Grapes of Galilee
Boosted equally by history and myth and its late start notwithstanding, the new 'New World' wine country set in one of the oldest wine-producing regions on earth is determined to wet as many throats as possible.
Scratch the surface of an Israeli map and you will find a winemaker, making wine with individuality and passion. There are more than 200 wineries, ranging from large commercial operations producing millions of bottles to small domestic ones making a few thousand bottles for friends and family. For the curious tourist and the adventurous wine lover, there is no end to the variety of wineries to visit and wines to taste: from the northern Golan Heights, as high as 1,200 meters above sea level, down to the lowest depths of the Negev Desert. There are technologically advanced wineries that would not be out of place in Napa or Barossa, and ones where lack of expertise is compensated for by boundless enthusiasm. There are moshav (cooperative) wineries and kibbutz (collective) wineries. There are wineries run by ultra-orthodox Jews and wineries operated by Christian monks. There is even one called Mony, owned by an Arab family, that makes kosher wine and is located in a monastery!
Archeological remains of a rich winemaking past abound in the region, dating back at least 2,000 years before the Greeks and Romans took the vine to Europe. The Israelites' interest in winegrowing is a recurring theme in the Bible and the Talmud. For Jews, there is no communal, religious or family life without wine. A Jewish boy will have his first taste of wine at his circumcision when only eight days old, and the wedding ceremony includes the bride and groom sipping from one cup.
Winemaking in the land of Israel was at its peak during the period of the Second Temple. When the Romans destroyed the Temple in 68 CE, the Jews were dispersed and the once proud industry forsaken. It took a Rothschild to renew the tradition. Baron Edmond de Rothschild financed the planting of vineyards through the 1880s, and built wineries using expertise from Bordeaux. In 1882, Jewish immigrants from Russia and Romania settled in Rishon Le Zion, south of Tel Aviv, and Zichron Yacov, south of Haifa. On the advice of Rothschild's French experts, they turned to vineyards after the failure of their initial efforts to grow wheat and potatoes.
His father may have bought the famous Bordeaux winery Chateau Lafite for 4 million francs, but it cost Edmond de Rothschild 11 million francs to create Carmel, Israel's first wine brand and exporter. Till date, Carmel has never missed a harvest, be it under Ottoman rule, the British Mandate or, the State of Israel. For most of the early years, the main market for Israeli wine comprised Jewish communities around the world who wanted sacramental wines from the Holy Land.
The young State of Israel had no social wine culture to speak of. Till the 1970s, Israelis preferred Coca-Cola, and occasionally sipped a sweet red wine or a white wine spritzer. Offered a dry wine, most would complain that it was sour. The revolution began in 1983 when the Golan Heights Winery was founded. It invited the services of California wine consultant Peter Stern, who brought in modern viticulture and winemaking technology, and showed the world, and most importantly Israelis, that one could make world-class wines in Israel.
Eager for Israel to produce fine wines, Rothschild had planted the main Bordeaux varieties of grapes in the 1880s: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. But these were destroyed by phylloxera and the vineyards replanted with varieties from the south of France, like Carignan, which was the workhorse grape of Israeli wine until the early 1990s.
Part of the quality revolution in the past 20 years has entailed going back to planting classic international varieties. The main varieties today are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc while Cabernet Franc and Gewurztraminer are also yielding wines meeting international standards. The red wines, especially the Cabernet Sauvignons and Bordeauxstyle blends, exhibit a great depth of colour, and are fruit forward with fine structure and complexity. They are better than the whites, although some good Sauvignon Blancs are being made.
In spite of its compact dimensions, Israel has a wide range of microclimates. The cooler vineyards at the higher altitudes of the Upper Galilee, Golan Heights and Judean Hills have proved to yield the highest quality wines. The Golan Heights in the northeast is a volcanic plateau rising from the Sea of Galilee to snow-covered Mount Hermon. Central and northern Golan, rising 1,200 m above sea level, has the finest vineyards, and Golan Heights Winery in the town of Katzrin is the dominant winery here.
The Galilee is a new wine region, with vineyards planted relatively recently. The Lower Galilee has its share of vineyards, but it's the ones in the Upper Galilee that are in greatest demand. The main vineyard areas are the Kedesh Valley on the Lebanese border and Merom HaGalil near Mount Meron. Many of Israel's finest wineries, even if not situated in the vicinity, produce their best wines from grapes grown in the Upper Galilee. This beautiful area of forests, rising peaks and stony ridges-the Provence of Israel-is Israel's most scenic wine region. One of the best local wineries is Galil Mountain, situated at Yiron, whose meticulously made wines come from five nearby vineyards.
The valleys of Mount Carmel around the towns of Zichron Yacov and Binyamina, where cool breezes blow off the Mediterranean, have a large concentration of vineyards planted in Rothschild's time. Interestingly, one short trip will take you to wineries founded in the 1890s (Carmel), 1950s (Binyamina), 1980s (Tishbi) and 2000 (Amphorae), all near each other.
The Judean Plain southeast of Tel Aviv is home to Barkan, Israel's second-largest winery. On the way to Jerusalem, the plain gives way to the rolling Judean hills, which have become the fastest-growing venue for new vineyards and wineries. One of the most interesting wineries in this area is Clos de Gat, an estate winery producing only from its own vineyards. The stone winery building was used as Yitzhak Rabin's headquarters during the 1948 War of Independence. In the centre of the Judean Hills that run down the spine of the country lies Castel, where owner and winemaker Eli Ben Zaken produces wines of elegance and finesse that show a pronounced French influence.
The final region of note is the Negev Desert in the south. In the semi-arid, northeast Negev, next to 3000-year-old Tel Arad, lies Yatir Winery. Its vineyards, at 900 m above sea level, lie within Yatir Forest, Israel's largest forest, planted in 1964. One of the best of the new wave of quality wineries, Yatir has already won a host of medals in both Bordeaux and Israel. Deeper in the dry arid desert are vineyards at Mitzpe Ramon, and at Sde Boker where David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, spent his final years.
Despite the wine fever of recent years, Israel remains one of the smallest wine-producing countries. Eight wineries-Carmel, Barkan, Golan Heights, Teperberg, Binyamina, Tishbi, Galil Mountain and Dalton-share 90% of the domestic market and are the main exporters. According to wine critic Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book, the finest quality Israeli wineries are Castel and Golan Heights, followed by Yatir, Flam, Margalit, Carmel and Galil Mountain, but this is changing year by year as more and more wineries strive for quality. Talk about a new 'New World' wine country set in one of oldest wine-producing regions on earth.
Stacks of barrels line the cellar of Carmel Winery, Israels first wine brand and exporter
Winemaking in the land of Israel was at its peak during the period of the Second Temple. When the Romans destroyed the Temple in 68 CE, the Jews were dispersed and the once proud industry forsaken. It took a Rothschild to renew the tradition. Baron Edmond de Rothschild financed the planting of vineyards through the 1880s, and built wineries using expertise from Bordeaux. In 1882, Jewish immigrants from Russia and Romania settled in Rishon Le Zion, south of Tel Aviv, and Zichron Yacov, south of Haifa. On the advice of Rothschild's French experts, they turned to vineyards after the failure of their initial efforts to grow wheat and potatoes.
His father may have bought the famous Bordeaux winery Chateau Lafite for 4 million francs, but it cost Edmond de Rothschild 11 million francs to create Carmel, Israel's first wine brand and exporter. Till date, Carmel has never missed a harvest, be it under Ottoman rule, the British Mandate or, the State of Israel. For most of the early years, the main market for Israeli wine comprised Jewish communities around the world who wanted sacramental wines from the Holy Land.
The young State of Israel had no social wine culture to speak of. Till the 1970s, Israelis preferred Coca-Cola, and occasionally sipped a sweet red wine or a white wine spritzer. Offered a dry wine, most would complain that it was sour. The revolution began in 1983 when the Golan Heights Winery was founded. It invited the services of California wine consultant Peter Stern, who brought in modern viticulture and winemaking technology, and showed the world, and most importantly Israelis, that one could make world-class wines in Israel.
Winemaker Eli Ben Zaken strolls through his vineyards at Domaine du Castel.
 This is an extract from The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey. By Janna Gur, together with contributing writers Rami Hann, Orly Pely-Bronshtein, Adam Montefiore and Ruth Oliver. Photographs by Elion Paz. Published by Al Hashulchan Gastronomic Media, Israel and Schocken Books, New York. By Janna Gur, together with contributing writers Rami Hann, Orly Pely-Bronshtein, Adam Montefiore and Ruth Oliver. Photographs by Elion Paz. Published by Al Hashulchan Gastronomic Media, Israel and Schocken Books, New York. |
In spite of its compact dimensions, Israel has a wide range of microclimates. The cooler vineyards at the higher altitudes of the Upper Galilee, Golan Heights and Judean Hills have proved to yield the highest quality wines. The Golan Heights in the northeast is a volcanic plateau rising from the Sea of Galilee to snow-covered Mount Hermon. Central and northern Golan, rising 1,200 m above sea level, has the finest vineyards, and Golan Heights Winery in the town of Katzrin is the dominant winery here.
The Galilee is a new wine region, with vineyards planted relatively recently. The Lower Galilee has its share of vineyards, but it's the ones in the Upper Galilee that are in greatest demand. The main vineyard areas are the Kedesh Valley on the Lebanese border and Merom HaGalil near Mount Meron. Many of Israel's finest wineries, even if not situated in the vicinity, produce their best wines from grapes grown in the Upper Galilee. This beautiful area of forests, rising peaks and stony ridges-the Provence of Israel-is Israel's most scenic wine region. One of the best local wineries is Galil Mountain, situated at Yiron, whose meticulously made wines come from five nearby vineyards.
The valleys of Mount Carmel around the towns of Zichron Yacov and Binyamina, where cool breezes blow off the Mediterranean, have a large concentration of vineyards planted in Rothschild's time. Interestingly, one short trip will take you to wineries founded in the 1890s (Carmel), 1950s (Binyamina), 1980s (Tishbi) and 2000 (Amphorae), all near each other.
The Judean Plain southeast of Tel Aviv is home to Barkan, Israel's second-largest winery. On the way to Jerusalem, the plain gives way to the rolling Judean hills, which have become the fastest-growing venue for new vineyards and wineries. One of the most interesting wineries in this area is Clos de Gat, an estate winery producing only from its own vineyards. The stone winery building was used as Yitzhak Rabin's headquarters during the 1948 War of Independence. In the centre of the Judean Hills that run down the spine of the country lies Castel, where owner and winemaker Eli Ben Zaken produces wines of elegance and finesse that show a pronounced French influence.
Yair Margalit, founder of Margalit Winery, a first-ofits-kind boutique facility in Israel.
Despite the wine fever of recent years, Israel remains one of the smallest wine-producing countries. Eight wineries-Carmel, Barkan, Golan Heights, Teperberg, Binyamina, Tishbi, Galil Mountain and Dalton-share 90% of the domestic market and are the main exporters. According to wine critic Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book, the finest quality Israeli wineries are Castel and Golan Heights, followed by Yatir, Flam, Margalit, Carmel and Galil Mountain, but this is changing year by year as more and more wineries strive for quality. Talk about a new 'New World' wine country set in one of oldest wine-producing regions on earth.
