Israel

Wines From Israel, an Introduction to an Ancient Tradition

I still remember my first bottle of wine from Israel like it was yesterday. It was a wine from Golan Heights Winery and a present from friends who visited Israel. So in a way, yes, I acknowledged the fact that Israelis do make wine, but thought it to be a relatively new development and didn't expect to find more than one or two wines from Israel on the market. It was only much later that we discovered just how many different wine making areas there were in Israel and how far back the tradition goes. In short, we thankfully educated ourselves, for this country produces some of the best wines we have ever tried. The following is our attempt at passing on our bit of knowledge which we learned by attending a seminar on Israeli wines.

When did winemaking start in Israel?

Israel is a great place for archaeologists and historians. Wine making equipment has been found at several archaeological sites and dates back to thousands of years. The oldest Israeli wine press found to this day is 6500 years old. In ancient times, wine was sometimes diluted with water and drunk that way. Wine plays an important role in Judaism too, in the Bible the consumption of alcohol is sometimes commanded for religious rituals. For instance, during the sacred weekly Shabbat ritual, wine is blessed and thus sanctified by performing the Kiddush ceremony. During this ceremony, a ritual kiddish cup is filled to the rim with kosher wine or grape juice and drunk.

Modern winemaking

Some people associate Israeli wines with sweet, heavy wines used for religious purposes. This might have been the case up to the eighties, but modern Israeli wines are very different. Thanks to a modern approach and technological improvements, a wine revolution took place then. Golan Heights Winery, the wine I mentioned earlier, was founded in 1983. In 1882 already, Baron Rothschild founded Carmel, the first winery documented in modern times was founded by a rabbi in 1848. Despite the warm climate, Isreali wines are spicy and not sweet. Flattering and marmalade notes which are typical of warmer-climate regions do not describe Israeli wines. This is due to the fact that the best vineyards are located in the mountains at altitudes higher than 800 metres. All in all, the cool mountain air, quality grape varietals and the focus on quality instead of quantity resulted in the production of high-quality wines. In the whole of Israel, only 5000 hectares is designated to winemaking. There are more than 200 wineries in Israel of which 35 are commercial wineries. The majority are boutique- and garagistes wineries.

Soil and Climate

Israel is a country the size of New Jersey, Wales or the federal state of Hessen in Germany. Depending on the winemaking area, the climate and soil differs. Wine is cultivated in the north, the centre and in the south of the country.

The centre has the biggest variety of different vineyards as well as terroir. Jerusalem lies in the heart of this region, which predestinated it for the production of the sweet, lower-quality wines earlier mentioned and which typically get used for religous purposes. The potential for making high-quality wines in this part of Israel is high though, for example in the mountains of Jerusalem.

The terroir in the north is excellent for cultivating high-quality wines, not only due to the cool climate but also due to the terroir. It is rich in iron and limey.

In the south lies the Negev desert at 300 metres in altitude. It is still a relatively new wine region. At night cool air sweeps through the desert, cooling off the earth and enabling the vines to regain their strength. Artificial irregation is used as water is very scares in this region. The heat has the advantage that fungi doesn't pose a problem to the vines. Some of the most individualistic wines come from this region.

The vineyards in all these regions make up a combined total of 5000 hectares with an average harvest of about 45 000 tonnes of grapes.

Let's take a look at the different regions:

The North

(The Golan Heights, Upper- and Lower Galilee, Carmel)

The terrain in this region is mostly rocky and mountainous with high rainfall and relatively low temperatures. Soils are mostly volcanic, gravelly, heavy and well-drained.¹

The Centre

( The Judean Plains, Jerusalem Mountains, Judean Mountains)

The coastal plains lie at 100 - 200 metres above sea level, the Jerusalem Mountains at 300 - 700 metres and the Judean Mountains at 500 - 900 metres in altitude, so depending on where you are, the climate is going to be different. Up in the Judean Mountains, winters are cold with snow falls, in summer the days are warm and the nights cool. Temperatures in the Judean Plains are mild. Similar to the Judean Mountains, summer evenings in the Jerusalem Mountains are cool and the days warm. Soils in the centre can be limey, loamy or red clay and stoney.

The South

(The Negev)

The Negev is a very dry, arid area and comprises almost half of Israel's land area. Vineyards are planted in the Negev Hills which are situated at 600 metres above sea level. Due to this, temperatures vary greatly from night to day. The soils are loamy and sandy. It gets very hot in summer.Advanced computer-regulated drip irrigation systems makes wine growing possible on these dry yet fertile soils.