Israeli wine
The modern Israeli wine industry was founded by Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, owner of the Bordeaux estate Château Lafite-Rothschild.
Today, Israeli winemaking takes place in five vine-growing regions: Galil (Galilee, including the Golan Heights), the region most suited for viticulture due to its high elevation, cool breezes, marked day and night temperature changes and rich, well-drained soils; the Judean Hills, surrounding the city of Jerusalem; Shimshon (Samson), located between the Judean Hills and the Coastal Plain; the Negev, a semi-arid desert region, where drip irrigation has made grape growing possible; and the Sharon plain near the Mediterranean coast and just south of Haifa, surrounding the towns of Zichron Ya'akov and Binyamina, which is the largest grape growing area in Israel.
[3] The location of Israel along a historic wine trading route between Mesopotamia and Egypt brought winemaking knowledge and influence to the area.
Wine played a significant role in the religion of the early Israelites with images of grape growing, harvesting and winemaking often being used to illustrate religious ideals.
In 1882, he helped establish Carmel Winery with vineyards and wine production facilities in Rishon LeZion and Zikhron Ya'akov near Haifa.
[6] By the 1990s, Israeli estates such as Golan Heights Winery and Domaine du Castel were winning awards at international wine competitions.
[3] Even though it contains only around one-quarter of the planted acreage as Lebanon, Israel has emerged as a driving force for winemaking in the Eastern Mediterranean, due to its willingness to adopt new technology and its large export market.
[8] Israel has a distinctly Mediterranean climate, with the country located along roughly the same latitude as San Diego and the Mexico – United States border.
[3] The dryness of the growing seasons serves a protective barrier to many grape diseases that thrive in damp weather and allows vineyard managers to control vigor and yields with by irrigation.
[4] The vast majority of Israeli winemaking takes place in the more temperate northern climate: Galilee, Sharon Plain, Samson, Golan Heights, and the Judean foothills in the West Bank.
Marine sediments are found in the loam soils of the coastal plains and at the base of the elevated foothills around Binyamina-Giv'at Ada and Latroun.
The Golan Heights and parts of the Upper and Lower Galilee regions have significant layers of basalt deposits of clay and tuff created by centuries of volcanic activity and lava flows.
Wind blown sediment deposits help create the loess based and alluvial sand soils of the Negev area.
Over the last twenty years, the Israeli wine industry has grown tremendously and today there are around 300 wineries of different sizes in all areas of Israel.
[12] The Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi (985 CE) wrote that, in his day, the best raisins in Palestine came from the species known as ʻAinūnī and Durī, prepared from grapes that grew in Bayt ʻAinūn and Dura, places lying respectively to the northeast and southwest of Hebron.
Emerging varieties that have recently been increasing in popularity include Cabernet Franc, Gewurztraminer, Muscat Canelli, Riesling and Syrah.
[3] A primary concern in Israeli wine production is maintaining acid levels to balance the naturally high sugars that the warm climate of the region produces.
Vineyards at higher elevations, as opposed to the lower coastal plains, have more consistently produced wines with the necessary acid balance.
[17] It was announced in early 2008 that a 150-acre (0.61 km2) wine park would be created on the slopes between Zichron Ya'akov and Binyamina in order to promote tourism in the area and enotourism in Israel in general.
The Cabernet reserve of Flam winery of the Judean Hills, was included in the French La Revue Du Vin France magazine list of 100 outstanding wines.
Galil Mountain winery won two awards in the Citadelles du Vin 2011 competition which was held at the Vinexpo 2011 in France.
[28] Several wines such as the one coming from the "Judean Hills" and the Golan Heights, may actually refer to areas that are Israeli-occupied territories.,[29][30] which is a subject of legal contention abroad.
In a 2011 report drawn up by the Coalition of Women for Peace, the researchers concluded that all major Israeli wineries use grapes harvested from the occupied territories of the Golan Heights and the West Bank.
[32] One of the largest of the West Bank operations is in the area circumscribed by the settlements of Shilo, Eli, Rechlim and Ma'ale Levona, on land owned or claimed by Palestinians.
Following customer complaints and consultation with Sweden's foreign ministry, Systembolaget changed the shelf labelling to read, "Made in Israeli-occupied Syrian territories.
[41] A binding decision was deferred to November 12, 2019,[42] at which date the court confirmed that retailers must specify in their labelling when selling foodstuffs if they come from the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem,[43] and whether they are produced in an Israeli settlement.
[44][45][46] In 2020, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority warned the Christian Zionist organisation "Christenen voor Israël" for selling wines produced in Kiryat Arba (near Hebron) with the designation "Made in an Israeli village in Judea and Samaria", already having been changed from "Made in Israel".
