Israeli wine

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Israeli wines

Israeli wine is produced by hundreds of wineries, ranging in size from small boutique enterprises to large companies producing over ten million bottles per year.

Crusaders
, winemaking was temporarily revived.

The modern Israeli wine industry was founded by Baron

Binyamina, which is the largest grape growing area in Israel.[1]

In 2011, Israeli wine exports totaled over $26.7 million.[2] As of 2012, Israel had 12,355 acres of vineyards.

History

Ancient and Classic era

See also: Ancient Israelite cuisine § Wine, and Alcohol in the Bible
Talmudic period
(100–400 CE)

vine was listed as one of the seven blessed species of fruit found in the land of Israel(Deut. 8:8).[3] The location of Israel along a historic wine trading route between Mesopotamia and Egypt brought winemaking knowledge and influence to the area. Wine played a significant role in the religion of the early Israelites with images of grape growing, harvesting and winemaking often being used to illustrate religious ideals.[4] In Roman times, wine from Israel was exported to Rome with the most sought after wines being vintage, dated with the name of the winemaker inscribed on the amphora
.

Middle Ages

Winemaking, limited under Islamic rule, was temporarily revived in the

Jewish Diaspora extinguished the industry once again.[3]

Modern

Ottoman and British periods

In 1848, a

French grape varieties and technical know how to the region. In 1882, he helped establish Carmel Winery with vineyards and wine production facilities in Rishon LeZion and Zikhron Ya'akov near Haifa. Still in operation today, Carmel is the largest producer of Israeli wine and has been at the forefront of many technical and historical advances in both winemaking and Israeli history.[3]

Zichron Yaakov winery, 1945

One of the first telephones in Israel was installed at Carmel and the country's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, worked in Carmel's cellars in his youth.[5]

After Israeli independence

For most of its history in the modern era, the Israeli wine industry was based predominantly on the production of

Australia, California and France brought modern technology and technical know-how to the growing Israeli wine industry.[3] In 1989, the first boutique winery in Israel, Margalit Winery, was founded.[6] By the 1990s, Israeli estates such as Golan Heights Winery and Domaine du Castel were winning awards at international wine competitions.[3] The 1990s saw a subsequent "boom" in the opening of boutique wineries. By 2000 there 70 wineries in Israel, and by 2005 that numbered jumped to 140.[7]

Today, less than 15% of Israeli wine is produced for

Lebanon, Israel has emerged as a driving force for winemaking in the Eastern Mediterranean, due to its willingness to adopt new technology and its large export market. The country has also seen the emergence of a modern wine culture with upscale restaurants featuring international wines dedicated to an ever-increasing wine-conscious clientele.[8]

Climate and geography

See also: Geography of Israel
Vineyard in the Elah Valley of Israel

Israel has a distinctly

grape diseases that thrive in damp weather and allows vineyard managers to control vigor and yields with by irrigation.[4]

Israel is roughly equal in size to the state of

Mizpe Ramon plateau and at Neot Smadar in the desert north of Eilat.[4] The vast majority of Israeli winemaking takes place in the more temperate northern climate: Galilee, Sharon Plain, Samson, Golan Heights, and the Judean foothills in the West Bank.[3]

Across Israel there is a wide range of

alluvial sand soils of the Negev area.[4]

Israel as a wine region

After many years where in Israel the wine industry was almost non-existent, the past twenty years herald a change in path. In the late eighties there were only a couple of wineries in Israel, making mostly boiled wines for sacramental use. That is part of the reason why wines from Israel are mistakenly considered to be boiled wines and Israel is not yet considered and recognized to be a wine region as many other countries are. Over the last twenty years, the Israeli wine industry has grown tremendously and today there are around 300 wineries of different sizes in all areas of Israel.[1][9][unreliable source?]

Yarden wine from Israel's vineyards on Mount Hermon

Israeli wine is produced in five regions: Galilee (which includes the sub-regions of the Golan Heights, Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee); the Samson region, located between the southern West Bank and the Coastal Plain; the Negev desert region; the West Bank, and the Sharon plain located near the Mediterranean coast and just south of Haifa. As of 2012, Israel has 50,000 dunams of vineyards.[10][unreliable source?] More than 80% of the vineyards planted in Israel are located in the southern West Bank, Samson and Galilee regions.[3]

The Golan contains some of the highest elevated vineyards in Israel, with vineyard planted upwards of 4,000 feet (1,200 metres) from the Sea of Galilee towards Mount Hermon.[8] There are seven Israeli wineries in the Golan Heights that cultivate a total of 1,600 acres (647 ha). These include four boutiques, and Château Golan, Bazelet Hagolan, and the Golan Heights Winery whose Yarden, Gamla, and Golan labels enjoy international renown.[11]

Grape varieties

Cabernet Sauvignon

During centuries of Islamic rule, alcohol production was banned as part of the

crossing Argaman.[3]

A primary concern in Israeli wine production is maintaining

methode champenoise.[4]

Production figures and consumption

As of 2012[update], the Israeli wine industry produced an average of 36 million bottles of wine annually in a variety of styles ranging from red, white,

Binyamina Wine Cellar, Galil Mountain, Tishbi Winery, Tabor, Recanati and Dalton Winery.[10] The industry is fairly concentrated, with 75% of the nationwide production coming from the top 5 producers.[16]

Annual wine consumption among Israelis averages 4.6 liters of wine per person.[17]

Enotourism

It was announced in early 2008 that a 150-acre (0.61 km2) wine park would be created on the slopes between

Binyamina in order to promote tourism in the area and enotourism in Israel in general.[18]

Assessment by wine critics

Bottle of Yatir Forest, 2005

Annually from 2005 to 2012 Daniel Rogov, Israel's leading wine critic and Food & Wine Critic for Haaretz, ranked Israeli wines in his Rogov's Guide to Israeli Wines. In the 2012 edition, Rogov describes, sorts and ranks more than 2500 wines from over 150 Israeli wineries.[19]

Today Israeli wineries receive recognition from the worldwide wine industry as they are highly rated and win the most important wine awards. One of the first accomplishments by an Israeli winery in the global world of wines was made by Domaine du Castel when their white wine was chosen as one of the best new releases in 2001. In 2012, Golan Heights winery received a Wine Star award from Wine Enthusiast magazine.[20] The Golan Heights winery has also won the Gran Vinitaly Special Award as the best wine producer title in Vinitaly competition of 2011.

The wine advocate

Robert Parker has been rating Israel's wines for more than five years now,[21]
when many Israeli wines received a score of more than 90. Yatir Forest wine by Yatir winery scored above 90 points for seven consecutive vintages, the same was achieved by Domaine du Castel's Grand Vin wine. The Cabernet reserve of Flam winery of the Judean Hills, was included in the French La Revue Du Vin France magazine list of 100 outstanding wines.

Galil Mountain winery won two awards in the Citadelles du Vin 2011 competition which was held at the Vinexpo 2011 in France. In Hugh Johnson's wine pocket book, written by the British important wine critic, Domaine du Castel winery received the full 4 stars and Yatir winery 3-4 stars,[22] the highest rating available, since 2008. Hugh Johnson has also selected Domaine du Castel's Grand Vin wine to be one of his personal 200 favorite wines from all around the world.

Israel's reds, whites and rosés also have been praised by

Yatir Winery, in his Pocket Wine Book 2010. Kim Marcus, managing editor of Wine Spectator magazine, was not impressed by Israel's wineries in the 1990s, but in 2008, he wrote that quality had improved immensely, especially the red wines.[24]

Manufacturers by certification

Kosher wine

Main article: Kosher wine

To be considered kosher, a wine may only be handled by observant Jews from the time the grapes are crushed. If, however, the wine is boiled or pasteurized, it may subsequently be handled by anyone without losing its kosher status.[25] Additionally, kosher wine cannot contain any non-kosher ingredients or fining agents such as isinglass, gelatin or casein.[26] Although not all Israeli wine is kosher, virtually all of the large producers in Israel have kosher certification.

Arab Christian wine manufacturers (non-Kosher)

There are at least two

Israeli Arab wine producers, both Christians. They run respectively the Ashkar winery near the border with Lebanon and the Jascala winery. The winery in Kafr Yasif is run by descendants of the Christian villagers of Iqrit. The Jascala winery is based in Jish. The wine is non-kosher and the producers cater both to Arab restaurants in places like Nazareth, Haifa, Ramallah, Jerusalem and Acre, and to non-Kosher restaurants in Tel Aviv. The Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi is reputedly one of their clients.[27]

Export problems

Several wines such as the one coming from the "Judean Hills" and the Golan Heights, may actually refer to areas that are Israeli-occupied territories.,[28][29] which is a subject of legal contention abroad.

In a 2011 report drawn up by the

Susya.[33]

In November 2015 the European Union determined that settlement products could not use the label "Made in Israel".[34] In July 2019 the Federal Court of Canada, following up on a complaint of false labelling made by David Kattenberg, a son of Holocaust survivors,[35] ruled that characterizing wines produced in Israeli settlements as 'Israeli' was "false, misleading and deceptive."[34] Kattenberg's original complaint had been accepted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), only to be overruled within hours, with the CFIA affirming that the Canada–Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) overrode domestic consumer protection laws.[35]

The Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since the

Member of Parliament. Systembolaget's solution was to simply remove all reference to the product's country of origin on shelves and in catalogues, classifying the wine as of "other origins."[37][38]
The actual bottles remained unchanged throughout the controversy, and carried the producer's English-language labels.

On 12 February 2013, Der Spiegel reported that Israel falsely labels products from Golan as "made in Israel", mentioning wine as one example.[39]

In June 2019 the Advocate general of the European Court of Justice set forth his advisory legal opinion that a decision made by a French court in 2018, which waived the requirement to identify the origin of Israeli wines in the West Bank, was invalid.[40] A binding decision was deferred to November 12, 2019,[41] at which date the court confirmed that retailers must specify in their labelling when selling foodstuffs if they come from the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem,[42] and whether they are produced in an Israeli settlement.[43][44][45]

In 2020, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority warned the Christian Zionist organisation "Christenen voor Israël" for selling wines produced in Kiryat Arba (near Hebron) with the designation "Made in an Israeli village in Judea and Samaria", already having been changed from "Made in Israel".[46]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Miquel Hudin (2014), An introduction to Israeli wine, Hudin.com
  2. ^ a b "Wine exports up 5.5% in 2011". Ynet. February 24, 2012.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-19-860990-6
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-3-8331-4611-4
  5. ^ a b c Marcus, K. (September 30, 1998). "Israel Awakens". Wine Spectator.
  6. ^ a b K. Marcus "Israel's Moment In the Sun Archived 2008-11-17 at the Wayback Machine" Wine Spectator, June 30, 2008
  7. ISBN 0-7566-1324-8
  8. ^
    ISBN 1-84000-332-4
  9. ^ "The revolution transforming Israel's wine industry - Dec 2010". Archived from the original on 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
  10. ^ a b c "Wines of Israel". Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute. 2012.
  11. ^ Howard G Goldberg (June 11, 2007). "Future Once Again in Question for Golan Heights Wineries". Retrieved 2009-11-13.
  12. ^ Adam Montefiore, Israel's Grape Varieties, (History) 2013. Grapes were eaten fresh, as also their leaves used in cooking rice; some would make raisins from the grape, while others made "dibs", a treacle prepared by boiling down fruit syrup, usually from dates or raisins.
  13. ^ Mukaddasi, Description of Syria, Including Palestine, ed. Guy Le Strange, London 1886, p. 69
  14. ^ Cf. Gabay, Elizabeth (December 2015). "Rediscovering Forgotten Grapes". Eastern Med. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  15. ^ Adam Montefiore, Israel's Grape Varieties, (History) 2013
  16. ^ עמית, יריב (February 29, 2012). חצי הכוס הריקה. calcalist (in Hebrew).
  17. ^ Ahren, Raphael (August 19, 2011). "My Israel Wine Tours: Drinking and driving - the acceptable way".
  18. ^ "Israel seeks to become wine tourism destination". Globes. 2008-01-17. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  19. ^ "The Ultimate Rogov's Guide". Toby Press. Archived from the original on 2011-02-03.
  20. ^ "Announcing Wine Enthusiast's 2012 Wine Star Award Winners - Wine Enthusiast Magazine - Web 2012". Winemag.com. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  21. ^ Woodard, Richard (2008-01-03). "Parker heaps praise and points on Israel". decanter.com. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  22. ^ "Hugh Johnson on Israeli Wine". Wines-israel.co.il. 2011-08-16. Archived from the original on 2011-09-09. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  23. ^ Blackburn, Nicky (January 3, 2008). "Israel's wine industry gets international recognition from US critic". Israel 21c Innovation News Service. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  24. ^ Toasting Israel's Vineyards
  25. ^ Rabinowitz, Nahum. "Dear Rabbi, How Do You Make Kosher Wine?". Orthodox Union Kosher. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05.
  26. ^ Haruni, Alex. "Kosher Wine, what's that all about?". Dalton Winery. Archived from the original on 2009-07-02.
  27. ^ Miriam Berger, 'Arab wineries in Israel tell of the Palestinian struggle in each glass,' The Guardian, 4 October 2019
  28. ^ Forbidden Fruit: The Israeli Wine Industry and the Occupation Who Profits? April 2011 pp.22-24.
  29. ^ Ronit Vered, 'An Israeli Winery Guide, With Undertones of Occupation,' Haaretz 16 May 2021
  30. ^ Forbidden Fruit: The Israeli Wine Industry and the Occupation Who Profits? April 2011 p.5.
  31. ^ Forbidden Fruit: The Israeli Wine Industry and the Occupation Who Profits? April 2011 p.10
  32. ^ Forbidden Fruit: The Israeli Wine Industry and the Occupation Who Profits? April 2011 p.14
  33. ^ Forbidden Fruit: The Israeli Wine Industry and the Occupation Who Profits?, April 2011 pp.27-28
  34. ^ a b Raphael Ahren, "Settlement wines cannot be labeled ‘Made in Israel," Canadian court rules,' The Times of Israel 29 July 2019
  35. ^ a b Dalia Hatuqa, "Canadian sues over wines labelled 'Product of Israel'," Al-Jazeera 31 October 2017
  36. ^ Oliver Styles (June 8, 2006). "Sweden ignites Israeli wine row". Retrieved 2009-11-13.
  37. ^ "Sells Wine from Occupied Area". September 21, 2008. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
  38. ^ "Row over Golan Heights wine". The Local. June 5, 2006. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  39. ^ "EU to use legal loophole to ban settlement goods - Israel News, Ynetnews". Ynetnews. Ynetnews.com. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  40. ^ Noa Landau, 'France Should Label Israeli Wine From Settlements, EU Advocate General Says,' Haaretz, 13 June 2019.
  41. ^ Raphael Ahren, "Israel frets as imminent EU ruling expected to force settlement labeling," The Times of Israel, 30 October 2019
  42. ^ 'Israeli settlement products must be labeled as such, EU's top court rules,' Deutsche Welle 12 November 2019.
  43. ^ Jon Stone, Bel Trew, 'Products from illegal Israeli settlements must be labelled, EU’s highest court rules,' The Independent, 12 November 2019
  44. ^ Associated Press, 'Products from Israeli settlements must be labelled, EU court rules,' The Guardian12 November 2019.
  45. ^ DPA, Noa Landau, 'EU States Must Label Products From Israeli Settlements, Top Court Says,' Haaretz 12 November 2019.
  46. ^ "Kamervragen over dreigende NVWA-boete voor Israël Producten Centrum". CIDI (in Dutch). 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2020-09-27.

Further reading

External links
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