HaKerem: The Israeli Wine Blog

Posted at 19:41h in Wine industry, Wineries by 0 Comments Daniel Rogov’s tasting notes follow for the Israeli Tzora winery: Set on Kibbutz Tzora at the foothills of the Jerusalem Mountains and overlooking the Soreq Valley, this formerly kibbutz-owned winery released its first 1,500 bottles from the 1993 vintage. Production in 2004 was about 60,000 bottles, in 2005 it was reduced to about 30,000 bottles, but in 2006 and 2007 rose again, the winery now producing about 80,000 bottles annually. […]

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The New Israeli Wine Guide has been launched at the new branch of Derech Ha’Yayin in Tel Aviv. The authors, Yair Gath and Gal Zohar, presented their selection of the ‘Best Seventy’ wines in Israel. Guests gathered from every part of the wine business, to receive a card with two QR codes on it. One was to download the Hebrew version, and the other was for the English one. Yair Gath is the wine critic for Israel Hayom and Gal […]

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Wine Spectator featured an article about Israeli wine in September. Getting to Know Israel’s Wine Country With more than 200 wineries, five wine regions and a new focus on quality, Israel has plenty to explore. Learn more from three of its leading winemakers Read  the article on Wine… Posted at 18:27h in Featured by Avi 2 Comments My Israeli wine buddy Richard Shaffer of Israeli Wine Direct has just placed Israeli wine in my favorite city and hometown: Washington DC […]

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Posted at 16:55h in Wineries by Avi 0 Comments It sparked a revolution in Israel’s winemaking industry. Now the Golan Heights Winery is celebrating three decades of award-winning wine. The founding of the Golan Winery in 1983 was a major factor in the transformation of Israel’s wine industry from sweet, insipid wines to award winning. Check… The Israeli wine scene continues to heat up. A new winery recently opened on Kibbutz Hanaton, in the heart of the Beit Netofa Valley, […]

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Posted at 16:39h in Wines by Avi 0 Comments Mark Squires, who is in charge of reviewing Israeli wine for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, has just alerted us that the April issue will feature many Israeli wines from wineries such as Castel, Recanati, Tzora, Chateau Golan, and even some old players like Amphorae. Check it… Posted at 20:29h in Wines by Avi 0 Comments Frequent HaKerem contributor David Rhodes was on Gary Vaynerchuk’s radio show on the Sirus radio network […]

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Posted at 12:06h in Wine industry by David Rhodes 0 Comments As someone who first started studying wine as a Geography student in college, I’m fond of wines that give homage to their terroir whether its the emphasis of a single vineyard from where the grapes are harvested or the altitude of the vineyard or in the case of the Ella Valley Winery’s new release, its latitude and longitude. As I also helped manage an auto parts store while working […]

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Jerusalem is hosting its 2nd Annual all–Kosher Wine Festival at the International Convention Center (ICC) Binyanei Ha’Uma in Hebrew, January 28th to the 30th 3PM to 11PM, conveniently within a few minutes walking of the Jerusalem Central Bus station and new light rail trains. Its… One of the best Israeli examples of my belief that wine can be called “philosophy in a bottle” is from the Recanati Winery. Israeli born and UC Davis trained Gil Shatsberg took over as the […]

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Posted at 09:19h in Kosher, Wines by 1 Comment I’ve posted my Passover wine recommendations here and here (and, in an update, I believe that I will be drinking the 2007 Teperberg Silver Sangiovese and the 2007 Tzuba Cabernet Sauvignon for the Passover seder, 2007 Teperberg Terra Malbec, and 2007 Galil Mountain Barbera for… Posted at 17:24h in Kosher, Wine industry by 2 Comments Jewish holidays are full of wine. On Shabbat, evening and morning, Jews say the kiddush (sanctification) […]

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Posted at 20:49h in Kosher by 2 Comments The Jewish holidays are a great time to find lots of Israeli wine – even if you aren’t Jewish. Rosh Hashana and Sukkot, two great feasting holidays, are coming up soon (Rosh Hashana begins this year on the night of September 29 and lasts two days) and this is a great chance to buy kosher Israeli wine. (Of course, as a reminder, there is also boutique wine from Israel that is not […]

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Posted at 19:37h in Events, Wine industry by 7 Comments The great, new Jerusalem culture guide, Jerusalemite, has an interview with Avi Ben in honor of the upcoming Jerusalem wine tasting at the Israel Museum this week. Avi Ben was one of the important figures in raising wine culture in Israel over the past few decades and expanding the Israeli food culture in Israel. He especially gets credit for bringing wine culture to Jerusalem and is considered one of the […]

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