THE BLOSSOMING OF ISRAELI WINE
New Quality From An Ancient Wine Growing Region
by Adam Montefiore
The ancient land of Israel - whether known as Canaan , Judea or Palestine - was making wine over two thousand years before the vine reached Europe.
It was an integral part of the Eastern Mediterranean or Levant area, which gave the world wine culture. It is fair to say that the region was the France of the ancient world. In Bible times the wine industry was the mainstay of the economy and it was because of the importance of wine at the time, that it was enshrined in the ritual of both the Jewish & Christian religions. However from the time of Moslem control of the region, wine production ceased & vineyards were forsaken.
Rothschild
The modern Israeli wine industry was founded by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, owner of Chateau Lafite, the famous Bordeaux Chateau. He supported the new wave of Jewish immigrants who began settling in Israel in 1882 and sponsored their attempts to start a viable wine industry. They had their difficulties - the first crops planted did not survive the hot sun, stony sandy soil & the first vineyards were struck with phylloxera.
Rothschild built two wineries at Rishon Le Zion, south of Tel Aviv and at Zichron Ya'acov, south of Haifa . The wine of the first vintages went sour because of the high temperatures, so they then had to build deep underground cellars at enormous cost and these remain until today the two largest wineries in Israel.
Zichron Ya'acov is named after Baron Edmond's father, Baron James Jacob de Rothschild, who bought Chateau Lafite for the Rothschild family. Ironically the family investment in the Zichron Ya'acov winery was 5 million francs, more than the 4 million francs required to purchase Lafite!
In 1906 Baron Edmond de Rothschild passed the management of the wineries onto the growers who formed the Societe Co-operative Vigneronne des Grandes Caves and in 1957 his son, James Rothschild, donated the wineries to the wine growers cooperative. Their vineyards covered the Holy Land , but the main concentration was in the coastal regions of Shomron & Samson.
Carmel
The resulting wines were sold under the brand name ' Carmel ', which means in Hebrew : God's Vineyard. Two marketing companies were developed: Carmel Wine Co. to sell wines in export markets, and Carmel Mizrahi, to sell wine in the Near East ( Palestine , southern Russia , Turkey , Egypt etc). The company in England was founded in 1898 and was originally called: The Palestine Wine & Trading Company. Their main brand at the time was called Palwin (an abbreviation of the company name), which still exists as a sacramental wine.
Carmel became a symbol of modern Israel . The first time telephones & electricity were used in Israel was at Carmel 's Rishon Le Zion winery. Two future Prime Ministers of Israel, David Ben Gurion & Levi Eshkol, worked at the wineries & in the vineyards. Carmel is Israel 's oldest exporter and the Rishon Le Zion winery remains the oldest industrial building still in use.
The 80s Revolution and the Golan Heights Winery
In the 1980s the quality revolution began in Israel , heralded by the formation of the Golan Heights Winery. Importing expertise from California , using state of the art technology and high altitude, cooler vineyards, the Golan led the country to a new dawn of quality wine. They won a host of gold medals and a number of trophies at the IWSC in London and Vinexpo in Bordeaux - in particular with their premier label, Yarden.
In the 1990s there was an explosion of new boutique wineries. The most famous of these was Domaine du Castel, situated in the Judean Hills, west of Jerusalem . Castel wines were chosen as Decanter Wine of the Month on no less than three occasions.
New vs Old
This was a challenge to the older, traditional wineries. Carmel responded by planting new vineyards in the quality, cool climate areas of the Upper Galilee , bordering Lebanon , and the Golan Heights . They also pioneered the planting of vineyards in the Negev desert. Then Carmel built three new, state of the art, boutique wineries close to key vineyards in order to produce handcrafted wines. One is at Ramat Dalton in the Upper Galilee , the second is within the Zichron Ya'acov facility on the coast, and the third, Yatir Winery, is in the south. Finally they employed a number of young, highly qualified winemakers - all of whom had studied, trained or worked in Australia. The new Chief Winemaker, Lior Laxer, was a student of Michel Rolland, and Carmel also employs Californian Peter Stern (ex Mondavi, Gallo & Golan Heights Winery) as winemaking consultant. The results have been immediate.' The Wine Report' named Carmel as Israel's fastest improving winery for two consecutive years & their single vineyard wines from Ramat Arad, Zarit & Kayoumi vineyards began to receive rave reviews.
What about nowadays?
Today there are approximately 12 commercial wineries in Israel and over 150 boutique wineries. The largest wineries, which control over 90% of the Israel wine industry, are as follows:
1. Carmel Winery; 2. Barkan Wine Cellars; 3. Golan Heights Winery; 4. Efrat Winery; 5. Binyamina Wine Cellars; 6. Tishbi Estate; 7. Galil Mountain ; 8. Dalton Winery; 9. Recanati Winery.
The following were awarded stars in Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book 2006, as the leading nine Israeli wineries:
Three Stars : Domaine du Castel; Golan Heights Winery
Two Stars : Flam Winery; Margalit Winery; Yatir Winery;
One Star : Amphorae Vineyard; Carmel Winery; Galil Mountain ; Saslove Winery
Growing Areas
Israel 's main wine growing areas remain the traditional coastal regions of Shomron & Samson, but the best quality wines are coming from the Upper Galilee , Golan Heights , Judean Hills & Ramat Arad. The soils are Terra Rossa on the coast, limestone on the hills, sandy clay in the south and volcanic in areas of the north.
There are approximately 4,000 hectares of vineyards, which makes Israel one of the smallest of all wine producing countries. However there are a surprising number of microclimates that lie between the snow covered Mount Hermon in the northern Golan & the Negev Desert in the south.
Israel is known for its advanced agriculture & technology and these come together in the vineyards. Whether it is use of meteorological stations in the vineyards, the latest drip feed methods or planting vineyards in the desert, the Israeli viticulturist is up to date and always experimenting.
Grape Varieties
The most common grape varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc & Chardonnay. Others include Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Johannisberg Riesling, Gewurztraminer & Muscat Canelli. Of the newer varieties, Syrah/Shiraz is the most promising. Numerous other varieties are available - from Petit Verdot to Viognier. There are unfortunately no indigenous varieties, though the Muscat of Alexandria, which is prominent in the Eastern Mediterranean and is used to make dessert wines, comes closest. Emerald Riesling, a cross between Johannisberg Riesling & Muscadelle is a variety which succeeded in Israel more than in California , where it was originally introduced.
A taste of France
The Israel wine industry was built on French roots. Californian winemakers trained at UC Davis were responsible for the changes in the 1980's. Today nearly all the winemakers from the larger wineries and some from the better boutique wineries are internationally trained. They study, graduate & gain work experience mainly in Australia , California , France or Italy . If anything, Australia has replaced California as the dominant influence.
Prizewinners
Israel wins most prizes for its red wines, in particular Cabernet Sauvignon, but awards have been won for traditional method sparkling wines, white wines & dessert wines too. Eleven different Israeli wineries have won gold medals at the very highest level of international tasting competitions at least once, and some are regular winners.
Not for cermonial use !
Israeli wines of today must not be confused with the syrupy, sweet wines used for sacramental purposes. They may be found on the wine lists of Three Star Michelin restaurants or on the shelves of premium wine stores. Yarden has been invited to The Wine Spectator's New York Wine Experience & Castel to the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter - both events are by invitation only, to the finest wineries in the world. Carmel wines are in supermarkets & retail stores in Europe & America. Israeli wines may be found in 40 countries in five continents, but most exports are to the Americas & Western Europe.
Israeli wines may be categorized as ' New world wines, from one of the oldest wine producing countries on earth'. They are arguably the best quality wines produced in the Eastern Mediterranean or Levant and will surprise & delight both connoisseurs and wine lovers alike.
Kosher Wine
Most but not all Israeli wines are Kosher. This basically means the wine is suitable for consumption by those observing the Jewish Dietary Laws. The word 'kosher' simply means clean or pure. To be certified as kosher, the wine & winery equipment has to be handled by an orthodox Jew. This is high in nuisance value to the winemaker but does not affect the winemaking process. So there is no contradiction that a kosher wine may be a wine of the highest quality.
Kosher wines do not come into contact with any animal or diary derivatives for fining purposes (like gelatin or casein). In addition, Carmel does not use egg whites, so their wines are also officially authorized as being suitable for both vegans & vegetarians.
Some wineries may flash pasteurize their wines so the wine stays kosher when served by a non-observant person. Louis :Latour wines are also flash pasteurized. However this is only required by the strictly religious, usually in a banqueting situation. This normally applies to the more inexpensive wines. However note that all the wines of Castel, the Golan & the best wines of Carmel are 100% kosher, but are not pasteurized.
Israeli undoubtedly produces the finest quality & best range of kosher wines in the world. The agreed objective of the wineries producing kosher wine is to produce the finest possible wine ' that happens also to be kosher .'
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