I’ve previously written about Adam Montefiore, currently a manager at Carmel Winery. The dean of Israeli wine marketing (a topic close to my heart) and someone I’m privileged to have met and call an associate and friend, Montefiore is also known by his moniker ‘The Ambassador of Israeli Wine’ – a title well deserved. As one of the main spokespeople for Israeli wine in the English press, I was pleased to see an interview with him in the Huffington Post (and, for the record, Adam sometimes sends me important articles on Israeli wine that I may have missed but certainly not this!).
I won’t reprint the interview in full but recommend reading Adam’s take on the Israeli wine industry and the role the ‘kosher’ label plays in Israeli wine. Just a short taste (I was surprised by the comment that the industry had shifted to Australia from UC Davis, with the exception of the wonderful wine come from Eran Goldwasser at Yatir [which is owned by Carmel], who trained in Australia:
Q: Talk of New World in the Old World , in relation to styles of wine, grape growing practices, and cellar practices.
A: Israel is a New World wine country. Israeli farmers are the best in the world, and Israeli growers are also technologically advanced. Israeli wine though, is a combination of the Old World, New World, and ancient world with a 5,000 year history. Three revolutions:
- In the 1880’s Israeli wine was formed on a basis of French expertise with Bordeaux winemakers, cuttings from Chateau Lafite and consultants. Founded by the Rothschild family.
- The quality revolution (Mondavi movement) happened because of the Golan Heights Winery in the 1980’s.
- Today, the influences have shifted more to Australia than UC Davis.
