The following post is from wines-israel.com and reprinted with permission. Eli Ben Zaken, owner of Domaine du Castel, invited some of the world’s most famous wine personalities to Israel. They included Michel Bettane from France, Robert Joseph from England, Jan Van Lissom from the Netherlands, and Jeannie Cho Lee from Hong Kong. Michel Bettane is France’s most famous wine critic. He wrote for many years for La Revue du Vin and is author of the book “The World’s Greatest Wines.” […]

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The 2012 Eshchol HaZahav or the Golden Cluster Awards were just held in Tel Aviv at the Dan Panorama Hotel.  It’s the only wine competition that judges only Israeli wines and wines from all price categories.  Yet, wine competitions are a curious phenomenon in the wine industry.  For the public, it’s an opportunity to learn about wines they may not yet have had the opportunity to taste. For wineries large and small it’s an opportunity to get recognition. Yet, they’re […]

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Buy The Ultimate Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wines The following is printed with permission of the author The ultimate, and final, Rogov Guide has been published. It contains nearly 687 pages. Last years version had a mere 603 pages! This year there is no International kosher wine Guide, nor a version in Hebrew. The book is published by Toby Press, the publisher, which has provided a wonderful service to Israeli wine over the years. Rogov’s Guide was first published in 2005 and […]

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The tenth year of Eshkol Hazahav! This is Israel’s main wine tasting competition which is held annually. Eshkol Hazahav, which translates as ‘The Golden Cluster’, has become a fixture in the Israeli wine calendar. It is regarded locally as the Oscars of Israeli wine. After four days of tastings by carefully chosen wine professionals, the cream of Israel’s wine industry gathered at the Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv for the Gala Dinner and Awards ceremony. Radio personality and wine […]

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The following story originally appeared in “the honey,” an English e-newsletter about life and culture in Israel:  WINE PURO VINO If this purist bent suits the current fancy, take it a step further and go organic in your wines. The much acclaimed Sea Horse Winery on Moshav Bar Giora, just southwest of Jerusalem, has been growing organic syrah and zinfandel grapes in its vineyard since 2000. The vines are carefully nurtured during their growing season – exposed to the Mediterranean […]

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Being a critic isn’t an easy job. Whether it’s about food, music, art, movies or wine, a critic must not only give their opinion on their topic of their expertise but do so in a way that in itself attracts an audience if those criticisms are going to find their way into print or other media. In the twenty-first century, the power of an individual critic also may continue to be diluted as more and more blogs, websites and “tweets” […]

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On the eve of their 30th anniversary, Golan Heights Winery has won the coveted 2012 Wine Star Award from Wine Enthusiast Magazine in the New World Winery of the Year category. The award is a first for an Israeli winery and is an indicator of the tremendous growth in quality recognition of Israeli wineries led by Golan Heights Winery. “We are so honored to win such a prestigious award,” said Anat Levi, CEO of Golan Heights Winery. “This recognition gives […]

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Israeli winemaking has undergone a transformation over the last couple of decades that now is being recognized widely overseas. Published: 09/10/2008 RAMAT RAZIEL, Israel (JTA) — It’s harvest time at the Domaine Du Castel winery and crates full of small, plump grapes the color of blueberries are being loaded into a machine that removes them from their stems and pumps them through plastic piping into a towering, silver-colored vat. This is how the two-year process of wine making begins in […]

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French food and Israeli wine are not a common combination. After all, when people think Israeli wine they often (wrongly) associate it only with kosher food – thus barring wine and food combinations like mahi in a shrimp sauce with Barkan’s chardonnay. Yet, one French restaurant — TriBeCa’s Capsouto Frères is making just such a pair. “Very few restaurants pair French foods with Israeli wines. That’s what’s so special, it’s a unique experience,” says Jacques Capsouto, co-owner of Capsouto Freres. […]

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So I had an idea for the holidays leading up to New Year’s Eve, how about tasting a wine range of Israeli sparkling wines and comparing them to European sparkling wines such as Champagnes from France, Cavas from Spain and Proseccos from Italy. Well, it might have just remained an idea if I hadn’t had the phone numbers for several importers and Israeli wineries. So with the help of my friends Rani Rogel and Chef Alon Gonen, we invited several […]

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