No More Sour Grapes: Israeli Wine Comes of Age

JERUSALEM -- During the traditional Seder meal, which marks the Passover holiday, Jews all over the world drink four cups of wine as they retell the story of the exodus from Egypt. In the U.S. -- and, of course, Jerusalem -- much of this wine will be kosher and from Israel.

For many years, kosher wine from Israel was more similar to cough syrup than to anything you might actually want to drink. Most Israeli wineries produced sweet, sacramental wine for Seder, or the traditional Sabbath meal, which includes a blessing over wine.

That kind of wine is still produced and sold in Israel today. But there are also more than 200 wineries of all sizes producing some 50 million bottles of wine in Israel. Half of all wine purchases in Israel are made for the Passover holiday, which begins Monday night.

What makes a wine kosher? It simply means that an Orthodox Jew supervises all phases of production -- from the crushing of the grapes to the bottling -- to ensure only kosher ingredients are used. Other than that, the sky's the limit.

"We are a relatively small producer of wine and yet we're getting international recognition," said Jonathan Livny, a wine critic who writes for the largest wine blog in Israel. "We're moving away from cabernet and merlot and producing wines from newer clones that might be more suitable to the Israeli climate and where Israel might have its own story to tell."

Livny said Israel is now producing new varietals, like petite syrah, carignan, chenin blanc and zinfandel.

Earlier this month, one of Israel's largest wineries, the Golan Heights Winery, was declared "best winery in the world" at the VinItaly competition. It also won two gold medals -- one for a white dessert wine called Heightswine, which is similar to Canadian ice wine.

"That title may be somewhat of an exaggeration, but it is no exaggeration at all to say that of the 3,700 wines in the competition, the Golan Heights Winery proved to be the very best," Israeli wine critic Daniel Rogov wrote on his blog. "This is the very first time that any Israeli winery has won what might well be considered 'best winery of the show' and that is no small achievement."

The Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon, also from the Golan Heights Winery, was listed in Wine Spectator's 100 best wines of 2010.

The Golan Heights Winery was established in 1983 on the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed. Syria continues to demand its return. The climate of the Golan Heights -- hot summers and cool, rainy winters -- is ideal for growing wine.

Israelis still drink only 6-7 liters per person per year, compared with 36-40 liters per person in Europe. One reason is that 20 percent of Israel's population is Arab Muslim; in accordance with Islamic strictures, most Arab Muslims abstain from drinking alcohol. Many Israelis still do most of their drinking as part of Jewish ritual. Yet things are changing.

Israeli wineries have also begun offering tasting rooms and tours. More than 20 wineries in the Judean Hills surrounding Jerusalem have banded together in a Jerusalem wine route. There are also several wine festivals in Israel in the spring and summer months.

"Israelis have begun traveling all over the world in large numbers and they come back with a feeling that wine is part of the good life," Livny said. "Drinking wine is a sign of normalcy and shows that we're becoming a normal country, thank God."