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

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Visiting Lower Galilee Wineries

Barak Yitzhaki — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 18:38:43 +0000

2020 has been everything except ordinary. Alon and I found ourselves
helping wineries with pruning the vineyards in February only to return to those same vineyards come August for harvest. We both enjoy time in the vineyards and were certainly happy to help our friends, but as he and I are tour guides, this is how we make a living. For the time being, our work has been affected.

Come April 2021, we are widening our portfolio and learning about new boutique producers that are outstanding in their craft. Our day started in Kibbutz Hanita at Jullius craft Distillery where Yuval “Joob” Hargil is using local herbs, botanicals and fruit to distill his award winning spirits. Gin made with 12 wild botanicals picked nearby for example. The view from the distillery is intoxicating as is the 90 proof liquid that we were allowed to stick a finger through which proved to be much fruitier than anticipated.

Jullius Distillery

Steps away from Joob’s production is a unique coffee shop called “Tzintzenet” Hebrew for Mason Jar which specializes in preserving olives and assorted fruit. Our first winery for the day was Kishor which we have previously written about. We tasted several reds and Metzudat Tefen 2017 stood out. An excellent wine.

Stern Winery was next on the agenda. The winery has a beautiful tasting room and is now producing Kosher wines as well as a beautiful port style wine. From Stern we continued to Lotem Organic Winery. The view from their tasting porch is breathtaking. Alon and I especially enjoyed tasting the beautifully aromatic Sauv Blanc and a stainless steel only Semillon. Both were superb.

Tasting Porch at Lotem Organic Winery

Across the street from Lotem, is a Goat and Sheep cheese Dairy called Shirat Roim which is an award winning micro dairy. Producing over a dozen different cheeses. The major surprise for the day was the winery we visited last. Sadot Winery is a small Kosher Estate winery, founded only 11 years ago in the Jezreel Valley . The grapes are coming from a vineyard overlooking the winery. We knew the wine was good because we tasted it previously and even offered it on our wine shipments. We had no idea the view from their tasting porch was breathtaking. Winemaker Eyal Drory of Seahorse Winery and the boutique line of Vermouth Vedetta 52 is the winemaker for this winery. Despite of the warm climate for the Sadot vineyards, the wines we tasted were beautifully acidic and Fresh. We loved the TPS blend . Carignan Marselan, and in the whites the White Grenache and Marsanne was beautiful as well. This winery is a hidden jem, not to be missed.

Sadot Vineyard

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Eyal Drory Archives - Israel Wine Tour

2023 Harvest Updates – Judean Hills

Zafririm

Sphera

Agur

Visiting Lower Galilee Wineries