Israel Wine Industry Archives - Israel Wine Tour

2023 Harvest Updates – Judean Hills

Barak Yitzhaki — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 10:48:09 +0000

Harvest is on its way as Israel is experiencing a challenging time . The Judean Hills boutique producers we work with including Zafrirm, Sphera and Agur have been showing both resilience and optimism by doubling down and planting new vineyards and new varieties ahead of Harvest.

Zafririm

Lori and Shaike Lender continue to produce great blends and one of two great Zinfandels [along Seahorse] in the country. The winery has been planting Chenin Blanc and Cab Franc, the latter would come in handy for Lori’s Rose which sells out very early in the season.

In 2022 Lori decided to produce a Wild Syrah [fermented only with its natural Yeast] This has become a great, light Summer red for this winery, For those of us who are patient and or enjoy a complex heavier red The 2017 Patom ,is ready and is absolutely remarkable now.

Sphera

Doron Rav Hon and Sima continue to be one of the top white wine producers in the country. in 2022 the winery grew to 50K production. Doron has started a new Chardonay based sparkling wine, an endeavor that will take roughly 3 years. The winery will harvest a Judean Hills Sauvignon Blanc for the first time this summer. Up until today , all their fruit was coming from the vicinity of the winery in the village of Givat Yeshayahu and the Sauv Blanc was coming from the Upper Galilee. As our friend Shuki Yashuv of Agur winery likes to say “ wine is not high tech. It most certainly is not low tech either, it is slow tech!” Now there all their grapes are local and we are very curious what the 2023 vintage will be like for our friends at Sphera!

Agur

Time flies , it has already been a bit more than 2 years since Elad Katz has joined this winery and brought in Eyal Drory as its head winemaker. In 2022 Agur leaped to 70K bottles a year from roughly twnery thousand. Eyal procured sold whites , a rose that has gained a following and a superb carbonic maceration Kessem which has no less than 5 varieties, one of which is Garnacha Tintorera.

Both Agur and Sphera spent the weeks ahead of harvest planting a Greek variety by the name of Assyrtiko. A veriery that does well in the heat, has a lot of minerality and could do very well in the Judean Hills. We wish everyone a great harvest and a thriving democracy.

Shuki Yashuv left , Elad Katz and Eyal Drory planting

The post 2023 Harvest Updates – Judean Hills appeared first on Israel Wine Tour.

2019 Updates: Ramot Naftaly, Vortman and Seahorse Wineries

Barak Yitzhaki — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 18:13:07 +0000

It has been a while since we last updated the blog. In the past year, Alon has been leading winemaker only trips to multiple wine regions in Europe. His groups have been to the Rhone River [the Israeli flag flew over Chapoutier for the visit!] in June Alon and winemakers from the Judean Hills were in Priorat, Spain.

Ramot Naftaly Rose, 2018 Vortman Colombard and 2017 Oz from Seahorse

IWT continues to tour extensively through out Israel. A multi day tour recently brought us to Ramot Naftaly Winery in the Upper Galilee. In recent years Itzhak Cohen the owner and Vintner has been growing Nebbiolo. A limited series of 1500 bottles dry Rose 2018 made of Nebbiolo, Gewurztraminer was released in September, and we found it to be an incredible surprise. Itzhak was kind enough to allow us to try a red version of his Kedesh Valley grown Nebbiolo as well.

In the Carmel the Vortman Winery has changed things around and from the 2018 vintage only doing fermentations with the natural Yeast on the grape. Hai Vortman and his team are growing Organic vineyards in Shfea Valley and the winery has been putting an emphasis on Petite Verdot Malbec and Merlot in recent years. As for white wines, Hai has been releasing wines that are fruity, elegant and low in alcohol in any standard 10 – 11%. Another fantastic surprise

For the Judean Hills we can update the Seahorse winery now employs Eyal Drory as winemaker in addition to Zeev Dunie. Eyal studied in Turin, Piedmont and is a great addition to this very special winery. Seahorse continues to introduce varieties to the Israeli market such as Cinsaut and Counoise mostly as part of blends but as straight varietals as well. In the last tasting at Sea Horse we fell in love with Oz 2017 a blend of Cinsault, Grenache, Cab and Petite Syrah. A wine that had no name and was named after the passing of Amos Oz, a famous Israeli Novelist and writer.

The post 2019 Updates: Ramot Naftaly, Vortman and Seahorse Wineries appeared first on Israel Wine Tour.

An Evening with Wine Maker Yaakov Uriah

Barak Yitzhaki — Sun, 10 Dec 2017 05:45:21 +0000

Wine Maker Yaakov Uriah is an odd bird. A religious man born in the US and grew up in Bnei Brak to an Ultra-Orthodox community. A winemaker, one of the most unique Israelis in this profession, a gentleman who shows up late at night at the very non-Kosher Brut Wine Bar late with a plastic bottle of his latest creation looking for feedback from friend and owner of Brut, Chef Yair Yossefi and the wine loving staff.

Yaakov Uriah – photo: 93fm.co.il

Uriah is a winemaker with very little formal education, yet an incredible ability at projective tasting, and a keen thirst for knowledge and experimentation. A story that I had found astounding is that early in his career Uriah operating Assif as a ‘’Winery Negonciant’’, was making up possible blends in his head, having tasted mid-range wines at several different wineries. Today Uriah is the head winemaker of Psagot, having worked at Midbar and Ella Valley [to name a few] and is still producing his own line of wines.

This desire to search and test things out, led to some fantastic wines. Wines that have an incredible aging ability [we tasted a 2009 Semillon and 2008 Viognier in the course of the evening] Another thing that took me by surprise is that Uriah is completely open minded with his style of winemaking. At some point in the course of the evening, the very astute Hilik Gurfinkel who hosted, got Uriah to discuss the notion of using Oak chips in wine while in process. For some wineries, this is a total taboo and they would even be insulted if someone asked them whether they ever take part in such methodology. Uriah simply replied that the way he sees it, the same way that it is ok for a wine to be in an Oak barrel, He is not willing to rule out having Oak chips in a wine if the conditions requires such practice.

One more interesting thing about Yaakov Uriah’s wines, in the past he made the decision to pay homage to other wine regions in the world, most of which never having been there. The Hebrew naming for the 2009 Semillon is Hunter’s Valley and in a couple of red wines we had Uriah had said to his clients even before he obtained the fruit, that he would make a homage to Rioja by producing a Rioja Reserva style wine. The later two were my favorite wines of the night.

The post An Evening with Wine Maker Yaakov Uriah appeared first on Israel Wine Tour.

Pre-Launch tasting of the 2016 vintage at Sphera Winery

Barak Yitzhaki — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 17:46:55 +0000

It is no industry secret that most of our guests are North Americans visiting Israel. Last week, we were touring with a Brazilian Judge and her husband, a Public Prosecutor. When we started emailing, the lady mentioned she is a big fan of white wines and has spent time wine touring in several great regions in France.

Sphera Winery Novemver 16′

We figured since the 15′ wines of Sphera have sold out a while ago and the launch event of the new vintage is scheduled for May at the winery, this would be a terrific opportunity to taste some of the wine ahead of the public.

Sphera’s core market is the Tel Aviv restaurants. In fact, 80% of their wine is sold there. The abundance of top level establishments in Tel Aviv which serve small plates, or dishes with an Asian flair that would benefit from a well-crafted, crisp and minerally Israeli white wine next to them, puts Sphera in the big leagues of Israeli boutique white wine.

Markerting wise Sphera is also hitting it straight on the nail. Sima Rav Hon, Doron’s wife deserves a lot of credit here. The winery is now a part of the Judean Hills Quartet along with Tzora, Domain Du Castel and Flam. Smart decision for all sides involved. The winery itself is pristine white and has rotating art work presented along with recreating their image for a Sphere year after year. Their newest edition will be presented at the May launch event they are holding.

I will be the first to admit [even when the wine maker is listening] that I am not a big fan of Chardonnay. The varietal 2016 Chardonnay that Doron Rav Hon created for the White Concept Series took me by surprise. 60% fermented in stainless steel and the wine was crisp, fruity and not oaky at all. I liked the Riesling a lot as well and what stood out the most I think, was how different the First Page [blend] was from previous years. Doron mentioned that he needed the Riesling for the Varietal batch and in the First Page that meant that the Semilon would have a bit more presence. The result was a nice complexity and some anise flavors as well. It is a fantastic winery and a must if one is a fan of white wines.

Tours and tastings at Sphera Winery can be offered as a part of our Judean Hills Wine Tour. Availabilty pending schedule approval of the winery.

The post Pre-Launch tasting of the 2016 vintage at Sphera Winery appeared first on Israel Wine Tour.

An Evening with Wine Maker Gabi Sadan of Shvo Winery

Barak Yitzhaki — Sun, 27 Nov 2016 11:51:45 +0000

Wine maker dinners are becoming more popular in Israel and especially in Tel Aviv.
Shvo Winery which is fairly young, is not a winery readily available for visitors. The winery is located in the industrial area of Gush Halav in the upper Galilee. While the wines are superb, the winery does not have a visitor center.

Gabi Sadan Photo: Jamie Goode

Following the October 16′ Wine Spectator article that featured Israel on the cover, we were hired by a U.S wine distributor to show as much of the Israeli Boutique scene in 4 days of touring.

The gentleman who hired us was sitting on furniture that was clearly removed from an old truck as he tasted wines with Gabi. He loved it. When Brut Wine Bar in Tel Aviv had announced that Gabi will conduct a more traditional wine tasting at their establishment in Tel Aviv, I knew we wanted to be there.

The group of 12 tasters consisted of wine lovers,food bloggers and other industry professionals. Because Gabi Sadan is anything but ordinary, the tasting was conducted in a very non traditional manner. We started out with the Shvo Rose which both delicious and unique as it is mostly made with Barbera. We then moved on to 3 French Bourgoin wines that the wine maker chose. Only then did we move back and tasted 3 different vintages of Shvo Chenin Blanc and Shvo Red.

Chenin Blanc is a white variety that does have aging potential. There was a consensus around the table regarding the 2013 and 2011 vintages. They were both beautiful and complemented the food that was served next to it. The 2009 was the first Chenin harvest of this winery and while the wine was very much alive, the table was split in half between those who liked it and those who did not. Gabi said that we were tasting 1 of 2 bottles that he had left over and that he knew that this is a wine not everyone will enjoy.

Shvo Red is a blend of Grenach, Syrah , Barbera and Mourvèdre. All three were terrific, the wine showed it most certainly has aging abilities and I would be happy drinking either of the 3 vintages that we had tasted [09′, 11′, 13′] again.
The evening was hosted by Sommelier Aviram Katz and it was a great time. Thanks Alon for setting this up!

The post An Evening with Wine Maker Gabi Sadan of Shvo Winery appeared first on Israel Wine Tour.

Post Wine Spectator issue covering Israeli Wine

Barak Yitzhaki — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 08:05:48 +0000

Please don’t get me wrong. Alon and I are very proud Israeli wines were featured in the October 2016 issue of the most important wine magazine in the world. We tour boutique wineries all over Israel on a regular basis; as a result we were simply not surprised by what Kim Marcus, Managing Editor of Wine Spectator Magazine had found out. This is the part where we mention that we wrote back in July that Tzora Vineyards remain the Judean Hills’s Best in Show. Tzora, for those who did not see the article placed the most wines over 90 points with Wine Spectator.

wine spector cover

Mony is bigger in production than our usual suspects. The winery is up to 400K bottles a year now and their portfolio is vast. Most wines are produced in both a Mevushal series and a non Mevushal. The winery has been Kosher since 2005.
Mony Winery was founded and is owned by the Artul Family, Shakib Artul from the village of Mghar in Northern Israel, named the winery after his son who passed away from a heart condition. A lot of our guests are surprised to hear that this Kosher Winery is owned by a Christian Arab family.

Mony Winery was founded and is owned by the Artul Family, Shakib Artul from the village of Mghar in Northern Israel, named the winery after his son who passed away from a heart condition. A lot of our guests are surprised to hear that this Kosher Winery is owned by a Christian Arab family.

Sasson Ben Aharon [center] and guests

Sasson Ben Aharon, Head Winemaker of Binyamina Winery for over 10 years assumed the role of Winemaker at Mony in 2014. Sasson in the past has also spent 6 years at the Israeli Wine Institute.

As we toured the facilities with Sasson, he explained that Mony acts as a host winery and that some private labels are being produced there in addition to Mony. He did not name any names. The two labels that we know are produced at Mony include Five Stones and Montefiore.

While I knew the wine is successfully distributed in the U.S by Happy Hearts Wine and is in good demand at Kosher wineries throughout the US, I was surprised to learn the US distributor of the wine is eagerly awaiting the release of the Mevushal version of “Via” which is the higher wine for this winery. There are some high end Kosher Steak Houses in the East Coast awaiting this wine.

Along with Sasson, we tasted a crisp French Colombard, some dry Gewurztraminer and in the reds the wines that stood out were a 2013 Cab Reserve and a 2015 Reserve Mallbec. The reds especially showed good value for money.

The post Post Wine Spectator issue covering Israeli Wine appeared first on Israel Wine Tour.