Daniel Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wines keeps on getting bigger and bigger. Rogov’s 2009 Guide to Israeli Wines, released last Thursday, is the largest guide yet to Israel’s growing wine industry. While the 2008 guide, including a chapter on wine storage not appearing in the 2009 edition, was a thick 455 pages, the newest edition is a whopping 527 pages and feels significantly heavier. The 2009 edition includes tasting notes for 2,350 wines (from several vintages) including over 700 new […]

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The London 2012 Olympics are about to start. England is known for frenetic, physical football, unique pubs, flat beer, tea with milk, fish and chips and the Queen. it is also a city which is known for being the center of the wine trade and has been so for over 200 years. It was there where Port, Sherry, Champagne and Bordeaux were first brought to the world’s attention. Most of the world’s best wine writers, apart from Robert Parker, are […]

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I have written previously about Israeli Wine Direct and the important work Richard Shaffer and his team are doing to bring small-quantity Israeli wine into the United States. IWD is making some of Israel’s best, small-production wine available to consumers in America. My only complaint is that it means less for me! Well, I have […]

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             The Jerusalem Wine Festival is the largest and most widely attended wine festival in Israel with tens of thousands attending over four nights. Traditionally, and now it’s in its 9th year, the festival is held at Jerusalem’s revered Israel Museum during the week of Tu Ba’av , which is both Jewish “Valentine’s […] The Jerusalem Wine Festival starts next week. In this episode of Rusty Mike Radio, David Rhodes gives a preview of the 2011 Jerusalem Wine […]

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(The following article is reprinted from wines-israel and reprinted with permission) Talk about the Rothschilds and you will automatically think of finance, the arts and philanthropy. However scratch below the surface and wine, the Jewish community and Israel comes to the fore as an ongoing thread through the family story. Their influence in the building the State of Israel is unparalleled Some of the most fundamental institutions in Israel were founded with financial support from this most famous of Jewish […]

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Marks and Spencer, the iconic British food and clothing retailer founded by two Jewish families, has chosen a special selection of wines from the Eastern Mediterranean. Following new interest in Eastern Mediterranean food, M&S has chosen fifteen wines from Croatia, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey and Slovenia. These will be available in their wine division, on line and will complement the Eastern Med foods in their deli, bakery and prepared food ranges. The wines will range between GBP 7.99 and GBP […]

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(The following is a guest post from Irene Sharon Hodes, reprinted with permission) I had the opportunity to taste a wine that is new to me, Vitkin’s 2006 Petite Sirah. A friend brought the bottle to the vegan dinner party I hosted last Friday (an exceptional experience I really need to get on to blog about).  She knew that I adore Syrah, but made the common mistake of mixing the two varietals. Israel is one of the relatively few wine regions growing […]

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Mark Squires, the wine reviewer for Israeli wines in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate has new reviews of Israeli wines. Three Israeli wines scored 92 points: Chateau Golan Eliad Royal Reserve 2012 Makura Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (Amphorae Winery) Recanati Special Reserve 2012. For Recanati Winery Israeli wines only started being reviewed in Wine Advocate starting in 2007.

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I’ve really been enjoying the Wine Enthusiast lately. They’ve got some of the best coverage from a mainstream wine magazine of Israeli wine representing where the Israeli wine market is today. Particularly, I should add, on their social media channels. So, I was pleased to see a blog post dispelling the famous kosher wine myth in the post “It’s Israeli Wine … Not Just Kosher“. But why then, I wonder, when you say the word “Israeli wine” to most people, do they […]

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SCOOP: The latest issue of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate has a new tasting of Israeli wines by Mark Squires. This is important because it means that the Wine Advocate is paying continued attention to Israeli wine. As I said, the secret’s out. Israeli wine is good and not just for kosher-keepers. Here are Squire’s scores from the latest issue of Wine Advocate: 2005 Carmel Limited Edition 87 2006 Carmel Carignan Old Vines 85 2005 Carmel Shiraz 88 Early 30 2005 […]

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