Alon and I have been touring the Judean Hills with guests from all over the world for 10 years now.
Truth be told, I have only been to the Mony Winery a handful of times in those years. When we were hired by a returning guest who has toured Kosher wineries with us multiple times in the Judean Hills, in the Carmel, Upper Galilee and Golan, The challenge was on to find them Kosher wineries that they have not been to in the area of Bet Shemesh.
120 year old tunnels – dug by the clergy today used for aging wine
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 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.
Sasson Ben Aharon [center] and guests
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.
