HaKerem: The Israeli Wine Blog

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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(For the thread, go to Daniel Rogov’s wine forum) Daniel Rogov recently visited the Israeli boutique winery of Vitkin. Here are his thoughts and tasting notes for the recent and soon-to-be releases of this Israeli winery. Established by Doron and Sharona Belogolovsky on Moshav Kfar Vitkin on the central Coastal Plain, this winery released its first wines from the 2002 vintage. Bordeaux-trained winemaker Assaf Paz relies on Carignan, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Tempranillo, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Viognier, French Colombard, Johannisberg […]

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As Gary V says “LINK IT UP” If you’ve been enjoying reading this blog than please be sure to add a link to your blog, website, twitter feed, or even e-mail signature. Link it up baby! And, of course, I always accept tips in the little “tip jar” on the top right.

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To learn more about Rogov brandy, download the Rogov Leaflet. Carmel Winery has launched a new prestigious, limited edition, ‘wine finished’ brandy in memory of Daniel Rogov, z”l, who passed away recently. Daniel Rogov was Israel’s most celebrated wine critic, the voice of the Israel wine revolution and a strong advocate for Israeli wines. For nearly thirty years he was Israel’s most famous writer on both food and wine. Rogov Brandy was distilled mainly from Colombard grapes. It is made up […]

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Stephen Brook, who visited Israel for IsraWinExpo 2008, has written an update to Hugh Johnson’s Wine Companion. The Wine Companion is one of the classic books, which is in the library of every wine lover. Over the years Stephen Brook has been a prolific author and his most famous book is his work on Bordeaux. He is a regular contributor to Decanter Magazine. Hugh Johnson  wrote five editions of this book, which was first published in 1983. For this sixth […]

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Israeli wine isracontact.com – wideo He speaks in French and Hebrew, so I only understood what Agur Winemaker Shuki Yashuv said in Hebrew, but for Francophiles, this is a little taste of Shuki Yashuv and Agur Winery. I had the pleasure of tasting Agur at the Jerusalem Wine Festival and was absolutely blown away by this great wine. As of the 2007 vintage, it’s also a kosher wine – but no difference in quality (well, an improvement, if anything) between […]

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For the religiously observant who do not want to attend a wine festival that also has non-certified kosher wine, and a testament to the growing sophistication of even the more observant populations, a rival wine festival that consists of solely kosher wine is now also taking place in Jerusalem. More than 40 wineries will be exhibiting at the Jerusalem +972 Kosher Wine Festival. The festival is one of the largest and most professional in the kosher wine world, featuring some […]

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The following article was reprinted with permission from wines-israel.com. See previous articles about Amphorae Winery here. Rumors abound that Amphorae Winery will be renamed Maharal Winery. As it is situated at Kerem Maharal, just north of Zichron Ya’acov, it would certainly be an appropriate name. Amphorae Vineyard was founded in 2000. The winery had a good start and the wines received good reviews, before business problems took over. A recent change of owners only increased the uncertainty and confusion. Wines […]

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