of wine drinking to their repertoire of knowledge……In depth knowledge of the halachos of wine reframes the entire wine drinking experience. …… I am confident that anyone who appreciates fine wine will find this sefer enhances the spiritual joy of wine drinking.”

I could not put it better myself. The book is fascinating and beautifully illustrated. Wine and Wisdom is published by Feldheim in the USA at a price of $24.95. It will cost 79 shekels in Israel.

The history of Israeli wine may be told through three grape varieties, which were dominant during different periods. The first was Alicante Grenache, before 1948, then Carignan after the founding of the State of Israel and now, Cabernet Sauvignon in the 2000’s.

When the settlers of the First Aliyah planted grapes, the experts chose varieties from the South of France because of similarities of climate. In fact it Alicante was the dominant variety until the 1960’s. Now it is being revived here using its more familiar name, Grenache.

The next dominant grape was Carignan, which has been ever present since the 1870’s when it was planted at Mikve Israel. It was appreciated because of the high yields it could deliver and its flexibility. It could be used to make red grape juice, Kiddush wine or red table wines.

Without doubt, wine drinkers have drunk far more Carignan than they are aware of. I remember Daniel Rogov z”l, saying of a prominent winery’s so called Cabernet Sauvignon, “that was the finest Carignan I have tasted!” In the 2000’s this variety was revived and reborn thanks to the efforts of Vitkin and Carmel wineries and lately, Recanati too.

However today, the number one variety in Israel is the regal Cabernet Sauvignon. Baron Edmond de Rothschild insisted on bringing it to Israel in the 1880’s, but it took 100 years to catch on. The Carmel Special Reserve 1976 and Yarden Cabernet Sauvignons of 1984 and 1985 showed the wisdom of the Baron’s decision, and the quality revolution began. These days there is enough Cabernet planted, that if it says Cabernet Sauvignon on the label of even the inexpensive wines, then it is likely to be correct.

Israel is not known for one particular variety in the same way as California is known for Zinfandel, Argentina for Malbec and New Zealand for Sauvignon Blanc. Nor has Israeli ever had real indigenous varieties, or so we thought. That was before Dr Shibi Drori’s groundbreaking research to isolate and identify indigenous grape varieties in Israel. So far they have found 120 local varieties, of which twenty may be suitable for winemaking.

At the same time, there have been some fascinating new wines released recently, each from local varieties. The Cremisan Hamdani Jandali white blend and Cremisan Dabouki entered the market a few years ago and they were followed more recently by the Recanati Marawi. If these are added to the Segal Argaman, it is clear we better become used to some new names.

The Cremisan Monastery, which has been making wine since 1885, was the first to come out with a wines from local varieties. Their blend of Hamdali and Jandali was an unusually good wine in the white Rhone style. These are two varieties that are grown primarily in Bethlehem and Hebron by Arab growers. Over eighty five percent of the Palestinian vineyards are situated in the Bethlehem and Hebron areas.

I remember once visiting Hebron and thinking I was in Spain, with vineyards everywhere, though they are used only for table grapes, syrup or raisins. The Hamdani and Jandali were developed over time as table grapes. They are tasty which is why they survived when wine grapes were grubbed up.

The Jandali is the more aromatic with flowery aromas, but lacks a middle palate. The Hamdani has citrusy, lime and grapefruit aromas with a lengthier finish. It has more depth, the ability to stand up to barrel aging and better potential. They show well together in a blend.

In the 19th century, the Shor and Teperberg wineries in the Old City of Jerusalem used these varieties to make wine. The grapes were delivered to the Old City on donkeys. A 16th century scholar, Rabbi Menahem di Lonzano, mentioned them as varieties of wine in Jerusalem. Some even say there is a mention of them in the Talmud, dating back to 220 AD. Whatever the folklore, these are old varieties that were used to make wines long before any problems between Israelis and Palestinians came to the fore.

The Recanati Marawi 2014 was launched a few months ago. Marawi is a synonym for Hamdani. Simply, around Jerusalem and Bethlehem the variety is known as Hamdani and when in the past it was grown in the Judean foothills and southern coastal plain it was known as Marawi.

The berries are large, grown at 900 meters elevation on what is known as a Hebron style pergola. They are dry farmed, with no irrigation. The wine was barrel fermented in old, used barrels and aged sur lies (on its lees.) Only 2,500 bottles were produced.

The wine has lemony, honey, peach aromas a certain mineral texture, but despite their efforts, it is somewhat lacking in acidity. However it was without question the most interesting new wine of 2015 and attracted the interest of the international media, including CNN and the New York Times.

Amar Kardosh, once export manager of Cremisan, was quoted as saying: “As usual in Israel, they declare that falafel, tehina, tabouleh, hummus and now Jandali grapes are Israeli …..these are Palestinian grapes grown in Palestinian vineyards.” A Holy Land indigenous grape, Palestinian grower and Israeli winemaker is the reality, and I see it as a beautiful cooperation.

There can be no such complaints about Dabouki which has been grown from the Mount Carmel region, down to the Judean plain for centuries. There are also vineyards in Bethelem and Hebron. The Dabouki variety is said to have originated in Armenia. It means ‘sweetness’ in Arabic.

It was mainly used for distillation of brandy and local Arak producers, like El Namroud, still use it for producing their base wine before distillation and the addition of anise. Similarly the Lebanese variety Obeideh was far more associated with Arak than wine, until Chateau Musar used it in a white blend.

Now, Avi Feldstein has made a varietal Dabouki from fifty year old vines in the Mount Carmel area. He has aged the wine on its lees in tank, stirring them periodically (bâtonnage in French), in order to improve flavors and complexity. Cremisan Monastery also produce a Dabouki from Bethlehem vineyards. The wines tend to have a floral tropical nose, a medium body, a broad mouth feel, rather like a fat Chardonnay and a rounded finish. The Feldstein version is enticing. I finished my glass without realizing.

Local red grapes are not so successful. Cremisan Winery sell a Cremisan Balady from an indigenous variety. It certainly is not at the standard of the white varieties. The red is light, thin with a pronounced acidity. However in the research conducted by Shibi Drori, there are some potential red varieties with names like Balouti and Zeitani that offer more hope for the future. As it is, the most Israeli red wine variety that you are likely to meet is Argaman.

Argaman, which means deep purple in Aramaic, was a grape created by Professor Roy Spiegel at the Volcani Institute of Agriculture. It was the result of a cross between Carignan, the work horse grape of Israel, with the Portuguese variety Souzoa. It was created in 1972, experimented with in the eighties and planted commercially in the early nineties.

The first wines were notable for their color but had little sophistication. The grape was planted in the hot coastal regions, mainly in the Judean Shefela, and used primarily for blends.

In 1999 a winemaker who liked challenges, saw unfulfilled potential in this variety. This was Avi Feldstein, then of Segal Wines. He planted Argaman in the Upper Galilee at the Dovev vineyard, at an altitude of over 700 meters above sea level. He saw himself as a viticultural Professor Higgins, who could coax something from this Eliza Doolittle variety, overcoming the genetical make up with the right care in the vineyard and winery.

By correct pruning, skilled canopy management and drastically reducing yields, he ended up with far better fruit than was produced in the hot coastal plain. Recognizing a lack of tannin in the grapes, he fermented them on Merlot skins.

The result was an excellent wine which was deep colored, with ripe red berry fruit. It was rich and plummy on the palate with a well weighted, even balanced finish. The Segal Rechasim Argaman 2007, even won a major gold medal in one of France’s main competitions. As such, the much maligned grape was able to take a bow.

Avi Feldstein is now independent but is still fascinated by Argaman. He is now making it from Givat Nili vineyards. He is still the creative experimenter, this time drying the grapes to increase the concentration.

So wine lovers, be on the lookout for some authentic Levantine wines from local varieties. Wines like Marawi, Dabouki, Hamdani Jandali and Argaman are well worth seeking out and tasting for interest and education. Who knows they might herald a new dawn for Israeli wine. One day, producing wine from Israeli varieties that have been here hundreds of years, may even become the norm!

Wine people are slightly color blind. We talk about red grapes which are really blue-black and white grapes which are greeny-yellow. We have white wines that aren’t really white. Now there is a new category: Orange wines, which are not really orange.

Confusingly, these are not fruit wines made from your finest Jaffa oranges or wine cocktails mixed with orange juice. Nor are they rosés or pink blush wines, which tend to take an orange hue as they oxidize and age. The term refers to white wines made like red wines and the color of the resulting wines is more amber than orange, but the name has stuck.

Traditionally, generalizing of course, white wines are pulp led wines, with the flesh of the grape providing the fruitiness and acidity. White wines are usually made without the grape skins, apart from the occasional fleeting skin contact. On the other hand, red wines are skin led wines, with the skin of the grapes providing the color and character we associate with red wines. Orange wines break the stereotype.

Orange wines are macerated with the grape skins and fermented in a similar way to red wines, which results in wines with their special amber, auburn color. This comes mainly from the grape skins but also from the oxidization process. Think of the color of brandy.

The wines can scarcely be called fruity like a usual white or red wine. They may have notes of soft fruits and honey flavors but these are usually subdued. However the wines themselves are full bodied, assertive with a bold structure. They are intense and quite tannic with a minerally texture. Invariably they have an attractive sour apple finish, similar to a scrumpy cider or the sour twist you get at the end of a Lambic fruit beer.

Orange wines are really niche wines for wine anoraks, who will look for them because they are different and authentic. Those brought up on a strict regime of fruit forward reds, and refreshing whites will turn their noses up at orange wines, as something that seems ‘off’ because it does not fit into the typecast.

Paradoxically there is a strong chance that the non-wine expert, with no interest in orange wines per se, will like them. This is because the wines are not sour like white wines or astringent like reds, so they are tasty, full flavored, unthreatening alternatives.

The new trend for orange wines brewed in the minds of the few idealistic winemakers in search of authenticity in the late 1990’s. The main region for orange winemaking is Friuli-Venezia Giulia in north east Italy. There, winemakers like the legendary Josko Gravner and Stanislao Radikon, who were seeking retro and innovation at the same time, decided to make an orange wine. They wanted to rebel against modern winemaking techniques. The purpose was to be original, go back to basics and to unlock the potential of the local thick skinned variety, Ribolla Gialla. They threw away the winemaking school books, ignored technology and decided to make wine as naturally as possible, with no additives, taking inspiration from how wine was once made, in days gone by.

Over the border in Slovenia they had made wines in this style for years, primarily because wines made in this way had greater longevity.

Both gained inspiration from the Georgians who for thousands of years have made wines in Kvevri, large clay vessels, which are topped up with wine and all the trimmings including skins, seeds and of course wild, not cultured yeasts. Then they are sealed, buried in the ground and left to slowly ferment over a long period of time letting nature rather than interventionist winemaking, to do its work.

In the 2000’s, one particular Israeli winemaker had the intellectual curiosity to make his own forage in the world of white wines made like reds. At that time, he had not heard of attempts of others, but he had the querying mind to overturn tables and seek his own truth.

Yaacov Oryah was born in New York into a religious family. He was the youngest of six children, and came to Israel when he was five years old and lived in Bnei Brak. He now has five children of his own.

His parents were originally from Belgium and Hungary, which may have been the hidden roots of his wine appreciation that was to become apparent later. However it was only after serving in the army, that he first met table wines. Whilst travelling in California he came across Bartenura and Israeli wines and for the first time realized there was a wine world beyond traditional Kiddush wines.

He was a qualified engineer, but a door opened in his mind. He did the Barry Saslove Wine Appreciation course and got the wine bug pretty bad. In 2004 he studied winemaking the Soreq Winery Winemaking School and took the Tel Hai College Cellar Master Course.

In 2006 he opened his own Asif Winery. Ever the innovator, he first intended it to be a negociant winery. This means buying wine from elsewhere, and then shaping it and blending it at his facility.

Then, he decided to focus on white wine.  He thought whites with their lower alcohols, better acidity and greater variety, were of more interest than reds: More challenging to make, better with food and more suitable for our climate. As such he was a pioneer.

At Asif Winery, Oryah being religious, made wine strictly according to Halacha, but the wine did not have a Kashrut Hechsher. Then, under new ownership, the name changed to Midbar, Oryah continued to work his magic and then moved on.

His fascination with the skins of white grapes began then. He could not understand why if all the flavor of red wines came from the skins, why winemakers dispensed with the skins of white grapes. His curiosity pushed him to make an experimental Asif Colombard and an Asif Gewurztraminer in 2007 as his first Orange wines.  Then the Asif Viognier 2008 was released with the words ‘Adam and Adama’ on the label (man and earth) and Midbar Orange 44 2010 (a blend of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Viognier) followed onto the market. They are great wines (note the present tense) and totally original. An acquired taste to some, and a valuable addition to the rich tapestry of wine to others.  Bringing orange to blue and white if you like! Each wine had different nuances dictated by the grape variety. For instance the Colombard has a more pronounced acidity and the Gewurztraminer still maintains the blowsy Gewurz nose.

Today, Yaacov Oryah is the winemaker for Psagot Winery and doing a great job. Privately though, Oryah is still like the little boy getting his first bunsen burner in a chemistry class. He is desperate to play, challenge conventions and has an uncontrollable urge to be experimental. This is not for commercial ends, just for the joy of doing something new, or understanding how it all works better. I call him the winemaking intellectual. He has now come out with his own Yaacov Oryah wine under the Alpha Omega label. Think about it, who else but an intellectual would call his wine Alpha Omega?

I tasted the 2014 Alpha Omega  made from Roussanne, Viognier and Semillon grapes fermented dry, with skins and all. The Roussanne provides a herbal backdrop, the Viognier the delicate fruit and fatness and the Semillon a lime and textural quality. I detected a slightly sherried nose, a lavender and white flower aroma, with a hint of smoked sausage and a rusty texture. The acidity was enough to make the wine fresh…and it had the sour apple finish I like so much. It is a wine to seek out as only a few bottles have been produced, but then to lay down for a number of years. It will gain greater layers of complexity with bottle age.

He has also produced the nearest to a Hunter Valley Semillon that we have had in Israel. Stainless steel fermented, unaged in oak, but with six years bottle aging, the wine is the best Semillon we have yet had here. That is also under the Yaacov Oryah label.

He is fascinating to talk to, whilst being modest, quiet and humble, though he does have an infectious giggle. However we are fortunate to benefit from his questioning mind and patience to try new things over a period of years. Apart from anything else, he is the person who has brought orange into the Israeli wine vocabulary.

Throughout history, Jews have made wine at home out of necessity. They needed wine so they could sanctify festivals and the Sabbath. Jewish and kosher wine was really a cottage industry throughout the ages. Wine was made in buckets and bathtubs, or any receptacle that was available, from anything from local table grapes to raisins.

In the 20th century kosher wine became big business, as did Kashrut supervision. Manischevitz, Kedem and Mogen Dovid in America, Palwin in Britain and Carmel from Israel became large brands which gained loyalty and a following from Jews wanting to make Kiddush and say the blessings, wherever they were.

In the 1960’s Carmel introduced the concept of dry kosher table wines and in the 1980’s Hagafen and Herzog from California and the Golan Heights Winery continued the development, with the objective of making the best quality wine possible ‘that just happened also to be kosher’. Since then, there has been a kosher revolution. Today, almost every wine producing country makes kosher wines, often in association with Royal Wine Corp., which internationalized quality kosher wine production. Furthermore kosher wines have won trophies in the most major wine tasting competitions and high scores from the leading critics, proving that the word kosher is not a bar to great wine.

Considering the developments in the last thirty years, it is particularly strange that in Europe, with all the kosher wine being produced, that Jewish owned wineries are rare and wineries owned by religious Jews are virtually non-existent. Most of the wine in Europe is made at existing non-kosher wineries, where a kosher crew is imported, a mashgiach (religious supervisor) takes control, batches are isolated under lock and key and the wine is made under strict supervision. Only recently I wrote that Terra di Seta was the only Tuscan winery dedicated 100% to kosher wines. So it gladdened my heart to find another: a promising start-up of a new winery initiative, owned by a religious Jew, also in the beautiful setting of Tuscany.

There, Eli Gauthier and his wife, Lara, have founded the winery of their dreams. Eli has French roots and his wife is from an Italian country family. They are both much travelled. Eli grew up near Paris, but has lived in California, England and Jerusalem. He even spent time as an intern in the Jerusalem Post, using is French language skills! Lara has been in Florence, Istanbul, London and Jerusalem. Yet they have settled in Tuscany. Tuscany is heaven on earth, so I can understand why!

Eli found wine almost by accident. He studied Hebrew and Israeli studies in London and decided to work for Kedem Europe in the evenings conducting tastings. Kedem is the main kosher importer and distributor in the UK, representing numerous Israeli wineries and kosher wines from all over the world. So it was a great way to enter the world of wine!

He then moved to Strasbourg and worked in a biodynamic winery, which was not kosher. There he developed his passion and sensitivity to the countryside and understood the importance of the vineyard and the idea of growing wine and not just grapes. As result of the life changing experience, he studied viticulture and winemaking in France and it was then he started to long for his own winery.

Lara’s family is Italian, with holdings in in the beautiful village of Casciona Alta in the heart of Tuscany. Now most kosher wine in Italy has been less good than the wines from Spain and France and certainly not at the standard of kosher wines from California or Israel. Eli and Lara knew an opportunity when they saw it and decided to open a winery in Tuscany. They decided on Tuscany because his wife was from there, there were family owned buildings they could use and her family had the necessary contacts in agricultural circles. It was a no brainer.

In the end, the new winery was situated in the exact place where his wife’s grandfather, Giuliano, had made wine and olive oil in years gone by. As a tribute, they named the winery Cantina Giuliano. (The word Cantina means cellar.)

It was important to Eli to make an artisanal wine in touch with nature. He loves the idea of producing what you eat and being at one with the countryside. He does not like consumerism or bulk produced wines. This world view is very much integrated with his Judaism too. Therefore, the necessary equipment was purchased to make small scale lot, hand crafted wines.

He explains: “We are not businessmen first, we are winemakers offering a product true to our region to Jews who may be tired of drinking standardized industrial and unfortunately soul less wines.”

The first wine was called Chianti Primize from the 2014 vintage. Primize refers to the first fruits or bikurim. The stylish label shows Lara’s father, Giustino, carrying a large container of wine for a picnic.

The backbone of the wine is Sangiovese, which is the main grape of Tuscany. This variety provides the aromas and acidity sought after in Tuscan wines. He added a little Merlot to give flesh and roundness, and a local variety called Ciliegiolo to provide color. He sources the fruit from vineyards on a high south-southwest facing hill, not far from the winery, near a town called Peccioli.

His raison d’être is to make an elegant wine, aromatic and good with food. I found their first effort eminently more satisfying than most of the Italian kosher wines I have tasted to date. It has good herbal and cherry notes, with a hint of ripe berries, is soft in the mouth and has a well-balanced finish. A very promising first wine, but no winery should be judged from one wine from only one vintage. It will be interesting to see how the winery develops in the coming years.

In the first year they made 12,000 bottles. There are plans to grow the winery to about 20-25,000 bottles with five different wines, including a white and a rosé.

In fact Casciano Alta is not far from Livorno, a coastal port town which bustles with energy. Eli says it ‘reminds me of Israel with a Tuscan twist.’ Of course, Livorno is the town where my family came from and Moses Montefiore was born there. It is from there that the Gauthiers are able to purchase kosher meat. Before the Second World War, a third of the total population was Jewish. Today, only a small Jewish population remains, but it is an active community, with a minyan each day.

Eli Gauthier has an easy going, friendly personality and a slightly romantic nature. However he is also not afraid of hard work and has the drive to fulfill his dreams. These days he spends six months at the winery in Tuscany and six months in Strasbourg where he studies full time in a Beit Midrash. He says making wine allows him to be close to nature and feel the divine presence around him. Wine is a combination of nature and the human religious supervision. In short his winemaking reinforces his Judaism and vice versa.

He loves to cook and has the same passion for food that he has for wine. He is working on a tasting room with a small kitchen to offer kosher Tuscan food made from vegetables they have grown in their orchards and their own olive oil. It sounds like it will be a must visit venue.

I was interested to know the style of wines he likes. He told me his preference is for white wines from Alsace and crus Beaujolais reds. As far as Israel is concerned, he likes Domaine Netofa because of their focus on Mediterranean varieties and finesse. He also admires the way Tzora Vineyards make elegant wines from the classic European varieties. Best of all is Capcanes, from the Monsant region of Spain, especially the Flor de Flor.

Eli and Lara would like to illustrate that it is possible to be religious, be a good Jew, work with nature and avoid the rat race. Theirs is a story of wine, vineyards, nature and Judaism. They are making dreams come true under the Tuscan sun.

Adam Montefiore works for Carmel Winery and regularly writes about wine for both Israeli and international publications.

Avi Feldstein, poet, philosopher, barman, grew up in Tel Aviv, from Romanian roots and read Literature and Philosophy at Tel Aviv University. He started as a tour guide. When I first came to Israel he was the bars expert specializing in spirits. The company he worked for, Segal, were then the main importers, bringing in brands like Martini, Jameson and Glenmorangie. By absorbing the material and immersing himself in the drinks world, he learnt enough to become the main expert in the country.

He acted as brand manager and spirit ambassador for the brands Segal imported, and was the main educator not only on product knowledge but also on how to be a professional barman. He also wrote for the Hadashot newspaper. Yet, with age, maturity and an expanding of horizons, Feldstein gradually moved from spirits and bars to vineyards and wine.

It is a known route. One of my sons was one of the best barman or mixologists in Israel. All the time I told him, that eventually he would get the wine bug because that world was seductive with even greater depth and more complexities. Sure enough, he is now working in wine. I too started elsewhere in the drinks business. I began my career in beer, studied wine & spirits and drifted into a career in wine.

Feldstein became development manager of Segal Wines and reached beyond his brief. Segal was a family firm. They were not the best winery of the day, but they were very innovative and pioneering with regard to importing wines and marketing.  Their labels were the first in Israel to feature famous artists.

Feldstein with his new brief was restless. He was certain Segal could make better wines, if they controlled the fruit in the vineyards. However the winery at that time had a culture separating the vineyard and winery. Remember we are talking over twenty years ago. The feeling was ‘Let the vineyard grow its grapes and the winery make its wine. The vineyard manager and winemaker have different jobs. Let them get on with it.’

Avi Feldstein thought otherwise. With no scientific or viticultural background, without taking soil samples and data from weather stations, he decided the Upper Galilee was the place where Segal could make the great leap forward. He describes how when touring the prospective vineyard, he fell asleep under a tree. He woke up early evening and it was cold. He thought ‘eureka’, this is the place for a vineyard.

Now the Feldstein decision was not just based on an intuitive gut feeling. He had toured and interacted with the wineries Segal represented, which included icons such as Mondavi, Mouton Rothschild and Penfolds. He was curious, and absorbed information like a sponge. This gave him the confidence to challenge the existing order.

Zvi Segal, the patriarch of Segal Wines, was outraged, saying if Feldstein did not think the wines were good enough, then he could leave. Feldstein stood his ground and the vineyards were planted. The Dishon and Dovev vineyards were to define the new quality of Segal Wines.

A success story has many fathers, and many wineries were starting to think of new developments in the Upper Galilee, but Feldstein was amongst the very first. This started a trend of wineries situated in the center of the country planting vineyards in the Upper Galilee.

In the late 1990’s, Avi Feldstein followed this by becoming the winemaker. So the initiator of the vineyard, became the person to receive the grapes a few years later. He was totally self-taught, which is contrary to the more usual route of gaining winemaking qualifications. As Feldstein reminded me, it was not so long ago that people did not learn in universities, but took apprenticeships, studied in libraries and learned from on the job, practical experience.

It may not be politically correct to say it, but I believe the finest Segal wines were made by Avi Feldstein. They certainly were not at that level before he arrived.

There are four wines that I most associate with Feldstein. Firstly, the Segal Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon, which he took over and improved instantly. The quality and look of this wine was the first wine that showed the new quality of Segal, where the innovative presentation was matched by the quality of the wines. This is still the prestige wine of the company.

Then there were the single vineyard wines, from the Dishon and Dovev vineyards in the Upper Galilee. These are today branded Rechasim. The wines were planted, grown, nurtured and turned into quality wines by the same creative hands.

Finally there was the inexpensive, house wine of the company which was a simple wine with the words ‘Shel Segal’(Segal’s Wines) handwritten on a plain label. Another bit of marketing brilliance from Zvi Segal. When the company was bought by Barkan, even then the second largest winery in the country, the ‘Shel Segal’ Regular Red became one of the best selling wines in the country.

Feldstein is most associated with the Argaman grape, which was developed in the 1980’s and planted in the 1990’s. This was a cross between Carignan, the work horse grape of Israel and Souzoa, the Portuguese variety. The idea was to create a good blending grape, with excellent color.

In a master stroke, Feldstein planted it in his precious high altitude, Dovev vineyard. Previously Argaman had been uninspiring in the warmer coastal regions. The result was an impressive award winning wine, including a gold medal in France, and he justifiably received the nickname Mr. Argaman for his efforts.

Avi Feldstein is an instinctive winemaker with a touch of creative genius. He is not bound by any rule book and makes wine according to an educated gut feeling, gained from observation, listening and experimentation. He has a feel for the vines and an understanding of what is needed to turn the humble grapes into quality wine.

For instance, when he made his famous Argaman, he decided to ferment it over the skins of Merlot grapes in order to provide extra tannins. Currently, he is still experimenting with Argaman, drying the grapes in order to provide more concentration of flavor. He is also making a Dabouki, a genuine indigenous white variety.  The wine is in stainless steel, but stored on its lees where he practices bâtonnage (stirring the dead yeasts periodically) to enhance complexity. None of these techniques are original, but he knows how to adapt and implement them to suit his needs.

He has now left the Barkan Segal empire and is concentrating on his own small, handcrafted boutique winery. Why bother making Argaman and Dabouki? Because it challenges him and he would get bored if things were too easy.  He also works with Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah, along with the more usual classic varieties. He receives grapes from the Zichron Ya’acov area, Gush Etzion and the Upper Galilee in his temporary winery set up in an agricultural facility near Hod Hasharon.

These wines are worth watching out for. They will be good quality, original and without doubt every decision will explained by a personal story, and anyway, where else will you taste a quality Argaman and an Israeli made Dabouki?

 Many chefs make follow exact recipes whilst others will adapt according to the best ingredients of the day. Some barman are slaves to the old recipe books for named cocktails, whilst the new mixologist makes it up as he goes along, taking into account the customer’s wishes and what he has around him. There are winemakers who play safe, making wine by numbers, and those like Avi that add a personal twist. Let’s call it creative individuality.

What is the difference between Avi Feldstein the mass market winemaker producing hundreds of thousands of bottles for Segal and the Avi Feldstein making a few thousand bottles in his own miniscule winery? He has a great answer: ‘Feldstein Unfiltered!’ That is exactly what I want to see. Handcrafted wines, with a sense of place and the thumbprint of an individual. This is why I will be seeking out his wines with great interest.

Wine is a unique product, representing both Judaism and Eretz Israel like nothing else and its relevance spans our long history. Think how important vines, vineyards and wine were in Biblical times and what a great ambassador of modern Israel wine is today.

From the time Noah planted the first vineyard, wine has been a symbol of both Israel and Judaism, and this has spanned the ages. When the Biblical spies wanted to show Moses that the Promised Land was a land of milk and honey, they chose to show it with a large bunch of grapes.

Wine was so important to King David that he had separate officials to look after his vineyards and cellar. Maybe these were the first viticulturist and sommelier

Isaiah knew what it was all about. His remarkable Song of a Vineyard shows how much they understood about winegrowing. Maybe the cup bearer in the Joseph story was the first sommelier, but the first Jewish sommelier was Nehemiah, who was the cupbearer to the King of Persia. He was sent back to rebuild Jerusalem but he also revived Judean winemaking.

Rashi, aka Rabbi Shlomo Itzaki, was a winemaker. Perhaps the most famous Jewish winemaker until the Golan Heights Winery’s Victor Schoenfeld! For me he symbolized the connection Jews would have with production, distribution or sales of alcoholic beverages throughout the second millennium.

Maimonides was the first Jewish wine connoisseur. He insisted wine should be red, not diluted with water, or sweetened with sugar and with no off tastes or aromas. And so it goes on. Wine has been a constant thread through our history.

When we arrive at the 19th century, we find the production of kosher wine was not a business but a domestic industry. Families made their own kosher wine at home. Initially it was just for nearest of kin, maybe for friends or even for a small community.

Wine in Eastern Europe was at its most simple. It was made at home in a bucket or bath tub using raisins, water and with spices added. In America, they made wine with grapes, but the simplicity and the bucket were the same. Certainly the wine tasted better than the raisin wine from the old country.

In Ottoman Israel and North Africa, they used local table grape varieties. The earliest wineries were tiny, domestic affairs which would make some of our current boutique wineries look big. We remember two of the many from Jerusalem, the Shor family and Teperberg, simply because they had staying power. They are still around.

Wine was then not sold in bottles but in casks. There were no bottles with labels on. A bottle was something used to bring a wine from the cask to the table.

There were no brands, no kashrut certificates and no Rabbinical supervision. You bought from someone you knew, or drank your own homemade wine. Contrast the kosher winemaker with the shochet (ritual slaughterer). The shochet needed animals to slaughter and a place to do it. He would need intensive training and an infrastructure to check what was being done was correct. So a regulated format existed, but kosher wine was left in the home.

The founding of the Concord grape was significant. It was disease free and cold resistant and produced sweet jammy fruit with a foxy or musky smell that people liked. It was cheap and local. It became popular primarily for the production of jams and grape juice, but it was adopted by East Coast Jews for wine. As it rarely ripened in New York State, the wines were too sour and sugar was added to make them palatable.

One should not spoil a good story by the truth, but there were other reasons why the wine ended sweet. Firstly the technology was such that fermentations would rarely run to the end producing dry wines. They would get stuck leaving a residual sweetness. Secondly, sugar was usually added to keep the enemies of wine at bay. It was a first class preservative.

Finally as luck would have it, most drinkers drank sweet wines as a matter of choice. Being Jewish had nothing to do with it. Over the years the laws of evolution had encouraged the eating of sweet things. The caveman learnt to look for sweet berries which were tasty and gave calories and energy, whereas if they were sour, it was a warning and they were avoided.

The sweet addiction continues with some people today, but in the 19th century, most people drank sweet wines through choice. The popular wines included Port, Madeira, Sherry and Sauternes. Even Champagne was famous until quite late on only as a sweet sparkling wine.

It also should not be forgotten that up to the 1960’s, most wine even in the brave new world of Australia and America was sweet. The wines would have been muscat types or cheap versions of fortified wines.

The first Kosher winery in the United States belonged to a Mr. Dreyfuss in California but Schapiro was the iconic New York winery founded in 1899. It was the first winery to put Concord to the fore as the new kosher wine grape. Their wine was advertised as “so thick, you could cut it with a knife.”

Then Carmel Wine Co. arrived in New York in 1898 urging: “Support the Jewish Colonies” and “Drink the only genuine Palestine wines”. Interesting how the language has changed over the years! Shapiro and Carmel were the first kosher wines that became national and international brands respectively.

Astonishingly, the first supervision of kosher wine in the United States was not until 1925 and prosecutions took place when there was fraud.

Then the big brands came into play, flaunting Concord of course. Mogen Dovid was developed in Chicago, “wine your grandmother would like.” Monarch Wines from Brokklyn used a brand famous & successful in the Jewish food world, Manischewitz. Old timers may remember Sammy Davis crooning “Man O Manischewitz”. These became massive wine brands which extended way past the Jewish communities. Today Manischewitz is owned by Constellation Brands, Mogen Dovid by The Wine Group, two of the largest wine companies in the world.

Then Kedem was formed, a winery owned by the Herzog family. During World War II, the Nazis seized their Herzog Winery in Czeckoslovakia, but having survived that, the family then had to flee the communists.

The American market was dominated by three massive brands: Manischewitz, Kedem, and Mogen Dovid and Israel was dominated by Carmel. Behind these brands, a new kosher wine industry was formed talking wines from the bucket to the tank, from the home to the winery. It was a new Jewish wine world. I call it the Concord revolution. The kosher wine industry grew to be big business.

In the winemaking Sephardi world, symbolized by Morocco and later France, the Jewish community drank dry wines, because that was what was being drunk around them. However, in the Ashkenazi world, kosher wine was sweet and nostalgic.

In the late 20th century, Carmel Winery and Royal Wine (parent company of Kedem) started to produce dry wines and led a trend to dry kosher wines in America and Israel respectively. At the same time they were pushed by new small pioneering wineries like Hagafen in Californian and the Golan Heights Winery seeking absolute quality while following kosher guidelines.

The new all-embracing variety was the Cabernet Sauvignon. The same Cabernet that made Bordeaux great was transplanted to every wine producing country, also arrived in kosher wines. Suddenly kosher wine was being made with the same grapes as the finest wines, by winemakers who studied at the leading wine schools, using all the latest technology and the most modern equipment. Concord helped formalize the industry and the kosher Cabernet revolution brought kosher wines to new levels of quality.

When Yarden wines won major trophies in European competitions in the 1980’sand Herzog wines scored more than 90 points in the American wine magazines in the 1990’s, kosher wine had jumped a chasm of quality into the modern wine world. True recognition at the highest level would arrive at the beginning of the 2000’s. The kosher wine consumer was now able to taste and schmooze about wine like everyone else. For the first time the long history of Jewish winemaking was matched by the quality of its wines.

Wander around the beautiful vineyards of Israel, and you will hear someone say proudly: ‘now…this is the Tuscany of Israel.’ They may be referring to the plunging mountains and running streams of the Upper Galilee or the terraced vineyards fitting the contoured valleys of the Jerusalem Hills. It could be the sparser more Biblical looking vineyards of the Central Mountains, or even the miracle of green vineyards sprouting in the desert. All beautiful in different ways, but the comparison is always with Tuscany.

The reason is that the famous region in central Italy has become the overriding symbol of all that is beautiful in a wine growing area and the ultimate in wine tourism.

Tuscany’s charms are well-known and its reputation is wholly justified. There you will see vineyards, olive groves and handsome lines of tall cypress trees intermingling in the Tuscan landscape. Funnily enough, that sounds a little like Israel. In the back ground will be rolling hills punctuated by oak woods or even forests, shrouded in morning mists. There will be those beautiful stone walls and attractive villages and towns, usually with an impressive medieval watch tower. Add to that the food and wine. It is certainly heaven on earth.

The Tuscan diet is based on bread, wine and olive oil. That sounds familiar too. Think how many times grain, wine and olive oil are mentioned together in the Bible. They were the staples of the Ancient Israelites too. Psalm 104:15 also brackets them together..’ wine to make glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face shining, and bread giving strength to his heart.’ Wine and olive oil are partners throughout the Mediterranean, never more so than in Tuscany.

However Tuscany is mainly known by its Chianti wines and the Sangiovese grape variety. Here the similarities end. Sangiovese (‘the blood of Jove’) is at its best in Tuscany and most unique in Chianti. There, the wines will have less depth of color to what we are used to. They will be more angular, less fruity and jammy, with prominent tannins and a rasping, refreshing acidity. More cranberry or pomegranate juice, than Ribena. The astringent, sometimes tart Sangiovese goes well with the broader olive oil flavors.

Lately some Tuscans are trying to make their Chiantis more international and globally acceptable, by blending Sangiovese with Cabernet or Merlot and ageing them in small new oak barrels, but others are trying to preserve the authentic Sangiovese taste, with its imperfections. They are perfect food wines but less memorable as competition show off wines that draw attention in the one off tasting.

The Italians have a healthy regard for a wine’s place at the meal. It is always ‘food and wine’, never wine and food. The wine is secondary and has a supporting role. It is an intrinsic part of the meal and knows its place. It is not put on a pedestal as happens elsewhere. We have so much to learn about wine culture. Italy is always a great place to start.

There is more to Tuscany than Chianti. Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Noble di Montepulciano and Super Tuscans like Sassicaia, Solaia and Tignanello also come from this region, with its long history. We think Carmel Winery is an old winery, making wine for over 125 years. Well the famous Tuscan houses of Antinori and Frescobaldi started in the wine trade in the 14th century!

No doubt Italy is one of the greatest wine producing countries, but curiously Italian kosher wines have never really hit the jackpot. I always have the impression that producers there are making commercial kosher wines rather than making the best wine possible that happens to be kosher. This may be semantics perhaps, but there is a difference.

I know Italians make the Bartenura Moscato, which is just about the largest selling kosher brand in the world outside the infamous but big selling Kiddush wine brands, but other kosher table wines don’t excite. Maybe it is the size of the Jewish community, but it does not bother Spain, where Capcanes and Elvi make outstanding kosher wines.

Wine is a troika of three things and I call them the three P’s. The Person, the Place and the Product. There is the wine itself, the place where it was grown and made and the individual that made it. Many of the Italian kosher wines are basically private labels. This means the wine you see is more associated with the importer or distributor that sells it, rather than with any particular winemaker or winery. They have a brand name, and some of them are good, but the people and place aspect is missing. This is a pity because this is what adds context to a wine, and it is what differentiates wine from coca cola.

There is hope. There is a small, quality dedicated winery called Terra di Seta, not far from Siena in the Castelnuovo Berardenga region, whose objective is to make quality, authentic Chianti Classico wines, that ‘just happen’ also to be kosher.

Chianti Classico is the heart of Tuscany and the heart of Italian wine. It is a regulated wine region which is situated between Florence and Siena, two places that reek of the history of art and wine. The difference between Chianti Classico asnd Chianti is purely geographical, though the locals fiercely protect the uniqueness of the Classico region as being superior to the wider geographical region. For proof look for the black rooster which is displayed on the label or capsule to denote an authentic Chianti Classico wine.

Terra di Seta is owned by Daniele Della Seta and his wife, Maria Pellegrini. The Della Setas are an ancient Jewish family that came from Rome. The Pellegrinis are a Tuscan family with three generations of experience in wine. They run a beautiful estate. The word Terra means land or earth and Seta, the family name, means silk. This is a wine which is all about people and place.

In 2001 the family bought the winery building and vineyards. They refurbished the winery, and in 2008 decided to dedicate all their production to kosher wine. Their winemaker is the respected Enrico Paternoster.

Daniele proudly claims his objective is to make high quality Chianti Classico wine, which is also kosher. It is the only winery dedicated 100% to kosher wine in Tuscany.

They have 15 hectares of vineyards, (150 dunams), which are more than 500 meters above sea level. The original vineyards they inherited were 35 to 40 years old, but they have been gradually replacing them since 2002. They only use their own grapes and make about 40,000 bottles of which eighty percent is sold in export.

They also produce olive oil and honey. Their estate is organic. That is to say their vineyard is organically grown. I always think that organic or self-sustainable vineyards go well with kosher wine. The concepts complement each other and I wish more Israeli vineyards chose the self-sustainable or organic route.

Terra di Seta is not only flying the flag of Chianti Classico, but also Italian kosher wines. The wines represent a region and a wine style that is more local than international. These are wines with a soul and a sense of place. I will be watching their progress with interest.

The wines I tasted were as follows:

Toscana Rosso, Terra di Seta 2012

I liked this. Very Sangiovese. Pale colored red, with a tinge of orange brown. A little thin with red cherry fruit, a touch of sourness and spice and very good acidity. A wine to drink chilled. Fun wine, good value.

Price: NIS 70

Chianti Classico, Terra di Seta 2009

This in the modern way has a 5% boost of Cabernet Sauvignon. It has the classic Sangiovese sour cherry nose with aromas of plums, ripe berries but was perhaps less knitted together than the other samples I tasted. I certainly look forward to the next vintage.

Price: NIS 110

Chianti Classico Riserva, Terra di Seta 2010

Fuller bodied version. Aromas of sour black cherries, a Mediterranean herbal character with a whiff of white pepper and spice against a backdrop of sweetish oak. A well-balanced wine, which adheres well to the standards expected, by traditional lovers of Sangiovese. Firstly enticing, then satisfying and finally, refreshing.

Price: NIS 170

In 2004 restaurateur Jacques Capsouto started on a journey that brought him to Israel, to plant vines and create one of Israel’s newest wineries.

He came to for a wedding and took time to visit a few Israeli wineries. He talked to winemakers, walked the vineyards and tasted the wines. He was surprised at the quality and put a number of Israeli wines on the wine list of his Tribeca restaurant in Manhattan. He said he did it for business reasons only, “because they were good.“

Then it was extremely rare for a non-kosher restaurant to select a number of wines from Israel and it took someone of the conviction of Jacques Capsouto to make the effort and back it up. He challenged his customers to try the wines, telling them “If you do not like the wines, you don’t need to pay for them.”

He explained “Israeli wine does not have the attack of fruitiness that the new world has but doesn’t have the subtlety that the European wine has. You have a nice middle ground between the two.”

In 2006 he was invited back as a guest to IsraWinExpo and a new dream came into mind. His mother Eva had always said to him “do something for Israel.” So he decided not only to become an ambassador for Israeli wines but to make his own.

Capsouto was born in Egypt to parents who came from Turkey. He moved to France with his family aged and lived in Lyon for four years and then the family moved again to the United States, where he made his home.

In Manhattan he founded the Capsouto Freres Restaurant with his brothers, which he ran for over thirty years. The restaurant helped put Tribeca on the map. For thirty years they maintained the exacting standards in the most competitive restaurant city in the world. It is difficult enough to find a quality restaurant in Israel that has lasted 10 years!

Then came two hammer blows. Firstly his brother Albert, a constant and crucial partner in the business tragically passed away well before his time. Then came Hurricane Sandy. A life’s work was destroyed in a single storm. The restaurant was flooded, fixtures destroyed and the restaurant closed. Capsouto dusted himself down and focused on achieving his new ambition.

He scoured the land looking to plant a vineyard “not on the Golan, too problematic, but in the Galilee, as near to the Lebanese border as possible.” He could have done it the easy way, buying grapes, but no, Jacques Capsouto wanted to do things properly.

In the end he chose a site in the Western Galilee, near Pekin, “a place” he says proudly, “where Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druse peacefully co-exist.” There are surprising few vineyards or wineries in the Western Galilee.

It is not easy for a Hebrew speaking Israeli to cope with the infamous Israeli bureaucracy. Well Jacques was neither a resident here, nor did he speak the language, but he was very determined.

He badgered everyone he knew for help and believe me, Jacques Capsouto knows how to be a nudge! He particularly plays tribute today to Gaby Sadan of Shvo Vineyards, Shalom Blayer, ex CEO of the Golan Heights Winery and Micha Vardia, winemaker of Galil Mountain, amongst those that helped him

His vineyard is in a horseshoe, north facing, 700 meters above sea level, with a 90 meter difference between the highest and lowest part. It was planted in 2010 and Capsouto was there, sleeves rolled up, living the wine experience to the full.

Capsouto is convinced that Israel is a Mediterranean country and as such should plant Mediterranean grape varieties. He also believes Israel should make blends in the Southern Rhone style, “less fruit forward and less like California”.

So he planted Rhone varietals Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache Noir, Cinsault, Counoise, (a little known variety in the Chateauneuf du Pape blend), as his red grapes. The whites he planted were Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne & Clairette. He has brought Cinsault and Clairette back to Israel and Counoise was never here before.

He believes with the fervor of a missionary that though these are not indigenous varieties to Israel, the origin is likely to have been Lebanon, the Eastern Mediterranean or Middle East. He tells me they were brought to France and Spain by the trading Phoenicians over 2,500 years ago.

He employed one of Israel’s leading viticulturists, Pini Sarig and the famous Jean-Luc Columbo as a consultant. Where is he from From the Rhone of course! As a winemaking he chose the promising and talented Eran Israeli, who teaches winemaking at the Ohalo School in Katzrin. A traditionalist to the end, he ensures the grapes are handpicked and he only used oak barrels three and four years old. No new oak for him.

I tried to meet him on two occasions in September. He couldn’t because they were harvesting. So apparently the debonair restauranteur is still very hands on. He wanted to be there, like he was in the restaurant every night, instead of delegating. Suddenly you understand why Capsouto Freres was at the top in the shark infected waters of the restaurant business for so long.

Finally after his long marathon, he was recently able to show me his bottles from the 2014 harvest. The first thing I notice is the labels. The names are in French and the look is absolutely Southern Rhone. The winery is called Jacques Capsouto Vignobles and the brand is Cotes de Galilee Village.

If you are in any doubt, he then goes through wine by wine: ‘The white is like a Chateauneauf du Pape White and the young red is like a Cote du Rhone Village. The Grand Vin like Chateauneuf du Pape.” We get the picture Jacques. The Rhone Valley has firmly settled in the hills of the Western Galilee!

At 70 years of age, when most people are looking for the easy life, he has completed the first stage. As we say in the wine business: ‘It is easy to plant grapes and it is not so hard to make wine. What is difficult is to sell them!’

Jacques Capsouto never married. He said “I suppose I was married to the restaurant for thirty two years. As for these wines….they are my Grandchildren”. Now, I am a very proud grandfather. When I became one, I suddenly understood the reason why I had children. I have no doubt Jacques Capsouto will get similar pleasure from his Grandchildren.

He says to me in his thick French accent, with the usual Capsouto bravado: “I think I have done a good job” …and then pauses, suddenly less certain, seeking affirmation he adds “…no” Yes Jacques, good job! Done with style, panache, and a dollop of French chic.

When I first wrote about Jacques Capsouto I called him The Wine Zionist. Tasting the fulfillment of all his work, I am reminded of Herzl’s quote: “if you will it, it is no dream.” He will like the comparison.

The wines I  tasted were as follows. Each commemorates a member of his family. Eva his mother, Marco his father and Samuel his brother and grandfather. The Grand Vin Blanc, not tasted, will be named after his other brother, Albert. They are Kosher.

Cuvee Eva Rose, Cotes de Galilee Village, Jacques Capsouto Vignobles  2014
A rose blend made from 58% Cinsault, with 22% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre. The palest possible shade of salmon pink. Very delicate and light with the faintest strawberry fruit and a searing acidity. Refreshing. Price: NIS 80

Cuvee Eva Blanc, Cotes de Galilee Village, Jacques Capsouto Vignobles  2014
A medium bodied white wine blend made from 60% Grenache Blanc, 19% Roussanne, 14 % Clairette and 7% Marsanne. Subdued nose, slightly herbal, good complexity with nice mouth feel and a long finish. Interesting, different and very good quality. Price: NIS 95

Cuvee Samuel Rouge, Cotes de Galilee Village, Jacques Capsouto Vignobles  2014
A red blend of 40% Mourvedre, 31% Grenache Noir, 26% Counoise and 3% Syrah. An aroma of ripe berries and plums. Chewy and meaty. Full of flavor, but with an elegant finish. I loved it.
NIS 115

Cuvee Marco Grand Vin Rouge, Cotes de Galilee Village, Jacques Capsouto Vignobles  2014
Not yet released. Wait until the Spring 2016, but it is rich, concentrated but still closed. I think it is going to be very good, but it needs time. For the record it is a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah.

Sparkling wine is the wine of fashion and celebration. Whether on New Year’s Eve or at a wedding, it remains the classic wine to make a toast with. It is also a symbol of success and happiness. Just look at the winner of a Formula One race. It is always Champagne he opens at the end of a race, never any other wine.

Champagne is the byword for quality in sparkling wines. It is made in the Champagne region in northern France in the most expensive, time consuming way. That is that the second fermentation, which provides the bubbles, occurs in the actual bottle which will eventually be sold. It can be bone dry, crisp with mouth puckering acidity or rich with a bready, yeasty aroma. If it is image you want, then champagne is the only answer.

For years wine with bubbles in was a winemaking fault. The idea of putting the bubbles there on purpose by a secondary fermentation was invented, believe it or not, by an Englishmen, Christopher Merrit in the late 17th century.

Folklore says that it was the blind monk, Dom Perignon, who invented it, running and shouting : “Come quickly, I think I am drinking stars!” He perfected the method of production, but as a consolation for the story not being true, his name lives on in one of the best known luxury champagnes in the world.

As soon as the bubbles were reliably preserved in bottle, champagne became the great prestigious pick me up it has continued to be until today.

The only problem then, was that it was sweet, even very sweet. The sweetest cuvées were produced for the Russians. The British had the driest, but even they were semi dry to medium in sweetness.

It was only in the mid-19th century that the Champagne House, Perrier Jouet rather gingerly produced the first dry champagne and it took some time before it was accepted, but the word champagne still held its magic.

Champagne made by the Champagne Method, is now more correctly known as the Classic or Traditional Method, is no longer confined only to Champagne. Today many countries produce wine in this way. For instance California, Australia and New Zealand have flavorful sparkling wines that rival Champagne for quality. The best sparkling wines are produced in cooler climates and it will certainly be a surprise to many that England today has some very high quality sparkling wines. The soils of south east England and Champagne are similar.

The first Israeli Classic Method sparkling wines were made by Carmel. However it was before its time, expensive sparkling wines were not popular and it was labor intensive to produce. Eventually they stopped and returned to lesser expensive sparkling wines, producing by the Charmat Method or what I call the Coca Cola method.

In the Charmat process the second fermentation takes place in a tank and is then bottled under pressure. In the Coca Cola method there is simply an injection of CO2 gas into to the wine. However, there are still some old pupitres (wine racks for riddling) to be found at Carmel’s wineries to provide evidence of their pioneering effort.

In the 1990’s the Golan Heights Winery started producing classic method sparkling wines using a more modern production line and their Yarden Blanc de Blancs in particular was swiftly recognized as a world class wine, winning major trophies..

The language of sparkling wines can be confusing. ‘Brut’ refers to a dry or very dry wine. The word Sec or Extra Dry refers to an off dry wine. Demi Sec is semi dry to semi sweet and Rich is sometimes used to denote sweet.

A Blanc de Blancs is a sparkling wine made 100% from white grapes, usually Chardonnay. It will be lighter with a more delicate aroma than the others. Blancs de Noirs is a sparkling wine made only from black grapes, usually Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier. It will be more full bodied with some berry notes in the aroma. The three grapes together make up the traditional Champagne blend.

There are other sparkling wines particularly popular in Israel. Cava is Spain’s national sparkling wine, which is made in the Catalonian region. It provides quality, and is made in the traditional way, but at a cheaper price than the French version.

Cava is in fact so popular that it has become the slang in Israel for any sparkling wine.

Prosecco is the latest rising star. This is a light, soft, fruity and slightly creamy sparkling wine made in the Veneto region of Italy. It is usually a little cheaper than Cava, and so is attractive for those buying on price.

Asti Spumante from North West Italy has a frothy grapey sweetness and is a fully fledged sparkling wine. For those who like a more delicate fizz, try the lightly sparkling Moscato d’Asti.

Lambrusco is a semi sparkling wine, with a slight fizz. These are known as frizzante in Italian. It may be red or white and in any style from dry to semi sweet. The sweet ones are glugging wines, but the drier wines can be bracing and refreshing.

Sparkling wine is the classic aperitif and goes with all mezze, hors d’oeuvres, fish dishes, sushi and poultry. In fact champagne goes with anything and everything and there is nothing wrong with drinking it throughout a meal. It is even a good way to end a meal after the dessert wine, providing a clean, fresh finish.

The versatility of sparkling wine, is best summed up by Lily Bollinger, the legendary owner of the Bollinger Champagne House. This memorable quote, I have framed in my office:

I only drink champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not in a hurry and drink it when I am, otherwise I never touch the stuff, unless I am thirsty.” Serve your sparkling wine ice cold. Put it in the fridge for a few hours, or even in the freezer for a short time, as long as you do not forget it.

Opening sparkling wine should be done with the utmost care. The cork can become a dangerous missile because of the pressure in the bottle, which equals that of a tire in a double decker bus. Hold the bottle at 45 °, being careful to ensure it is not pointing at anyone. Gently undo the wire on top of the cork, always maintaining a finger on top of the cork as a precaution. Hold the cork in one hand and bottle in the other and turn the bottle, whilst easing the cork and it should come out with a light swoosh, or an erotic sigh, rather than a big pop.

Champagne glasses historically were the flat saucer glasses apparently shaped on Marie Antoinette’s breast. Now these are considered more suitable for cocktails or ice cream. More in favor are the tulip or flute glasses which concentrate the aromas and maintain the steady flow of bubbles. Actually any white wine glass is more than adequate. Israel produces a full range of sparkling wines from the lightly sparkling Moscatos to the finest Classic Method wines. For those who wish to drink blue and white instead of imported wine, these are some good quality options. .

Yarden’s sparkling wines (Blanc de Blancs and Rosé) are the best, Pelter’s is the rarest and Gamla’s is also top quality, but is less expensive than both. Carmel Private Collection, Tabor and Teperberg produce very good mid-priced sparkling wines, which are good value. Then there are fun sparkling wines like Pninim, Moscato and Carignano which are always popular.

Whatever your poison, there is a sparkling wine at every price and in every style.

Cheers! Le Haim!

Binyamina and Zichron Ya’acov are two winery towns on the southern slopes of Mount Carmel, that have witnessed a 130 years of our modern wine history. It was here that Baron Edmond de Rothschild built a modern Israeli wine industry, first by planting vineyards and then by building a large winery. Binyamina is named after Edmond de Rothschild’s Hebrew name and Zichron Ya’acov, after his father, Jacob.

Today the area represents the most traditional, compact wine route in Israel, easily accessible from central Israel. A train journey to Binyamina Station can put you in the heart of the region. Within close proximity, there are wineries founded in the 1890’s, 1950’s, 1980’s and 2000’s. These include Carmel, Binyamina and Tishbi which are amongst the largest wineries in Israel and Margalit and Bar Maor which are some of the finest boutique wineries.

It is a great wine region to visit also because distances are relatively close between wineries and there are vineyards are all around, in Shefaya, the Hanadiv Valley and in Binyamina towards Givat Ada.

Kobi Arens is a son of Binyamina. He is a tall charismatic man, with blue eyes and a receding hairline. To me he looks like a dead ringer for Prince William. Imagine he is the slightly sturdier, elder brother. He has blue eyes and a warm, engaging smile. He was born and bred a farmer. The clue is when you shake hands. His hands are a farmer’s hands; large and well used.

His grandfather, Michael Arens from Riga in Latvia, was sent by his parents to Berlin to study to be a doctor, enough to fulfill the wishes of any Jewish mother. However, Arens had other ideas. He believed that working the land was crucial to building the State of Israel, so he left the course in the middle and went to Toulouse in France to study agriculture.

He made Aliyah in 1939 and in 1944 the family bought land to the east of Binyamina, towards Givat Ada. Gradually the Binyamina agricultural village became a town and expanded to absorb the new Arens holdings. It was classic agricultural entrepreneurship of the time. The fruit orchards, vineyards and olive groves were built on the family property. You walk out of the family house and their fields are spread before you.

As a child Kobi Arens, the third generation, remembers sitting on the trailer that carried the grapes to the Zichron Ya’acov winery. The tractors would line up the hill to the entrance to the winery. As a 16 year old teenager, Kobi would rush home from school to drive the last tractor of the day to the winery.

He was someone really born in a vineyard. The secrets of the vine and vineyards, was something he absorbed with his mother’s milk. Instead of accompanying his father to the big football game, he would be out walking the vineyards, orchards or groves with him.

The wine buzz came later. His wife was an air stewardess with El Al and they got the opportunity to visit California. Here in the first wine epiphany of his life, he was blown away by Napa Valley, the home of California’s wine industry, where viticulture, winemaking, wine culture and wine tourism were all intertwined.

Eight years later, he went on a study viticulture tour to Australia with a group of growers. When he arrived at Adelaide University, there was the second epiphany. He visited the university plant nursery, and saw the new winery for students. He met with the professor responsible for the oenology school and was immediately seduced into doing a post graduate winemaking program.

He returned to Australia with his wife and two young children, spent the time and did the work and added winemaking knowledge to his vineyard experience.

He returned and joined Carmel’s Zichron Ya’acov Winery in 2004 with the immense responsibility of making wine at Israel’s largest winery. He then became responsible for their new Upper Galilee winery at Ramat Dalton (today known as Kayoumi Winery) and for the premium vineyards in the Galilee and Golan Heights.

After six years, he returned to work in the family farm. He had previously made his own wine for fun, but in 2010 he starting his own winery. (www.arens.co.il)

For him, growing fruit for wine is not a matter of observing from afar and speaking to a vineyard worker a few times every year. For the grower winemaker, everything that happens, every storm or burst of sunshine is intimate and personal. It affects him and his vines, one and the same. For his mission is not just to grow grapes, but to grow wine, and not any wine, but his wine, in his place.

I often need to remind myself that wine is an agricultural product. Once I hosted a big shot from the United States. We visited 13 wineries in three days, one after the other. I thought smugly that I had done a pretty good job. On the way back to the airport my guest punctured my self-satisfaction by saying: “you know we visited thirteen wineries…but not one vineyard!”

Of course, the vineyard is part of it. The person and the place are what gives wine uniqueness, character, and what makes it different from Coca Cola.

So many Israeli wineries use vineyards far from the winery and there are very few genuine estate wineries. However the Arens Winery produces wines that reek of person and place.

I remember once seeing Kobi Arens hosting a tour of Galilee vineyards, and I thought then, that he had the presence, intelligence and communication skills to be a great teacher. It is therefore wholly appropriate that he is also the winemaker for the Shefaya Winery, where students from the residential youth village learn the rudiments of wine growing and the wine making process.

His wines are a reflection of his raison d’être. He works with varieties suitable for the area and is committed to making the most of his terroir. He likes blends believing this the winemaker’s true art. His wines are fruit led, but elegant and he recoils from high alcohol, concentrated fruit bombs.

He also makes a fantastic olive oil made from high density planted groves. The varieties used are the Koroneiki and Arbequina, which are from Greece and Spain respectively. It is one of the finest boutique olive oils here, definitely better for drizzling on salads or for grilling fish, rather than for use in frying.

He is not trying to make the best wine in the world, but is trying to make a local wine. He is an experienced grower, talented winemaker and a salt of the earth guy. He only makes 3,000 bottles, but they are authentic expression of the person, his vineyards and of the Binyamina terroir.

The wines, (not kosher) and olive oil I tasted are as follows:

Arens Estate Red 2010
A blend of 66% Syrah, 17% Petit Verdot, 12% Carignan & 5% Mourvedre. Ripe berry fruit, chewy mouth feel, complimentary oak notes in the background. It has soft tannins and great balancing acidity. In the end, it is actually a refreshing wine in what I call the new Israeli Mediterranean style. Recommended.

Arens Estate Red 2011
A blend of 44% Syrah, 32% Mourvedre & 24% Petit Verdot. This is a sharper, more angular wine. Less openly fruity, more austere. It needs more time than the others, possibly even decanting.

Arens Estate Red 2012 (not yet released)
A blend of 55% Syrah, 17% Mourvedre, 16% Carignan & 12% Petit Verdot. Fruit forward compote of ripe plums and berries, meaty flavors but leading to elegance with a refreshing finish. Similar quality to the 2010.

Arens Mourvedre 2012 (not yet released)
Mourvedre is best in blends, but this has an elegant blueberry nose, a rubber, burnt match character and a pleasing refined finish. I think Mourvedre produces texture and tannin rather than automatically recognizable aromas, but this is one of the better Israeli versions I have tasted.

Arens Olive Oil, Extra Virgin, Cold Pressed
It has a herbal grassy aroma, is spicy and flavorful in the mouth with a hint of an attractive bitterness on the finish. It is worth a visit only to top up with olive oil!

Most Jewish festivals have a wine or wine style associated with them and sometimes the calendar dictates what I write about. When arriving at Hannuka, it was a difficult decision. Do I write about hearty red wines because we are in the winter months, or dry white wines, which will go far better with the fried foods of the festival, like latkes. Instead, I have chosen to write about the product, which is at the center of the Hannuka story. I am referring to olive oil.

I believe it is appropriate for olive oil to appear in a wine article because they are partners and go together like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire or Humus and Tehina. They grow together as olive trees and vines in the same climate and conditions, are cultivated in olive groves and vineyards in the same growing regions and appear on the table together as olive oil and wine. Wherever the soil is poor throughout the Mediterranean basin, and nothing else grows, vines and olive trees have always been planted. This is true of all the Mediterranean countries. The humble olive and grape produce super enhanced products, wine and olive oil, which people in ancient times thought were gifts from the Gods.

Olive oil and wine go back to the beginnings of the Jewish people in Israel. Deuteronomy refers to a land of olive oil and wine. Thucydides wrote that the dawn of civilization was when man began to cultivate the olive tree and vine. Today, they together they are the best expression of the Mediterranean diet, and are symbols of the new quality Israeli cuisine. They are the essence of both ancient and modern Israel.

I never forget when I was a young wine buyer in England, a famous Italian winery wanted to give a gift. I was rather hoping for one of the winery’s better wines, but instead was surprised to receive a bottle of their finest olive oil. Only later when I came to Israel and began to appreciate the wonders of olive oil, did I truly appreciate what a special and personal gift it was. I learnt that the pride in a handcrafted olive oil was no less than in a great wine.

The olive was first cultivated in the Levant and Crete virtually simultaneously. From its roots in the areas of Syria, Israel & Lebanon, olive cultivation spread to Turkey, Arabia, North Africa and Spain. The Hebrew word for olive is Zayit, which is similar and the obvious root to the Aramaic Zaita, Arabic Zait, Armenian Dzita, North African Zeit and Spanish & Portuguese Azeite. Those countries using the word olive, trace their roots to Greece, not to the Levant.

The olive tree grew wild in the natural forests of ancient Israel. Olive oil, like wine, was an important commodity for trade & export. There is evidence that olive oil from Canaan was exported to Egypt and Greece over 4,000 years ago. In ancient Israel, olive oil was used for food, cooking, medicine, illumination, cleanliness, cosmetics and for anointing kings or priests during their consecration.

Archaeologists have found a wealth of information from ancient oil presses, storage jars and weights found throughout the country. It is in Israel that the earliest mortars for crushing olives and the oldest surviving vestiges of olive wood were discovered. In the Lower Galilee, they recently found residue of olive oil in clay pots dating back a mere 8,000 years!

The most complete olive oil production center was at Ekron, the Philistine capital, where 114 large olive oil presses were excavated, clearly indicating the size of the olive oil industry in ancient times.

In the Israel of today there are place names evoking the importance of the olive: Beit Zayit, Har Zayitim – The Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane (Gat Shemen – an oil press) are the most famous of these. Even the emblem of the modern state of Israel depicts a menora (an oil lamp candelabra), which in ancient times was lit using olive oil as fuel, with a relief of an olive branch and leaves on both sides.

The Israeli Arab population has always grown olives for food and oil, but in the last 25 years with the development of Israeli food & wine culture, there has been enormous growth in the interest & quality of Israeli olive oil. Today the olive industry really symbolizes Israel because every community, whether Jews, Arabs, Druse or Circassians, are involved in the cultivation of olives.

Israel has a Mediterranean climate, so much of the country is suitable for the cultivation of olive trees. Olive groves cover Israel from the mountains of the Galilee to Revivim & Neot Smadar in the Negev and from the coast in the west to the hills of the east.

The biggest concentration of olive groves still lies in the Galilee, northern Israel. The Lower & Western Galilee are arguably the most famous areas for olive production. However the valleys surrounding Mount Carmel, the Sharon Plain, the Golan Heights, Judean Hills and central Negev are all now sites for the production of quality olive oil.

Unlike wine, where most of the grape varieties are international, even global, the olive varieties are more indigenous. The Souri, which is sometimes referred to as the Suri or Syrian olive, is the main local variety, particularly popular in the Galilee. It is one of the oldest varieties in the world – thought to have originated in the Lebanese town of Sur (Tyre). It is a small, oval olive producing an aromatic, piquant olive oil, which is green, peppery with a hint of honey.

Barnea is a variety developed in Israel by Professor Shimon Lavie. It has become an international variety planted in Australia & Argentina. This small, oblong olive is easy to grow, providing good yields and can be planted densely. It produces a sweeter, delicate olive oil with a light fruity taste and an aroma of mown hay.

The Nabali Baladi originated in Nablus. The improved Baladi, known as Mohsan, was introduced to Israel from the Arabs of Judea & Samaria after 1967. A larger olive than the Souri, it is easier to cultivate, and gives good yields. It is more neutral than the Souri & Barnea.

Apart from these, there a host of international varieties are also grown in Israel. These include Manzanilla and Picual from Spain, Novo & Leccino from Italy, Fishulin from France and Kalamata from Greece, and many others.

Strict quality controls are maintained by the Israel Olives Board. Only olive oils which pass their stringent tests are able use the special sticker for ‘Quality Approved Israeli Olive Oil’.

Olive oils are tasted in a similar way to wine. The reverence is the same and the vocabulary is similar. The vagaries of the climate, choice of variety and date of harvesting can affect the final product, just like wine and olive oil should be stored in a cool dark place, which is how wine should be stored.

Olive oil is so central to the Mediterranean diet that it is no surprise that it should strongly feature in an Eastern Mediterranean country like Israel. Israelis love to cook with olive oil. A fresh fish is likely to be grilled with only fresh herbs & olive oil added. In the quality restaurants, olive oil is used to enhance carpacchio or simply drizzled onto bread. A small dish of olive oil may appear on the table in place of butter. At home it will be enjoyed with hummus or labane. Pita bread dipped in olive oil and za’ater, the herb of Israel, is a popular breakfast in the region.

On salads, Israelis will add olive oil, lemon juice & parsley, instead of the traditional European salad dressing of oil & vinegar. Whereas in the southern Mediterranean the custom is to use olives in the cooking, in the eastern Mediterranean, olives are presented as a starter or as part of a mezze served on a number of small plates in the center of the table. In its love of olive oil & olives, Israel is no different from other countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, like Greece & Turkey.

Israseli olive oils are considered to be more aromatic, characterful & strongly flavored than the more delicate European olive oils. I recommend this Hanuka you pay homage to this elixir by lighting you Hannukia with olive oil for a more authentic festival experience. Of course, with a glass of wine nearby!