The Jerusalem Post has published an edited version of my article Wine Recommendations for Rosh Hashana. Read the article in the Jerusalem Post. Below is an excerpt from the article: What’s good in Israel? Israeli wine! Wine recommendations for Rosh Hashanah By Avi Hein, Editor-in-Chief: HaKerem: The Israeli Wine Blog It’s not a Jewish holiday without wine. While the traditional Rosh Hashanah greeting is for a sweet new year, there’s no reason to settle for sweet wines (unless, of course, […]

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Much has changed since I last profiled Barkan in 2007 – the majority of it positive. In fact, so much changed that Barkan earned the title of “Most Improved Winery” in my 2010 annual round up of the Israeli wine scene. Like Israel’s largest winery, Carmel, Barkan in recent years has made an effort to lose its label of a “Supermarket Winery” by creating a number of upper tier labels packed high-end and sophisticated wines. While I have mentioned many […]

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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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Unfortunately I can’t attend Israwinexpo today, when it’s only open to the trade.  I will be there tomorrow night. However, I want to open this thread as an open forum for initial reactions, photos, links to coverage, etc.

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Wine tasting is an important part of wine appreciating. I’ve long had a section on wine tasting. Now, the aptly named Wine Tasting Guy, a fellow passionate lover of Israeli wine, has a few videos about wine tasting and a taste of a recent release from Israel’s Dalton Winery that he tasted while visiting his […] French food and Israeli wine are not a common combination. After all, when people think Israeli wine they often (wrongly) associate it only with […]

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The following is from wines-israel.com and reprinted with permission.  The Wine Advocate has published its annual December tasting of Israeli wines. The three most successful wines were Yatir Forest, Castel Grand Vin and Carmel Limited Edition. The target of any winery is to receive 90 points or more in the Wine Advocate. The wines which succeeded in this objective were: Castel Grand Vin 2009                                                        92 points Yatir Forest 2008                                                                  92 Carmel Limited Edition 2008                                             91 Carmel Mediterranean 2008                                             90 Carmel […]

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As I have often mentioned, while most wines are meant to be consumed early and don’t benefit from any additional time in the bottle, a few years of cellaring can make magic happen for a small percentage of quality wines (usually the most exciting ones). The additional time in the bottle gives the tannins, acid, fruit and flavors time to come together in the harmonious music the wine maker intended. However, this week I wanted to focus on another oenophilic […]

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Here are two videos on how to taste wine. Not specifically Israeli-wine related but still useful for many. From WikiHow Steps Look at the wine, especially around the edges. Tilting the glass a bit can make it easier to see the way the color changes from the center to the edges. Holding the glass in front of a white background, such as a napkin, tablecloth, or sheet of paper, is another good way […]     The World Cup is […]

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Ha’aretz’s Family Affair section in the weekend paper profiled Roy Yitzhaki, owner of Tulip Winery, last month. Yitzhaki, 30, started the winery while still in college (in his mid-20s), and also runs a marketing company with Saslove in Tel Aviv. Very interesting to see a true entrepreneur. Tulip, whose first release was only in 2004, […] The latest Ha’aretz review from Israeli wine critic Daniel Rogov. This time, on what he calls good values in local wines. Note that all […]

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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 […] Monday night I had the opportunity to taste five truly amazing wines. While most were from California (including Covenant’s second label, the Cabernet Sauvignon […]

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