These are some amazing, and close to harvest Cabernet Sauvignon vines at the vineyard of Gvaot Winery at Givat Harel, about 850 meters about sea level.
Finally after about 16 days in Israel, I got to visit 4 wineries (all new to me) in Israel. As this is a big objective of my travel here, and I usually try to get to around 10 and I don't know that I'll get to many more this time, I can definitely say that the quality of these 4 wineries makes up for the quantity.
Unfortunately I didn't take any photos during my delightful midday visit to Zafririm on Tuesday. Winemaker Lori Lender was a most gracious host and her winery is producing about 8,000 bottles a year of some very unique and very local wines. She is sources her grapes from very nearby in the Ela Valley, and starting to plant her own vineyards with the help of her son, who is an agronomist.
I tasted 3 great wines: The Adulam, a Cab-Merlot blend (vintage 2016) which drinks like a lighter red - a sangiovese or a pinot noir, and not the really strong, astringent Cabernet a lot of Israelis are used to. This is a great wine for local food, dairy or meat. Then I tasted an outstanding Zinfandel - there is not a lot of it in Israel, which has a small amount (15%) of Petite Syrah - really enjoyable, really soft tannins and a beautiful color, Finally what Lori considers her flagship, Lavnin, a blend of Syrah, petite Syrah and just a hint (7%) of Cabernet. I really enjoyed our conversation about the market, the region, the climate and the grapes.
On Wednesday Yossi and I continued a tradition of many years and spent a day visiting wineries together. As we tend to share a hyper-geekiness about our passion for Israeli wines, it is a highlight of our time together and a great aspect of our (gulp) 40 year friendship. We try to pick an area where we will both find something new - as Yossi is here and visits wineries on his own, this can sometimes present a challenge. This year we chose to visit the Shomron, the northern part of the West Bank, and three wineries neither one of us had ever visited.
The first of the day (sometimes Waze isn't perfect) was the Gvaot Winery at Givat Harel. Out host, Moshe Veiner, (pictured below) gave us an overview of the winery and the view. The winemaker, Dr. Shivi Drori, is a professor at Ariel University and has been identifying (to date, over 60) indigenous varieties of grapes of which about 20% can be used for wine and also been doing DNA analysis on seeds and stems found at archeological sites in ceramic jars to identify what wines were made in ancient times, and whether it's possible to recreate those varietals.
Most winemakers I've met with say that making white wine is a bit more difficult, and it doesn't command the prices that red wine does, so they mostly decide not to bother. I know the second part is true, even from my own experience. I tend not to pay more than $20 for a white wine, where my budget can occasionally tolerate paying up $35 for an exceptional red. Gvaot is making a lot of white wine and its selling well. We tasted three whites: a very unique blend of two indigenous grapes, Haamdani and Djadali (unique, light in color and taste, but not very complex or flavorful - a bit bland), a blend called Dancing in White (related to the festival of Tu B'Av) of 65% Chardonnay and 35% Gewertzstraminer, the Gofna series Chardonnay-Cabernet blend (if you separate the juice from the skins at crushing, then even Cabernet Sauvignon can be a white wine, but its labor intensive and almost no one does it - it did give a nice structure to the wine) which I preferred the most of the whites. At 100 shekels a bottle (around $28) it would definitely be a splurge purchase, in my opinion.
We then drank 2 reds. Vineyard Dance, a blend of petit verdot, cab and merlot that was very nice and would age nicely for a few years, and a Cabernet Franc varietal, 2017 which was very flavorful, a lot of black plum and sour cherry at first taste, and then kind of a leathery, mineral flavor on the finish. I liked it a lot and for an Israeli red, at 13,5% alcohol, it's an unusually fine combination of flavor and body. It's too young to enjoy fully now. This wine will probably reach its peak around 2022 or 23. I doubt there will be much around then, so you have to buy now and store it properly. I don't think most people buying wine are that patient.
Our next stop was maybe 5 minutes away, across the road to the Shiloh Winery in the industrial zone of the village of Shiloh. In the Tanakh, Shiloh is the tribe of Benjamin's regional religious center, the site of a tabernacle (where Samuel the prophet lived and presided over Israel), I've wanted to visit Shiloh for a long time, because of my love for the Books of Samuel and because the winemaker, Amichai Lourie is such a character. Amichai has a large Facebook presence, he is passionate and exacting (he says obsessive and compulsive, but I can tell you, his attention to detail pays off big time) about his winemaking, and he is so carnivorous that I risk looking like a vegetarian next to him.
Amichai's wines are definitely a cut above; carefully working with his vintners throughout the growing season to make decisions about leaves, shade, cluster size, ripeness; he is very intense. We tried 4 wines: a delightful Chardonnay and 3 of his secret reserve wines: The Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Petite Syrah. All were magnificent. The Cab Franc is likely one of the best of its type in Israel. Shiloh doesn't really encourage visitors or have a tasting room; there focus is on the wine making, so it's not an easy place to get in. We consider ourselves very lucky.
After an ok lunch in Shiloh at a restaurant called Merlot, we headed to Tura. Vered Ben-Sa'adon and her husband Erez started a beautiful winery in the village of Rechelim, about 15 minutes from Shiloh in 2003. Again, this winery features a lot of attention to detail. They're making about 100,000 bottles a year (sort of the upper limit to be considered boutique - Shiloh is making over 200,000 a year). About 40% of the wine from Tura is exported. We were short on time as our host had other responsibilities so we tasted 3 wines.
A very nice, lightly oaked Chardonnay - more oak on the nose than on the palate. It was really nice, round, no real citrus notes. Kind of pricey for a Chardonnay, but a nice wine (I view wine prices through the prism of an educator, so I have my price range and its difficult for me to stretch it much with a clear conscience).
We drank a lovely Cabernet Sauvignon - soft tannins, light on the oak, nice notes of black plum and ripe fruit with some minerality on the finish. We finished with one of my favorite varietals, the Shiraz. It was spicy, not too heavy for and Israeli Shiraz (14% alcohol) and really rich. It sells for around $36-37 which is more than I would typically spend, but its a great wine for a special occasion.
So that was the big trek, through picturesque stoney hills, dotted with small villages, vineyard and farms, herds of goats and really great wine. A really happy Steve was the result.
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