Syrah is a grape native to France’s Rhône Valley, I believe this varietal has great potential to be among those most appropriate to showcase Israel’s unique terroir (in my opinion, Grenache, Carignan and Cabernet Franc also top that list of potentials). However, as Syrah continues to make inroads within the Israeli market, sales of California Syrah in the United States have crashed and burned, dashing the hopes of many for the varietal to become the US’s next big thing. While […]

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Although there are wine events and festivals all year long in Israel, the largest tend to happen outside during our dry season (which happens historically between Passover in the spring and Sukkot in the fall). In the beautiful climate of a Mediterranean region, enjoying wine outside during the evening seems a natural inclination and entitlement whether you are in Israel, Italy, the south of France, California or South Africa (among others). This year there are several interesting opportunities to try […]

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The following is from wines-israel.com and reprinted with permission.  The Wine Advocate has published its annual December tasting of Israeli wines. The three most successful wines were Yatir Forest, Castel Grand Vin and Carmel Limited Edition. The target of any winery is to receive 90 points or more in the Wine Advocate. The wines which succeeded in this objective were: Castel Grand Vin 2009                                                        92 points Yatir Forest 2008                                                                  92 Carmel Limited Edition 2008                                             91 Carmel Mediterranean 2008                                             90 Carmel […]

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Decanting Israel, which I spoke about previously, seems to be trying to channel Gary Vaynerchuk with their second video: Gvaot Herodion Cabernet – Merlot 2006, which is a wine that I’ve found to be quite enjoyable too.

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During the last five years, I’ve attended dozens of Israeli wine festivals. Now I even consult for a few festivals. Before I moved to Israel I helped start a wine festival for San Diego County’s wineries. After years of offering free advice, I found often that the only way to get people to listen to you is to charge for your advice. Sadly most people seem to put value on advice depending how much they pay. Some doctors and lawyers […]

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In 1884, a year before his death, Sir Moses Montefiore, then 100 years old, made his last donation to the new village of Rishon le Zion, birth place of the modern Israel wine industry. Over 100 years later a young Englishman with blue eyes made aliyah (immigrated) to Israel. The great, great grandson of Moses Montefiore’s heir had the same objective – to contribute to Israel and to advance Israeli wine. He began by specialising in the ‘on trade’ – hotels […]

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While researching an article about which dry wines are suggested to match best with local fare like hummus and falafel (Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé and Pinot Noir wines by the way), I had a thought about trying something that wasn’t suggested by other sommeliers or chefs. One thing about food and wine pairings is that its a journey as much as a destination. Most people make odd food and wine pairings if they were to be scrutinized by a wine professional. […]

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One Week of Festivities, One Great Winery If you have a chance, don’t miss the 30th Anniversary celebration for the Golan Heights Winery (Yarden, Gamla & Golan labels) being observed the next week at the port on the boardwalk in Tel Aviv. It’s free to just show up and mingle and hear the music as attendees get in the groove and it’s a reasonable price to try some of the thirty or so wines offered by Israel’s most lauded winery. […]

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Carmel Winery is well known to all of the readers of this site and anyone who knows anything about Israeli wine. Carmel Winery is one of Israel’s oldest wineries and the wineries in Rishon L’Tzion and Zichron Ya’akov are among Israel’s oldest buildings. In the past few years Carmel has made major investments in its Zichron Yaakov Winery. I had the opportunity to visit Zichron Ya’akov recently, after not being there for a few years, and discovered substantial new infrastructure […]

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When I moved to California from Massachusetts, I missed the embedded and concentrated layers of culture and history that New England had to offer over the American Southwest. Yet when moving to Israel, those hundreds of years of New England culture were overshadowed by thousands of years of civilizations that can be overwhelming to a resident as much as to a tourist exploring without a guide. I’ve half-kidded that with the right tour guide, you could easily walk every ten […]

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