Israel is a small country with a wide spectrum of landscapes and geographic diversity, several climatic regions, a mosaic of cultures, religions, foods, colors and flavors, spiced with curiosity. Israeli wines reflect those and offer a combination of high quality and typicity rooted in thousands of years of wine history. Within a maximum of a 10 hour drive across the entire country, you can taste wines from vineyards planted in the desert and in snowy mountains. Receiving high scoring from around the world, wines are produced from indigenous ancient varieties re-discovered, as well as from most of the traditional varieties. Welcome to Israel!

 

Location and Ancient Roots

The State of Israel is located in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, bordering Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Tel-Aviv Jaffa is the undisputed cultural, culinary, technological and business center. 

 

Historically, the region is often described as an important cradle of humanity’s agriculture and the crossroads of trade routes between Africa and Europe, Mesopotamia and Egypt.

 

More important, it is the birthplace of several major religions and the location of a few of their holiest places. Ancient Israel is sometimes called the "Land of The Bible" or the "Promised Land" or the "Land of Milk & Honey", all of which names are rooted in ancient times.

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Start-Up Nation

The lack of natural resources, the critical necessity for survival in the region, all combined with cultural characteristics, have all caused Israel to evolve into a modern technology innovation hub, often called the "Start-Up Nation".

 

Its young high tech industry is energetic, dynamic, with many cutting edge technologies and very innovative. This industry produced multiple successful global companies, leaders in their fields. 

 

Additionally, most global advanced technology leaders have a local presence in Israel and many Israeli companies have been acquired over the last decades by multinational giants.

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Ancient Land of Grapes & Wine

 

Thousands of years ago, before crossing the Jordan River to the Promised Land, Joshua wanted to know if the land is fertile and sent an exploration party. The explorers returned with bunches of grapes and indeed, grapes are named as one of the seven blessed species of the land of Israel.

 

Another indication of the importance of wine in ancient times is found in the earlier story of Noah. Noah is famous because he built an arc, boarded his family and pairs of all animals, thus surviving the Flood brought by God's wrath in the early days of humanity. One of the very first actions of Noah, after leaving the Arc at the end of Flood, was, understandably, to plant a vineyard, produce wine, drink it and fall asleep.

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Israeli Wine Industry

Fast forward to modern times, from some 35 wineries 20 years ago, Israel now boasts approximately 400 wineries, of all sizes, across 6 wine regions. Wineries range from large commercial wineries to small home boutique wineries. 

 

In recent years, Israeli wines have been winning medals in international wine competitions and enjoying a growing international recognition and acclaim. This is not only because of the various micro-climates and soils and the "quality conscious" approach of the wine producers but also because of the inquisitive mindset of many producers. 

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Israeli wine toasting "Le'Haim!" means "To Life!". It is probably the only one verbally toasting and celebrating life. 

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Developing Wine Identity

Israeli culture encourages and nurtures curiosity and innovation. While the term “Start-Up Nation” typically describes Israel’s sophisticated technology arena, the same innovative mindset is reflected in Israel’s young wine industry. There are no regulations governing regional winemaking. Judea Region was the first to receive international recognition and trademark in 2019. Negev and Galilee are in process. 

 

In recent years, Israel's wine industry has been undergoing a fascinating process, searching for identity. Simply said - wine producers are experimenting.

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Traditional Varieties in Various Styles

Unlike many wine areas in the world where only a limited number of varieties can be found, the Israeli wine producers grow approximately 30 varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Barbera, Grenache, Carignan, Riesling, Chardonnay, Viognier, Gewurztraminer, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and more. These are used to make varietal wines and excellent blends. The wine-making style is mostly New World with some Old World influences. Recently, natural wines are also produced.

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The Indigenous Evolution

Using advanced technologies, in recent years, there is an ongoing effort to revive ancient varieties that existed in the region 2,000 – 3,000 years ago and became extinct over the past 1,500 years. These ancient varieties are unique to the region and their DNA was identified and extracted from ancient grape seeds found in archaeological excavations. Historically, quite incredibly, these seeds date back to Biblical times and to the Roman Empire, even before Christ. 

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Using innovating agriculture's technologies, it was possible to re-cultivate ancient varieties and grow vines that are authentic to the region. The producers are exploring the potential of these varieties. Modern wine-producing techniques and styles resulted in some very interesting quality indigenous wines, that can be found only in Israel. 

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These varieties include: Dabouki, Halbani, Sharwishi, Hamdani, Jandali and Marawi (to mention a few whites) and Zeitani, Karkashani, Razaki, Karashi and Baladi (to mention a few reds).

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Just close your eyes and imagine, while drinking wines from the same varieties that were likely enjoyed by the Roman Emperors, imported from Israel in ancient days, and perhaps later by the crusaders in the Middle Ages.

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Around the wineries there are often cheese makers, breweries and olive oil, locally made, perfectly matching the wines. 

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Welcome to Israel!

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