This weekend is the little-known Jewish holiday of Tu B’Av, the 15th of the Hebrew month of Av. This unique holiday is not one marked by fasting, or extra praying, or lighting candles or other similar rituals. Rather, this day marks love and is celebrated by eating good food and drinking summer wine. Whether Jewish or not, it’s a great opportunity to drink wine from Israel. Tu B’Av is not viewed as one of the major Jewish holidays, but it […]

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The 3rd Annual Ra’anana Wine Festival is this week, Wednesday & Thursday at the scenic Park Ra’anana adjacent to the tranquil pond on the western end of the park.The Festivino group is hosting this year. Last year, the event attracted about 1,500 guests over two nights. This year the festival is taking a twist and featuring ALL KOSHER WINE & FOOD this year. This year to pay respect to the people of Ra’anana’s preferences this event will ONLY feature KOSHER […]

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Often we might talk about Israel being a “New World” region in the “Ancient World” of wine. One of the advantages of not being an “Old World” European region is Israel doesn’t limit its winemakers to what grapes to grow in specific appellations. Israeli winemakers are free to grow whatever varietals wherever they choose and more often than not Israel’s best winemakers and viticulturalists are making great choices as they become familiar with their vineyards and experiment with new varietals […]

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By Daniel Rogov In recent months Israeli wines have become the darling of critics in the United States. Several months ago, for example, Robert Parker, by far the most influential wine critic in the world, tasted 90 Israeli wines. In his prestigious Wine Advocate he gave 13 of those wines scores of 90-93, reserved for wines of “exceptional complexity and character.” Equally important, 58 wines received scores of between 85-89, putting them in Parker’s ratings as “wines that are very […]

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Wine tasting is an important part of wine appreciating. I’ve long had a section on wine tasting. Now, the aptly named Wine Tasting Guy, a fellow passionate lover of Israeli wine, has a few videos about wine tasting and a taste of a recent release from Israel’s Dalton Winery that he tasted while visiting his brother in Israel. Dalton has some great wines that were recently released, and I plan on opening up their new rose release in these hot […]

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Israel Ivzan, the CEO of Carmel Winery just passed away last night. Mr Ivzan played a very important role in the continuing reinvention of the winery and contributed immensely to the renaissance of the Israeli wine industry. HaKerem: The Israeli Wine Blog sends our condolences to Mr. Ivzan’s family and the entire staff at Carmel Winery and those affected by him.

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Want to learn how to taste wine the right way? Well, apparently a new group of Tel Aviv sommelier’s is hosting a new wine tasting class, probably one of the best Israel has to offer. I saw the following announcement: The Premier Cru Wine Academy is proud to present: The first complete wine course in Israel taught in English! • 22 weekly sessions which include all the major wine regions of the world. • Each session is taught by a […]

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Besides the heat and humidity, one way I can tell summer is creeping up is when Israeli wineries start releasing their new vintages of white wines and rosés. One of the first Israeli wineries to land their new wines on my doorstep this spring is the Binyamina Winery, Israel’s 5th largest winery, typically producing about 2.8 million bottles of year. The two white wines that will get me tuned up for the upcoming annual White Festival in Herzliya Marina, the […]

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The following is a guest post by Alex Aizenberg about his recent visit to Israel. Alex is a lover of Israeli wine and public relations guy. If you are interested in writing a guest post for HaKerem: The Israeli Wine Blog, please e-mail [email protected] with your submission Making our bi-annual trip back home to Israel, my wife and I always look forward to visiting our family up north in the Golan for some great conversations, dinners and wine in the […]

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What wine are you opening this July 4 weekend? Personally, I’m in the mood for a nice California Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley or Russian River, but I think instead I will go for an Israeli Cabernet Sauvignon, depending on dinner tonight. The Segal Single Vineyard tastes like it could be from Napa. What are you drinking this holiday weekend?

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