Young Old Wine Culture

The evolution of Israel’s wine industry

by Chandra Kurt

Old World or New World? That is the question. In the geographic region of Israel, wine has been cultivated for more than 5,000 years. But it has only been recent developments, with new and young winemakers producing wines of exceptional quality, that are finally getting attention and garnering international appreciation.

Israel is a hot topic - mostly because of politics and not because of wine. This is surely one of the reasons why the wines of Israel are hardly known outside its borders. It would be wrong to think it's because of their quality, since all over the country, one can find exquisite boutique wineries with modern cellars and wine producers that have travelled all over and tasted the big wines of the world. This kind of knowledge and experience is one of the most important requirements for modern wine production. Technique by itself is not enough. "One must know the big wines of the world," explains Daniel Rogov, Israel's most important and influential wine critic.

The history of wine in Israel is as old as the history of its inhabitants. It was 5,000 years ago that wine was cultivated in this area. One of the first mentions of wine in the Bible is in a reference to Noah, who is said to have planted the first vineyard. Today, Israel owns five important cultivation areas (Galilee, Shomron, Samson, Judean Hills and the Negev), which produce 36 million litres of table wine per annually - with estimates that this amount is increasing by five to 10 per cent yearly.

Accurate data about the local wine industry is difficult to come by, due to lack of coordination between the Israeli Wine Institute, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Export Institute and the Grape Grower's Association. "When wineries submit their production and export figures, for example, they make no distinction between table wines, sacramental wines, grape juice and even brandy and liqueurs," Rogov points out, concerned.

Today, 80 per cent of what goes into bottles are dry red and white wines. A decade ago, it was the other way around and 80 per cent of wines produced were sweet. In 1995, 70 per cent of the country's production where white wines. Today, winegrowers are working with internationally known grapes that can satisfy international tastes. Cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot, zinfandel, syrah, pinot noir, nebbiolo and tempranillo are the most common grapes being used. The white varieties are just as famous.
It's interesting that nobody is really searching for original varieties that
would give the country a unique identity - like, for example, the way malbec has done for Argentina, or zinfandel for California. The Israeli wine producers plant what modern wine lovers drink. One could criticize this, but the result is that the wines are rather good and getting better with every vintage. Generally speaking, the wines can absolutely compete with the wines of the New World, sometimes even surpassing them. Still, wine lovers would surely be as happy to discover "new" wines from unknown grapes than to taste a perfect syrah or a complex cabernet sauvignon.

One region seems to be the hot spot for boutique wineries - the Jerusalem Mountains. This area, located around the city of Jerusalem, is also called the Judean Hills. It offers a variety of soil conditions and a cool Mediterranean climate, due to its relatively high altitude. For many years, the region served as home to wineries that specialized in sweet sacramental wines, but about 10 years ago, it became clear that this area would be excellent for raising noble varieties. Sophisticated vineyards have been planted, with the result that today, 25 wineries are producing their wines here.

Three of the most interesting wineries here are Domaine du Castel, Clos de Gat and Flam. They are each unique from each other in their presentation, their philosophy and, naturally, in their wines. 

Domaine du Castel is the queen among Israel's wineries. It was the first premium winery that made presentations and promotions outside the country. In terms of marketing and promotions, Domaine Castel did for Israel what Château Musar did for Lebanon. Flam, on the other hand, is a small family-run winery. Today, brothers Golan and Gilad Flam are in charge - one makes the wines, and the other works in the vineyards. It is reminiscent of the kind of small winery that can be easily found in Piedmont, in the north of Italy. Clos de Gat is the real global player; the wine maker here studied in Australia, the labelling of the bottles looks likes the classics from California, and the Bordeaux house Maison Sichel is in charge of the global distribution.
All three wineries produce a different collection of wines but each fill around
70,000 to 100,000 bottles a year. Domaine Castel follows the Bordeaux principal with a Grand Vin, a Second Vin called Petit Castel and a pure chardonnay called "C."

Clos de Gat bottles 13 different wines that are distributed at three different quality levels. The basic wines are called Har'el; the domaine wines carry the name Clos de Gat; and, since 2003, a premium range was launched under the name Sycra. The Sycra wines are only produced in very good years. Wild yeast and 24 month barrel-aging give the Sycra wines their character. All of the Clos de Gat wines are very reliably aromatic. They are solid with a clean, fresh and crisp fruit expression and their tannin structure is very elegant and can be compared with wines coming from California. Very impressive is the Clos de Gat Chardonnay, either the 2005 or the 2006 vintage, with a style that goes in a similar direction as the chardonnays of Kistler.

A more Italian-style can be tasted in the wines from Flam. So far, five different wines are being produced, but more are planned for the future. There is a Flam Classico (a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot), a Flam Superiore (syrah and cabernet sauvignon) and two reserve wines: a merlot and a cabernet sauvignon. Golam Flam spent many years studying at the Carpineto winery in Tuscany, before he took over the family business. "I worked in Tuscany when the revolution with the Super Tuscan wines happened. I am convinced that we have here [in Israel] the terroir to produce very similar wines. We are still at the beginning, but with time, experience and fine-tuning, will show its results", Golam explains, convinced and passionate.

Eli Ben Zaken, winemaker at Domaine Castel, is already at the peak of his success. He was one of the first Israeli winegrowers to enter his Grand Vin in many international wine competitions - often resulting in a medal win. "It's not easy to produce wine here. Our terroir is filtered with so many prejudices. Nevertheless, it would be very sad if politics would stand like a thick curtain in front of our slowly growing wine culture. To boycott our wines will not help to solve the [political or geographic] conflict," Eli says, very concerned. Wine should only be judged on its quality, and not on regional politics. And the quality of Israel's wines has never been more interesting that now.

 For a list of some Israeli wines to try which are available in Canada, click here

• Delicious
• Digg
• Reddit
• Facebook