Decanter Magazine just released the 2017 World Wine Awards. Israeli wines showed improvement from last year with one more wine in the list (40 in all). The number of Silver Medals jumped from one to six and Bronze from nine to fourteen. Golan Heights Winery again received a Platinum Best in Region Award for the Best Red Still Wine
Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Beit El Winery again. I was hosted by Hillel and Nina Manne, winemaker and owners of this estate winery located a half hour north of Jerusalem. Just two weeks ago Jews throughout the world read the weekly Torah portion that describes Jacob’s dream and the ladder he saw
Next week the Israel Museum of Jerusalem will host the 12th consecutive Jerusalem Wine Festival. This is the largest annual public wine event in Israel. Over twenty thousand people are expected to attend the Jerusalem Wine Festival during the four evenings, Monday through Thursday, August 17-20.
Yair Gath and Gal Zohar released The New Israeli Wine Guide last night at the newest branch of the Derech Hayayin chain of wine shops in Tel Aviv. The New Israeli Wine Guide fills the void formed two and half years ago when Daniel Rogov passed away. Daniel Rogov published Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wines
Israeli-American celebrity chef Michael Solomonov and veteran filmmaker Roger Sherman have teamed together to produce a two-hour film special on Israeli Cuisine to be aired on PBS next year. Michale Solomonov is the owner and chef of Philadelphia’s number one restaurant, Zahav www.zahavrestaurant.com. Roger Sherman is an award-wining film producer and cinematographer known for his
Last Thursday after ending a day’s guiding I visited Andre Suidan, owner of perhaps the best wine shop in Israel, Special Reserve in Haifa. While unable to join the weekly wine tastings due to the late hour, I enjoyed conversing with Andre about Israeli wine and winemakers. I asked Andre to recommend some interesting wines
Opening Event of the 15th Annual Matei Yehuda Wine Festival. Held for the first time in Mini Israel, a roomier venue, this evening marks the beginning of a month-long festival where the wineries of Matei Yehuda open their doors to the public. The festivities include a 5k and half-marathon race through vineyards Merutz Hayekevim, mountain
Two years ago Israel’s best-known wine critic Daniel Rogov passed away. In 2005 Rogov, who was Ha’Aretz newspaper’s restaurant and wine critic, wrote his first Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wines. This comprehensive guidebook to Israeli wines was based on Rogov’s tastings of wine at the wineries. By visiting each of the wineries he wrote about,
In 1996 Hillel and Nina Manne settled in the modern community of Beit El.
For Hillel there was nothing more natural to express his connection to the land than planting vineyards on the ancient terraced slopes, full of archaeological remnants from Israel’s ancient wine industry.
Set in the historic Nativ Halamed Hei kibbutz, the Ella Valley Vineyards is one of the leading wineries in Israel