With the importance of California and UC Davis (University of California at Davis) to the first part of the Israel wine revolution, it is often forgotten that the Israeli wine industry was initially built on French expertise, with French sponsorship and with a dollop of influence from Bordeaux.
Israeli wine began a quality revolution in the 1980s and took off in the 1990s and came of age in the 2000s. People forget though, the immense contribution of the man who founded the modern wine industry. The credit goes to the person who was then referred to as the Ha’Nadiv Ha’Yedua – the Known Benefactor. We know him better as Baron Edmond de Rothschild.
The Negev Wine Club was founded in 2020. Its purpose is to market the Negev as a fascinating wine region, promote tourism and to give wineries a framework for development. At the outset there were just over twenty wineries or vineyards that signed up for the idea, but nothing creates interest like success. Now there are nearer fifty, as small wineries and farmers, as if coming out of the woodwork, became eager to join in. They have support from the very impressive Merage Foundation and professional guidance from wine educator / wine tourism expert, Guy Haran. The wineries exhibit together, host joint tastings, participate in symposiums and undertake study tours overseas. Everyone is primed to talk up the main brand, which is Negev Desert Wines. It is all about selling your wine through marketing the growing region. It is well organized and offers a successful blueprint for other wine regions to follow.
In 1976 I made my first steps in the drinks industry joining British brewer Bass Charrington in London as a business management trainee. Fifty years ago! Forgive me for indulging myself, but a fifty year anniversary is pretty rare. Now, when I look back at wine development here in Israel and I see that 1976 was a pivotal year. It was the year that showed the first twinge in the wine revolution that followed.
There is a great deal of doom and gloom in the global wine industry these days. Sales are on the downturn. The next generation just seems to be less interested in wine than their forebears. Paradoxically, at the same time, wine tourism is blooming. Woe betide those wineries that do not invest in wine tourism and it seems as though they are, in each famous wine region in turn.
Usually, a wine writer writes about wineries and wines, but occasionally it is a vineyard the catches the eye. There are some famous vineyards in Israel, which shine like beacons because either the story, wine quality or the attention they generate. The El Rom vineyard on the Northern Golan Heights, the Kayoumi vineyard (in the early 2000s) in the Upper Galilee, the Shoresh vineyard in the Judean Hills, and the Nana vineyard at Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev are in this category. I recently visited what maybe the latest addition to the club.
The mountainous area running down the spine of the country is part of what is known internationally as the West Bank. Those on the right of the political scene call the region Judea & Samaria, names which emphasize Jewish roots, from the time of the Israelites and Judeans. Whether you call it the West Bank or Judea & Samaria (Yehuda v’Shomron), depends where you stand politically. These are politically charged names which when used, which will instantly betray your political persuasion. Personally, I prefer to call the region Central Mountains. This is a description that explains the topography, which is wholly appropriate for a wine region.
To pilot any company for over three centuries is an extraordinary feat. I am in awe of the history of Taylor’s Port which has navigated all the pitfalls of a turbulent history and independent, family ownership. To put it in perspective, in Israel we have Zion Winery, our oldest existing winery, which was founded by the Shor family in 1848. There, after 177 years, the owner, the senior management and the winemaker are still from the family. Carmel, the historic winery of Israel, was founded in 1882 and while it was a cooperative, its shareholders were largely the same families for five generations.
