Another day, another winery. It at least it feels that way sometimes. But not all of Israel’s hundreds of wineries are created equal. So its nice when there’s a new one on my radar for all of the right reasons. Producing 18,000 bottles of their own wine and being relatively new to the industry, the Maor Winery has been located along the western base of the Golan Heights along the shores of the Sea of Galilee (the Kinneret) since moving […]

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The following is a guest post by Adam Montefiore, the Ambassador of Israeli Wine In most homes, Shabbat is the time to get out the finest crockery. People who look quite scruffy during the week will be dressed in their best suit and finest dresses. There is a lot of pressure on the lady of the house to prepare the best possible meal. With this effort to make Shabbat as special as possible, it is surprising how often people are […]

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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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(This story first appeared on Wines-Israel and is reprinted with permission) There has been a trend in recent years of boutique wineries becoming kosher. Now two more wineries, have decided to make kosher wines from the 2010 harvest. The first is Flam Winery which was the largest Israeli winery producing non kosher wines in recent harvests. Flam Winery is owned by the Flam family. Situated in the Judean Foothills near Beit Shemesh, the winery produces well over 100,000 bottles a […]

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    When you work at a winery, you soon find out there’s no shortage of people who want your wine for free. Winemakers tend to be generous souls, from my experience, but there’s a limit to how many wine writers, dignitaries and charities you can bestow with samples or bottles for a charity gala and still afford to keep the doors of a winery open. So, as diplomatically as possible the staff of a winery must choose who to support and […]

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Richard Shaffer of Israeli Wine Direct has an absolutely excellent video post about how “kosher is not a country” and how many of the everyday foods that are in your refrigerator, pantry, and throughout your house may be kosher – no matter your religion. Coca Cola, Cheerios, Heinz ketchup, fruits and vegetables and many more […] Is this how to sell wine to the Millenials? Would you buy this wine? Why or why not? Sorry that this video is in […]

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Israel is the original “old world” wine region. The Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean was the cradle of the world’s wine culture thousands of years before the vine reached Europe. Wine has been produced in the Land of Israel since Biblical times. Whether you call it the Tanakh, Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament, surely you are familiar with the story of the spies, Noah’s ark, or other Biblical stories that hark back to the first stories of Israeli wine. […]

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Who are the top ten wineries in Israel? According to Daniel Rogov they are: Golan Heights Winery (Katzrin, Yarden, Gamla) Margalit Yatir Domaine du Castel Clos de Gat Flam Chateau Golan Carmel (Limited Edition, Single Vineyard, Appellation) Galil Mountain Pelter (This list is from Daniel Rogov’s 2009 Guide to Israeli Wine)

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…says winemaker Golan Tishbi. “It’s a lot better than last year.” as he tends to his family’s estate vines in Zichron Ya’acov and who harvests grapes from all over Israel to produce about 1 million bottles every year at Israel’s 6th largest winery.  The Tishbi Winery has already harvested several kinds of grape varietals from their estate coastal vineyards including Sauvignon Blanc, French Colombard, & Emerald Riesling and expect their thicker skinned Cabernet Sauvignon from Judean Hill vineyards to be […]

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The BBC has a great profile of Domaine du Castel, a great winery that I discovered several years ago. When you think of the world’s great wine producers Israel is not a name that often crops up. But Eli Ben Zaken is trying to change that. What started as a hobby is now an international business, but as his success has grown so too has the competition in the hills around Jerusalem. So is there enough business to go around? […]

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