Israel Hayom..
08 August '13..
The dramatic growth in size and quality of Israel's wine industry over the past 25 years is an exciting story. There are simply fantastic wines being produced in Israel and they consistently win international awards. If you have not yet done so, make a run tonight to the Israel Museum Wine Festival in Jerusalem, where you can taste the spectacular wares of 60 quality local wineries.
Unfortunately, European Union Foreign Affairs Commissioner Catherine Ashton and her acrid colleagues are going to miss out on many good glasses of Israeli wine. Many of the grapes come from beyond the EU-sanctified "Green Line," and for the EU this makes them forbidden and boycotted "settlement goods."
Ashton and company, I say, simply have a bad case of sour grapes.
Perhaps it bothers the EU that there are Biblical echoes resonating in every glass of good Israeli wine. The spies that Moses sent to scout the Land of Israel returned with miraculously giant grapes. Ezekiel prophesied, "But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they will soon come" (Ezekiel 36:8). And in the heyday of King Solomon's rule, we are told that "Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba" (Kings I 5:5).
Indeed, archaeologists have found hundreds of ancient wine presses and wine storage amphorae from the First and Second Temple periods. Wine played a central role in Temple libations and celebrations. Sadly, the Muslim conquerors of the Holy Land in the seventh century literally ripped all grape vines out of the ground and put an end to wine production for hundreds of years.
So it is no surprise that the Jewish People's return to Israel in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries involved the reintroduction of vineyards and quality winemaking. Six thousand hectares (roughly 15,000 acres) of land is currently being cultivated as vineyards, mainly in the Galilee and Judean mountains, but also prominently in the Golan Heights and the Shomron (Samaria). The Land of Israel is coming alive and giving forth fruit to its indigenous people after 2,000 years of desolation and neglect!
Taste, for example, the deliciously crisp 2012 Sauvignon Blanc produced by Teperberg 1870 Winery from grapes grown in the Shomron mountains, near Shiloh. Or Teperberg's intense and well-balanced 2010 Reserve Shiraz from the same Shiloh vineyard. Of course, these wines are off-limits for Catherine Ashton. Too bad for her.
Try the Golan Heights Winery's brand new, ripe 2010 Yarden Malbec, or the 2007 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon from the extraordinary Yonatan vineyard in the central Golan Heights. Just do not invite any EU officials for dinner when you are pouring these golden wines.
Grab as many bottles as you can of the Psagot Winery's 2008 Edom (a Bordeaux blend) from the Judean hills north of Jerusalem. Or buy the Tanya Winery's round and fruity 2009 Halel Merlot, grown 900 meters above sea level in the mountains near Ofra. Ditto for the excellent Gvaot and Shiloh wineries, which straddle either side of Road 60 in the Samarian highlands.
Drink only with good Zionists, and those people who understand the deep connection of the Jewish people to all parts of the Land of Israel. Pour nothing for mordant EU officials.
If you have to share your Israeli wines with indignant foreigners who insist that Judea and Samaria must be handed over to the Palestinians, you will just have to pour wine from the (Hezbollah-coveted) Upper Galilee, an area which is not (yet) under European boycott.
Try the Benhaim Winery 2009 Grande Reserve Cabernet from the vineyards of Meron, or the Lueria Winery Grand Vital (a Bordeaux blend) from its Safsufa vineyards. You can't go wrong with the Galilee Mountain Winery's always-superb Yiron blend (currently pouring the 2009 vintage), which is from Kibbutz Yiron that sits just below a Hezbollah outpost right up on our northern border.
Veteran French winemaker Pierre Miodownick immigrated to Israel four years ago, and his Domaine Netofa Winery in the Lower Galilee is already producing unique blends using varietals like Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional and Roussanne, which are native to Spain, Portugal and France's Rhone Valley. Pierre argues that these grapes are meteorologically much more suited to Israel’s Mediterranean climate than the classic Bordeaux or Burgundy varietals.
Try his fresh 2012 Chenin Blanc, or his brilliant 2011 Latour Netofa blend of Syrah and Mourvedre (deep, full-bodied and mouth-filling with a nose of red plums and chocolate). And for dessert, Domaine Netofa's Portuguese-true Fine Ruby Port (made from Touriga and Tinta Roriz grapes grown near Mount Tabor) is perfect.
For a real taste of Israeli innovation in winemaking, offer guests from abroad (yes, including those disagreeable Europeans, if you have to) a sip of Carmel Winery's "Mediterranean," a creative blend of Carignan, Shiraz, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah and Viognier, from vineyards from all over Israel including the Upper Galilee, Coastal Plain, Judean Hills and the Negev. The very finest wine of the Negev is of course the Yatir Forest, which received the incredible score of 93 in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate magazine -- the leading global wine publication.
Pour some biblically-evocative, Zionist, kosher wine this weekend, and drink it whole-heartedly both in celebration of Israel's resurgence and in defiance of European criticism.
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=5297
Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.
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