One of the great things about living in Israel, is that some of the greatest and most surprising wineries are only a short drive away. In America, you have to go to California or Washington State to get America’s best wineries, but in Israel, a great winery is no more than 3 or 4 hours away — and, often, just a 15 minute drive. Blogger treppenwitz, a lover of fine drink, just discovered that 15 minutes from his home in Efrat is the amazing Katlav winery. This is what he has to say:
No, not Alice’s Restaurant (if anyone still remembers Arlo Guthrie’s well-loved anthem), but rather a tiny winery that is literally 15 minutes from our house.
This past Friday, one of Zahava’s business contacts invited us to join him, his wife and a small group of friends at a winery located in Moshav Nes Harim. He knew that we enjoyed good wine (and spirits) and figured that despite Fridays being a crazy day for most people, that the close proximity to our home would offer enough of an enticement.
Little did he know that for a nice wine tasting, Zahava and I will gladly forgo most of the usual Friday routine.
This place is not the typical pretentious yuppy winery with polished wood and a carefully landscaped setting. It is a rough-hewn building on a tiny moshav. And if you miss the lone wooden sign pointing the way down a dirt track once you are inside the moshav… you’ll will miss it.
The meet-up at the winery was called for 10:00AM, so naturally when Zahava and I pulled up at the stroke of ten, nobody was there but the proprietor who was just opening the place and stoking the rustic wood-burning stove against the chill of the morning mountain air. He directed us to drive around the back and received us with the warmth and sincerity of someone who genuinely loves what he does and who wants to share his good fortune with others.
It was nearly 30 minutes before the rest of the group showed up, but it was long enough for us to have a leisurely espresso with the proprietor and to find some of the inevitable connections that exist between all Jews… provided they have enough time to talk, of course.
Once everyone was there (we were a small group of 7 or 8 couples) he set out a bunch of pristine wine glasses and proceeded to bring out one wine after another. Each wine was introduced with many apologies that it wasn’t quite ready… or that it “really needs another year in the bottle to reach its peak“. But IMHO, the wines were incredible. The Cabernet Savignon, in particular, was the best I’ve ever had!
Rather than allow himself to become the center of attention, the proprietor was happy to tell a bit about the grapes, the characteristics of the wine and maybe his own thoughts on the tonal accents… and then let us talk amongst ourselves. In short, he was the perfect host.
In addition to the unbelievable Cab, there was a really special Port-like wine that he brought out at the end almost as an afterthought. I had already told him which wines I wanted to buy, but when I tasted the label-less Port, I told him I wanted a case of that. He smiled and said he’d be happy to give me a bottle… but that he wasn’t really selling it yet. When I pressed him, he asked me if I had children. When I said yes, he offered the following:
“Sometimes your children ask you for permission to do something that your life experience tells you is a big mistake. The more you try to explain to them the reason behind your refusal, the less they seem to understand. Finally you have to say “The answer is no. Some day you’ll understand why I’m right and you’re wrong… but right now you simply have to trust me because I’m your father“. I’m not your father, but you’re going to have to trust me about this wine. Right now it is pretty good, but in two or three years it will be incredible. If I sold you (and everyone else who wanted some) a case, there will be nothing left in a year, much less two. You can take a bottle home now… and you can even come back once in a while to pick up another. But you’ll have to trust me when I tell you that you’ll thank me in two years that there is still some of this stuff in the world.”
As we left the little winery perched on the side of an evergreen dappled mountain, I was delighted to have been introduced to this little treasure so close to home. You won’t see their wine here in Israel as they sell most of it in the US to the upscale wine crowd. But if you are under the mistaken impression that you have to go to the Golan heights or Zichron Yaakov to find decent wine in its natural habitat, you should set your sights a little closer to home:
Katlav Winery, Ltd. Moshav Ness Harim
Tel: 972 2 570 1404
Ask for Yossi Yittach. He can open the place for you on a Friday morning for intimate private tastings… and if you can commit to a group of 25 adults, he opens the place a couple of times a week (maximum) to private wine and grill parties (all strictly kosher).
Enjoy!
