Israel

[adrian1]

I was lucky enough to be invited to a recent tasting of wines from Israel. To be honest I had no idea of the quality or quantity of wines produced by the country.

They have been producing wine for over 5,500 years and very seriously since the 1990's.

Recent Tasting of wines from 2 of the 140+ wineries in Israel:

2001 Chateau Golan Eliad Royal Reserve, Golan Heights Winery $44.50

Grape Variety:84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 % Merlot, 6% Syrah

Deep Red Colour with just the slightest hint of brown around the edges. The nose is full of prune, ripe black currants & leather. The palate is rich with good fruit & medium to strong tannins. The wine is great now but can also be stored for 5 or so years.

2003 Seahorse Camus, Seahorse Winery-Judean Hills $28.95

Grape variety: Syrah

This is a very elegant wine in a very old world style. It reminds me of Crozes-Hermitage from the North Rhone.

Dark red with hints of purple the wine has berries, vanilla & a bit of sour milk or yoghurt (A trait of Crozes-Hermitage) on the nose. The palate is smooth with medium tannins, some leather and berries all contributing to a long, elegant finish. This wine is a great buy!

[britcook]

Israel is just one of several countries that make good wine, but nobody knows about them because they don't have any significant exports and when they do escape they do not usually present a good quality/price relationship in comparison to better known wines.

[dinwiddie]

Are the Kosher? (not all Israeli wines are.)

[Daniel Rogov]

The wines of Sea Horse and Chateau Golan are not kosher. As a rule of thumb, the wines of all of the large wineries are kosher, those of medium-sized wineries are generally kosher, and the wines of the boutique and artisanal wineries may or may not be kosher, most being not kosher.

Keep in mind that the image of kosher wines as sweet, red, coarse and otherwise abominable is long gone in Israel and there is no contradiction whatever between making wines that are both kosher and of high quality.

[adrian1]

Quite right Daniel

Most of the Israeli wines I have tasted have been Kosher though the Seahorse and Chateau Golan are not.

The sweet, high alcohol wines of the past were a neccessity. In the old days when storage was a huge problem in the hot climate the high sugar and alcohol helped slow down the oxidation process. With the advent of modern winemaking, storage this is no longer such an issue.

[Daniel Rogov]

The sweet, high alcohol wines of the past were a neccessity. In the old days when storage was a huge problem in the hot climate the high sugar and alcohol helped slow down the oxidation process. With the advent of modern winemaking, storage this is no longer such an issue.

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Adrian, Hi...

I'll have to disagree on the reason for the sweet, high alcohol wines. After all, the climates of many parts of Spain, southern Italy and France and certainly of North Africa are much the same, if not even hotter than those of Israel and they never specialized in such wines.

I think the major reason for the continuation of such wines (even in the USA thanks to Manischewitz and Mogen David, for example) is due to what Tevye so generously called "tradition"..... In many Jewish homes wine was more a part of sacramental than every day culture, being used more for Friday night kiddush (blessings), and on holidays such as Rosh haShanah and Passover. I think the major switch started coming about as an increasing number of Jews the world over came to recognize that wine could be far more than merely sacramental, but also a part of a cultured and sophisticated lifestyle.

Edited September 15, 2006 by Daniel Rogov (log)

[adrian1]

Hi Daniel,

I had the feeling I might be taken to task after that last comment!

I have heard that as tradition one drinks the sweet wine as a symbol of the "Sweetness of Freedom" which refers to the "Exodus of the Jews' from Egypt.

On the other hand at a recent tasting an expert in the Israeli wine industry recently explained the reason for the sweet wines as being due to the "slowing down" of oxidation and storage.

Whatever the origination of sweet wines in Israel me be, I think it is wonderful to discuss our wine passion and learn from it.

[bloviatrix]

The real reason why many people don't know about the quality of Israeli wines is that most of the wines that get exported are kosher and get placed in the kosher wine section of wine stores. If you're not looking for kosher wines you'll never see them.

I know of just one wine store that integrates Israeli (kosher) and other kosher wines with the rest of their stock.

[Daniel Rogov]

At the risk of being self-promoting, a good way to get to know Israeli wines would be to read my annual little book "Rogov's Guide to Israeli Wines". The 2006 edition has been available for nearly a year and the 2007 (the third annual) will make its official worldwide debut on 28 September.

Should anyone be interested, further information can be found at my publishers web site at http://www.tobypress.com/books/rogov.htm

[Rebel Rose]

Coiincidentally, Israel winemaking made major industry news twice this month:

Lebanese and Israeli Wineries Harvest Grapes in Wake of War

``The bombing was very near us, but we didn't leave the vineyards for a minute during the conflict -- my brother and our team slept between the vines,'' says Sami Ghosn, 40, who founded the winery with his winemaker brother Ramzi, 38, in 1998. ``It was pretty scary. We were hoping they wouldn't bomb the winery by mistake.''

(Reminder: please don't discuss politics. However, one may comment on vintner tenacity . . .)

This interesting article contains more anecdotes, tasting notes, and weblinks to the wineries mentioned.

Israeli Wine Producers Jostling for Recognition

Israeli vineyards, jostling for space on wine shop shelves overseas, believe they deserve a place next to the bottles of other top-notch New World producers.

Unfortunately, the full article requires a paid subscription to the Moscow Times. (Yes, that Moscow!)

[Daniel Rogov]

Two anecdotes "from the war", both with happy endings...

(1) Na’ama Mualem, the senior winemaker at Israel's Dalton Winery is a rather petite young woman. During the shelling, knowing that the grapes needed tending immediately before harvest, Na'ama donned a flack jacket and helmet and made her way to the vineyards every day.

(2) Serge Hochar of Lebanon's Chateau Musar was sitting in his office at the winery when a bomb fell and exploded some fifty meters from the winery. Several windows were shattered but no-one was injured.

As to wine, the harvests in both Lebanon and Israel are proceding on schedule. Considering the proximity of the two countries, the harvest dates are quite similar. Winemakers in both countries report lower than usual yields but high quality grapes making their way to the wineries.

[Swisskaese]

We have very good wines and have been making non-sacremental wine long before 1990.

Flam winery is a non-Kosher winery that produces some outstanding wine. I featured this winery in my first blog.

Flam Winery

For more information about Israeli wineries, check out this thread in the Middle East & Africa forum:

Israeli Wine Harvest Saved

Edited September 25, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Daniel Rogov]

Michelle, Hi....

Your mention of the Flam winery calls to mind a somewhat amusing/somewhat pathetic little story perhaps displaying the dangers of being a wine-critic.

One day, about three years ago, on an Israel internet forum someone posted (anonymously of course) that I had recently visited the Carmel Winery in Zichron Ya'akov. According to that person's malicious (and fully fabricated) story, the winery had sent a stretch limosine to pick me up from my home, flew in a French chef to prepare lunch for me and, on leaving the winery I did so with three or four cases of wine for my personal cellar.

I never respond on other forums to such nonsense but by chance that day I had visited the Flam winery and when writing up my reactions to the visit and my tasting notes on my own forum I could not resist writing:

"This morning at 8 a.m. Gilad Flam came to pick me up to drive to the winery. He arrived in an eight year old car, so beat up and so full of left over mud from the recent harvest that it was difficult to even find a place to sit comfortably. When finally we arrived at the winery, what awaited me but a cup of Elite Instant Coffee and that despite the well known fact that I have a flying purple passion against instant coffee of any kind. ..... All is fine though and I forgive the Flam brothers all of their sins because these two guys do, by heaven, know how to make fine wine"

I must report that in the intervening three years the Flam brothers continue to make fine wine. They have not yet (dammit) purchased an espresso machine!!!

Edited September 25, 2006 by Daniel Rogov (log)

[Swisskaese]

Michelle, Hi....

Your mention of the Flam winery calls to mind a somewhat amusing/somewhat pathetic little story perhaps displaying the dangers of being a wine-critic.

One day, about three years ago, on an Israel internet forum someone posted (anonymously of course) that I had recently visited the Carmel Winery in Zichron Ya'akov.  According to that person's malicious (and fully fabricated) story, the winery had sent a stretch limosine to pick me up from my home, flew in a French chef to prepare lunch for me and, on leaving the winery I did so with three or four cases of wine for my personal cellar.

I never respond on other forums to such nonsense but by chance that day I had visited the Flam winery and when writing up my reactions to the visit and my tasting notes on my own forum I could not resist writing:

"This morning at 8 a.m. Gilad Flam came to pick me up to drive to the winery. He arrived in an eight year old car, so beat up and so full of left over mud from the recent harvest that it was difficult to even find a place to sit comfortably.  When finally we arrived at the winery, what awaited me but a cup of Elite Instant Coffee and that despite the well known fact that I have a flying purple passion against instant coffee of any kind.  ..... All is fine though and I forgive the Flam brothers all of their sins because these two guys do, by heaven, know how to make fine wine"

I must report that in the intervening three years the Flam brothers continue to make fine wine.  They have not yet (dammit) purchased an espresso machine!!!

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That is hysterical!!! Maybe we should take up a collection for an espresso machine. I heard that they were having some wine and cheese events in their new addition. I haven't checked it out yet.