Tonight will end the year 2021 with celebrations, which will try to make us forget for a few hours the fact that this was the second year of life in the shadow of the Corona plague.
A lot of wine and champagne will be poured tonight, but those who choose to extend the festivities for tomorrow and later in the week, will be able to combine them with winter winery tours and even enjoy a trip with a winter blossom by the side of the road.
Just remember to leave one shift driver or order one.
We focused on the two competing areas for the title of "Israeli Tuscany": the area of Mateh Yehuda and the area of the Nadiv Valley and the Carmel Coast, where many wineries are scattered.
We gave the extra route to the Negev, which in recent years has joined Israel's wine scene in full force, with dozens of wineries and vineyards growing wine grapes of different varieties, using unique growing methods suitable for the unique climatic conditions of the desert.
Hemingway and Fellini
The Mateh Yehuda area attracts many winemakers and wine lovers thanks to its special trout, and in the area you can find dozens of boutique wineries.
Meta Yehuda tourism recommends a tour of three wineries that are a few minutes apart, but despite the geographical proximity they are completely different.
The first is Nevo Winery in Mata, a family and kosher boutique winery established in 2002 by the Nevo and Iris couple, who studied the field and decided to convert the old shelter that housed the family farm into a wine cellar, which later became a winery.
Initially he specialized in red wines from classic varieties such as Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, and over the years began to produce both Rosa and Chardonnay.
The winery complex also has a visitor center that is open by prior arrangement for visits, wine tasting and wine tours.
Price of a tour of the winery and wine tasting: NIS 110 per person.
Coordination by phone: 052-6071866.
Seahorse Winery, Photo: Neil Weissbrod
In the nearby Moshav Bar Giora, you can visit the Seahorse Winery, founded by screenwriter and director Zeev Donia, who began producing wines after directing a documentary about wines in the Land of Israel.
The wines are made from local organic vines in Bar Giora, from the idea of being based on self-produced, as is customary in many wineries around the world.
The grape varieties are also less well-known in the country, such as the Zinfandel variety, and the names of the wines are unusual and are named after artists such as Hemingway, Fellini and Lennon.
Here, too, tours and tastings are arranged in advance by phone: 054-4843495.
The Nadiv Valley and the Carmel Coast
In Binyamina and the Nadiv Valley you can visit some nice boutique wineries.
Reuven Winery is a boutique winery established in 2005 and offers a tour of the visitor center and wine tasting in a rural pavilion, in front of the pastoral view of the vineyard and the Givat Ada hills.
You can have breakfast or a tasting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Muscat wines, which are aged for about two years in barrels.
Coordination by phone: 052-2840823.
Israeli wine in the Nadiv Valley, Photo: Reuven Winery
Right next to it, in the locality of Aviel, is Argov Winery, a home winery where all the grapes used to make the wine are grown.
The place offers tours of the winery that include explanations of the preparation process and tasting of four types of wines, including a blend of Cabernet Merlot and Petit Verdot.
Coordination by phone: 054-6689905.
The trip to these two wineries, combined with a visit to several historical sites, Nahal and Maayan, can also be done through a guided bicycle trip departing from Binyamina.
Reuven Winery in the Nadiv Valley, Photo: Reuven Winery
About 20 minutes drive north of there is the Moshava Bat Shlomo, where the Carmi Bat Shlomo winery is located.
You can walk around the colony, among the ancient houses, visit the synagogue and the Schwartzman Dairy, and take a guided tour of the winery, which also passes through Founders Street and tells the story of the first aliyah, the establishment of the winery and the realization of Baron Rothschild's vision for Hebrew work in the vineyards.
As part of the tour you can taste the winery's wines, including rosé, chardonnay and red blends.
Coordination by phone: 054-2651889.
About a quarter of an hour's drive from Bat Shlomo, near Moshav Kerem Maharal, are the Amphora Winery and an indoor farm. Cheeses, breads and dips.
Coordination by phone: 04-9840702.
If you are already here, you can combine a trip to the nearby Top Kerem Reserve in the Maharal, in a convenient route for a walk intertwined with winter blossoms.
Northern Negev
The Negev region has become a magnet for researchers from all over the world, who come to learn how to grow wine grapes in desert areas.
In addition, the Mirage Foundation has established a wine club for prominent wineries in the area, and it promotes wine tourism in the Negev as an international tourism product.
The tour is recommended to start at the youngest vineyard planted in the Negev in 2020, Kerem Yeruham, where Mediterranean grape varieties grown to the local desert trout are grown.
The winery produces about 25,000 bottles a year.
Pinto Winery and the winery's visitor center are also currently being established in the town.
The vineyard offers private tours and wine tastings.
By appointment by phone: 054-4793880.
You can enjoy the wine you drank on a pleasant walk in the beautiful Lake Yeruham Lake Park, which is about a seven-minute drive from the vineyard, with pedestrian and bicycle promenades, lovely picnic areas, a pier and a beautiful dam that on rainy days becomes a real attraction.
From there you can drive about 20 minutes to the Sde Boker area and Zvi Ramek winery.
This is the first winery established in the area in 1999, and it produces kosher wine, without filtration or shading.
The winery offers tutorials and wine tastings at a price of NIS 50 per person.
If you want to combine a trip even after visiting the winery, you can visit the nearby Ein Avdat National Park.
Zvi Ramak at the winery, Photo: Adi Ramak
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