HaKerem: The Israeli Wine Blog

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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For American Jews, the haggadah that they may have used at their Passover seders may have been the Maxwell House Haggadah (and if it still is, might I suggest a replacement!) – old, stale, dumbed down, and boring. And, above all, about coffee. Of course, it was a brilliant marketing move by Maxwell House, to show that coffee was kosher for Passover. But a lousy haggadah that did nothing to educate American Jewry. Well, Israel doesn’t have the Maxwell House […]

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I’ll post my updated comments (including some notes about Jewish law) for this year with my Passover wine recommendations later in the week. In the meantime, check out my recommendation last year and my great wine haggadah. America may have its Maxwell House haggadah, a great marketing piece to remind American Jews that coffee is kosher for Passover, Israel has a wine haggadah – although no one needs a reminder that wine is kosher for Passover. I previously posted this […]

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Alcohol is an important component of many people’s Purim holiday celebration. For those looking to add kosher wine to their Purim baskets and Purim feast, here are some suggestions. Given the current state of the economy, I’ve only listed low priced wines. Under 50 NIS For great value wines, many of the wines from Tzuba (not available in the United States), the Golan series of Golan Heights Winery, Galil Mountain’s basic series, or the Teperberg Silver series from Teperberg 1870 […]

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According to a report in Globes, Israel’s top financial paper, Israel is now seeking to be the next Tuscany, Bordeaux, Rhone, Napa and Sonoma Valley. That is, Israel too, hopes to become a wine tourism destination. According to Globes: Zichron Yaacov and Binyamina are formulating a plan to create agricultural tourism with the aim of developing and marketing the area’s wine culture. The Israel Land Administration (ILA) and the Zichron Yaacov Local Council have begun construction of a 150-acre Wine […]

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I do apologize that I am posting often about the same wineries – Recanati, Galil Mountain, Golan Heights, Yatir, etc. – and not paying enough attention to Pelter, Vitkin, Chateau Golan, Ella Valley, or some of the 100s of other Israeli wines, but certain wines are just so versatile. Such as two of my favorite wineries: Galil Mountain and Recanti. In fact, about a month ago, I was at an interesting French restaurant in Jerusalem (“Eldad vezehoo”, although I admit […]

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Posted on April 4, 2008 The Wall Street Journal did a tasting of several kosher (including wines from Israel that happen to be kosher — some of the best but not all of what’s available, by far, and only what’s available in the US) wines from around the world. I need to repeat that Israeli doesn’t equal kosher (particularly as several searchers got to this blog by searching for Parker tasting of kosher wines, when many of the wines tasted […]

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Posted on February 26, 2009 Israel is a world leader in high tech. Your computer’s firewall and the firewall that protects your home and corporate network was invented by an amazing Israeli company named CheckPoint. Your computer’s CPU is most likely an Intel chip that was significantly developed by Intel’s R&D centers in Israel. Your USB disk was invented in Israel.  Only America has more start-ups listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Israel is known as the Silicon Wadi. Yet, […]

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Posted on May 3, 2008 Two interesting Israeli wine events in North America this week – including one in Canada (any Canadian readers?): Canada – The Vancouver Israeli Wine Festival runs May 4 (tomorrow – Sunday!), 5-9 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel with wines from nine wineries around that country, whose history of viticulture dates back 2,500 years. Many of these wines are well worth tasting, including Galil Mountain barrel-aged 2006 Chardonnay (BCLS $17.83), Dalton, Yarden, and Parker rated […]

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Posted on July 31, 2008 – Filed Under Millenials | Leave a Comment Yom Huledet Sameach. Happy Birthday to me. Yes, today is my birthday. I won’t say how old I am except that I am older than 21. So it’s not often that I ask for wine gift baskets or Israeli wine gifts. But, as a birthday present to me, I have a few suggestions – […] Read More..>> The last word on new wine, the first word on […]

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