Israeli Wine By: Natasha Hughes This article first appeared in Decanter In the Bible, Israel is referred to as a land of milk and honey. To the once-nomadic desert tribesmen who settled there a few thousand years ago, it must have seemed a veritable agricultural paradise; a land where all kinds of grain, fruit and vegetables grew abundantly, one where livestock fattened and grew plentiful. This was also a land where vines thrived, and there are many references in the […]

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According to the wine site enobytes.com, HaKerem: The Israeli Wine Blog is one of the top 100 Google wine blogs. Here are the top 5 blogs: 1        Vinography 2        Wine Library TV 3        Dr Vino 4        The Pour 5        Fermentation Our good friend Richard’s Israeli Wine Direct blog, about his important business of bringing Israeli wine into America, ranks number 18. Only a few spots down (and after a month in which, I admit, I’ve […]

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In honor of Gary Vaynerchuk’s appearance in Wednesday’s New York Times, I’ve compiled my own Top 10 Reasons Why I love Gary V! 10. Gary V reminds me a little of myself. Gary Vaynerchuk turned his father’s Shoppers Discount Liquor into the $60 million a year Wine Library. My father also used to own a liquor store (as did my uncle and grandfather) but it was definitely not a $60 million a year business. 9. Gary V has passion. ‘Nuf […]

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Haven’t watched it yet but Gary Vaynerchuk has the 2003 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon on the latest Wine Library TV. Now, if only he referred to it as Israeli and not kosher (although it is a great wine – like most of Golan Heights Winery – that happens to be kosher)! Why do you think he didn’t simply describe the Yarden as Israeli? This is a great wine for Hanukkah (which starts tonight) or Christmas. Check it out on my WLTV […]

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David Rhodes is the only guy I’ll call the Israeli wine guy besides myself. He’s definitely one of my favorite Israeli wine guys — and a neighbor to boot. David was just on Gary Vaynerchuk’s Sirius radio, talking about Israeli wine. Listen to David on Gary’s show: Download Now.

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The Wine Spectator’s Kim Marcus has a new article on “kosher wines for the High Holidays” in the latest Wine Spectator (free until October 1). Not surprisingly, all but one of the wines are from Israel. Whether you are Jewish or not, celebrating the holidays or not, these are great wines to seek out. You have to read the article for the whole story and tasting notes but here are the wines tasted and scores: GOLAN HEIGHTS Cabernet Sauvignon Galilee […]

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Sorry that this video is in Hebrew — the point is that Israelis are drinking more and more quality wine and especially during Passover. Cabernet Sauvignon and other red wines are the most popular wines in Israel.

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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 just been informed that Israeli Wine Direct has officially launched. This new online wine store (also selling direct to trade) focuses on hand-selected, artisanal, mostly […]

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Kerem (כרם) means “vineyard” in Hebrew. The word comes from the Bible, which was written in Israel. Throughout the Bible, there is mention of wine, showcasing the two-thousand year-old history of Israeli wine. Yet, despite a modern wine industry that is making some of the world’s best wine Israeli wine is not known outside of a very select elite abroad. My family has been in the wine business for  generations, and I think it’s about time that I – part […]

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‘Divine Vintage’ is a newly published book which provides a window into the ancient world of wine, and ends up in modern times. It follows the biblical wine route, and includes Canaan, Ancient Israel and the State of Israel. It delves into the area where wine culture was born and examines the recent quality revival in the historic but newly dynamic wine region of the Eastern Mediterranean. The Eastern Mediterranean was the cradle of the grape. Over two thousand years […]

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