Posted at 21:48h in Events, Wine industry, Wineries by 0 Comments
Recanati, a great Israeli wine that tends to be Italian in style, is one of Israel’s top wineries, founded 8 years ago by businessman Leon Recanati.
Since the beginning, its winemaker has been the American and UC Davis-trained winemaker Lewis Pasco, a regular on the various wine forums and has taken great interest in the entire Israeli wine industry. It’s just been announced that Lewis is leaving Recanati to consult for the Israeli wine industry.
Gil Shatzberg, who has been the winemaker at Amphorae, is taking over as chief winemaker at Recanati. Gil is also trained at UC Davis and worked in California before returning to Israel, where he worked at Carmel before Amphorae (a top Israeli boutique operation!).
The Philly inquirer described Gil as “among the country’s top young winemakers. Trained at the University of California’s Davis campus and in Israeli wineries, Shatzberg and his partners released their first Amphorae vintage in 2000. He’s looking to make wines that are distinctly Israeli, designed to complement local ingredients without being overpowered by the local spices.” Gil’s style is similiar to Lewis’s and his attempt to create an Italian-styled local adaptation is a continuation of the wonderful work Lewis has done since Recanati’s beginnings.
Best of luck to Gil and Lewis in their new endeavors! (And Lewis – if you need an assistant or in the lookout for a marketing apprentice, drop me a line! :-))
As for me, I will continue to enjoy Recanati (I have a bottle of the 2004 Merlot and am looking forward to opening it and had the Reserve Merlot a few months ago and thought it was one of the best wines I have ever had) and Amphorae.
