Great Israeli Wines

[ademello]

I am going to be in Tel Aviv for a few days on business and I'd like to bring back some local wines. What the are great Israeli red wines? I typically enjoy full-bodied wines but anything that speaks to the local terrior would be great. If anyone has any suggestions as to wines and wine stores, I would love to hear them.

[Andre]

A quick answer to your question although the term great is hardly applied to this new industry:

Cabernet Sauvignon Margalit Reserve 1993

Cuvee Irini, Tsoraa 1996

Cuvee Ilham Tsoraa 1997

Cabernet Sauvignon Soreq Special Reserve 1999.

Cabernet Sauvignon Ben Haim Grand Reserve 2000

Merlot Primo Chillag 2001

Merlot Zauberman 2001

Contact me Via e-mail or simply continue this thread for more info.

[Gifted Gourmet]

We will hear from Daniel Rogov shortly, I presume.

[ademello]

Thanks for the responses. Any ideas as to great wine stores in Tel Aviv that would carry these and other wines/vintages? I am looking forward to Daniel's response, I'm using his list for my resto picks!

Edited April 28, 2005 by ademello (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

Any ideas as to great wine stores in Tel Aviv that would carry these and other wines/vintages?

←

Mendel is a wine store at 218 Ben-Yehuda Street in Tel-Aviv that sells only kosher wine produced in Israel and internationally. Barring that option, Daniel Rogov has some ideas on his website but it is a 2001 list:

list needs a bit of updating ...

[Rehovot]

Any ideas as to great wine stores in Tel Aviv that would carry these and other wines/vintages?

←

Or there's duty-free at Ben Gurion...

Then again, I'm a cheapskate and find the Golan winery's reds to be pretty nice.

For New Year's, we had champagne from Yarden; in a word, GREAT!

[Daniel Rogov]

One wine critic's impressions:

The Ten Best Wine Producers

1. Golan Heights Winery (Katzrin, Yarden, Gamla, Golan)

2. Castel

3. Flam

4. Margalit

5. Yatir

6. Galil Mountain

7. Saslov

8. Amphorae

9. Recanati

10. Carmel

Ten New or Up-and-Coming Producers

1. Clos de Gat

2. Chateau Golan

3. Ella

4. Carmei Yosef (Bravdo)

5. Alexander

6. Gustavo & Jo

7. Bazelet ha Golan

8. Orna Chillag

9. Sea Horse Winery

10. Bustan

The Ten Fastest Improving Producers

1. Carmel

2. Barkan

3. Sea Horse

4. Tabor

5. Dalton

6. Zauberman

7. Gush Etzion

8. Segal

9. Tishbi

10. La Terra Promessa

The 10 Best Wines Released in the Last Twelve Months

Golan Heights Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon, Elrom Vineyard, Yarden, 2001

Golan Heights Winery, Merlot, Ortal Vineyard, Yarden, 2001

Carmel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Ramat Arad, 2002

Recanati, Special Reserve, 2001

Margalit, Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Reserve 2002

Castel, Grand Vin Castel, 2001

Flam, Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, 2002

Yatir, Yatir Forest 2002

Sea Horse, Elul, 2002

Amphorae, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003

As to wine stores – perhaps two best bets within Tel Aviv city limits are Derekh ha Yain (Wine Route) on Rehov HaHashmona'eem and Hinawe, which is located near the clock tower in Jaffa. Keep in mind that Andre, who posted earlier on this thread, is the owner of Special Reserve, certainly one of the best wine stores in the country, and that is located in Haifa.

And, apologizing in advance for bit of obvious self-promotion, to check my detailed tasting notes and projected drinking windows of local wines, consider picking up a copy of my little book "Rogov's Guide to Israeli Wines 2005" (available at Steimatzky or, should you have time before your visit via either Barnes and Nobles or Amazon on line.

Do keep in mind of course that not all of Israel's very best wines are kosher. As to whether the industry has attained the status of "greatness"…..I'll agree with Andre that this is not yet the case. Quite a few truly excellent wines and more on the way but "greatness" at this stage might be just a wee bit premature.

Do, please keep in mind as well that my internet wine pages (linked to above) are somewhat dated. Full updates wll be made in June.

Edited April 29, 2005 by Daniel Rogov (log)