David Ben-Gurion aspired to see the Negev flourish, but it is doubtful whether even he fantasized that the day would come when terms such as "terroir," "astringent," "bokeh" and "varietal flavor" would take over the southern desert. The vast area, which occupies about 60% of Israel's territory, has been shaking off its dry, arid image over the past two decades, replacing the problem of high temperatures and lack of precipitation with a completely different kind of lifestyle dilemma: what wine to sip from the many vineyards that grow here.
You read that right. Against all odds, the Negev has become an outstanding area for growing vineyards. Wine experts and renowned agronomists are already crowning it one of the most promising and desirable wine regions in the country, and wine lovers from around the world are curious to know what it will soon bring to the decanter on their table.
Vineyards were planted in the Negev as early as 3,000 years ago, as well as during the Roman and Byzantine periods. And even today, just like then, vine growers in the region face the challenges of the desert: the heat prevailing during the day, the loess soil rich in salt but poor in nutrients, and the radiation strongly reflected off the light soil. On the other hand, there are also advantages here: the dry air, the sharp temperature differences between day and night, and the cold provided by the desert night - all these are considered good for wine grapes, and according to experts, they are what give the unique fingerprint to the local produce.
Until now, only the names of a few wineries and vineyards from the region were considered familiar to the general public, including the veteran Desert Winery, Nana Winery, Galai Winery and the Pinto family's well-publicized "Kerem Yeruham" project, but now there are no less than 28 wineries operating in the Negev, 20 vineyards planted, and it seems that the desert wine industry is about to become even more eager – thanks to more and more people who dream of wine.
Wines produced in the Negev. "We believe in this location", photo: Rafael Ben-Ari
Take for example the Ramat Negev Winery, owned by Alon Zadok (69) from Moshav Kadesh Barnea (Nitzanei Sinai). A winery that was one of the pioneers of the wine industry in the Negev, and today produces about 350,<> bottles per vintage year.
In 1977, Zadok and his wife Nira settled in the biblical Kadesh Barnea in the Sinai Peninsula. When the place was evacuated, as part of the peace treaty with Egypt, they moved to Nitzana, where Zadok worked as a public figure in the development of settlements in the Ramat Negev Council, including Kadesh Barnea, Truffles and Be'er Milka. In 1995, he decided to convert and plant his first vineyard on the Egyptian border. He established Ramat Hanegev Winery in 2000.
Kerem Ramat Negev,
Like any pioneer, you came up with a slightly crazy idea - to plant a vineyard in the desert sands.
"I've always been a wine lover. When I was a child, in Moshav Geulim in the Sharon, my father used to make wine at home. It's true that almost no vines were planted in the Negev before my vineyard was established, but when you live in the Negev, know the weather and research what the vine needs, you discover that the area is suitable."
Didn't they try to dissuade you, to warn that there is no point and that your investment may go down the drain?
"I consulted with agronomists, I asked, but consultants by nature are not unequivocal. I come from a family of farmers and I believed in it. At that time, some vine planting also began in Sde Boker, but it was clear to me that I was not planting my vineyards as a hobby, but in order to produce wine myself, on a significant scale and wide distribution - like any other commercial winery in Israel. There won't be a winery that hides in a corner and sells only to visitors who come to it."
At first, he planted the classic varieties – Cabernet, Merlot, Shiraz and Petit Verdot – and incorporated a small amount of a few less popular varieties, in order to test their absorption in the local terroir (the professional name for soil and environmental conditions for agricultural growth). "The first vine planting was on only 10 dunams. Six years later, we already had 50 dunams planted, and today we cultivate about 160 dunams of vineyards. We also receive grapes from other vineyards in the Negev, from Mitzpe Ramon and Sde Boker, on the order of another 200 dunams."
In the years that passed between planting and the first harvest, Zadok studied winemaking ("I took a wine tasting and evaluation course with Yair Hajdu. My wife bought me as a 40th birthday present"). Later he studied wine production at Sorek Winery for two years, studied wine chemistry for advanced students at the Standards Institution of Israel and specialized for another year at the Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot.
Alon Zadok, Ramat Negev Winery: "Before planting the vines, I consulted with agronomists. I come from a family of farmers, and I believed it. Because of the distance from the center of the country, we buy double everything, so if something breaks down, God forbid, during the harvest, we will have backup."
At first he made the wine himself, until his eldest son Yogev joined him in 2009, and the winery slowly became a family business. "Yogev studied vine and wine sciences in Florence, Italy, and when he returned to Israel I gave him the keys to the winery. He has been winemaker ever since. My second son, Gilad, is in charge of marketing and sales. Ever since the boys got into the business, I've been responsible for the hard stuff – drinking wine and entertaining people. My wife Nira manages the entire operation and moves us all properly."
They say that making wine is the easier step, and that the real difficulty is selling it.
"Today, making wine isn't that easy either, and certainly not cheap. You need by your side a real professional who understands, as well as serious and quality equipment. With us, because of the distance from the center of the country, we buy double everything, so that if something breaks down, God forbid, during the harvest - we will have immediate backup. Selling is indeed complex, and Gilad runs around every corner of the country to market our wine. We also export quite a bit abroad. I want to bring the gospel of Negev wine to everyone."
What will be the future of the Negev in 20 years, say?
"I'm convinced that it's only a matter of time before many more vineyards are planted here, and I'm waiting for someone to come and really establish a significant commercial winery. This will increase awareness of the wine potential here, and perhaps more will follow."
Experiments with university
Those who go even further on Highway 40, just after Bahad 1, will encounter a spectacular sight this time of year. In the middle of the desert yellow bursts an Instagrammable, greenish, fresh and enormous carpet of wine vineyards. These are hundreds of dunams that are mostly cultivated by the Kerem Ramon Cooperative Agricultural Association. The operation is overseen by winegrower Neria Ziv (37) from Mitzpe Ramon.
"In 2010 we planted the first dunams in Mitzpe Ramon, and today, thank God, we already have 450 dunams of income-producing vineyard, with plans for an upcoming planting of another 150 dunams," explains Ziv. "We grow Gewürztraminer, Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, Malbec, Shiraz, Chenin Blanc, Petit Verdot, and more."
Neria Ziv, Kerem Ramon. "Wine is being prepared from experimental departments", photo: Joshua Yosef
Before entering the wine industry, Ziv studied at the high Zionist yeshiva "Medbra Ka'Eden" in Mitzpe Ramon, and at the end of his military service as a soldier in the Kfir Brigade, he was added to the founding team of the vineyards. "At first, we were accompanied by Eran Raz, who planted here about two years before us and established Nana Winery, and we also consult regularly with vineyard expert Dr. Eran Harkabi. In order to understand more, I specialized in viticulture studies as part of courses run by the Ministry of Agriculture, but most of all you learn from the work itself, in the field."
What can we learn, for example?
"This is a relatively new area for this type of planting, so we are constantly studying it in depth, conducting a lot of experiments in the vineyards. We dedicated a plot of four dunams to research and planted about 30 different grape varieties, and since 2015 we have been preparing experimental wine from the grapes of this plot, in cooperation with Ariel University's research winery. This allows us to know which varieties develop better here, to adapt irrigation and fertilizer regimes to each variety, and to understand who yields higher quality wine and which varieties are better left to other parts of the country."
Winegrower Neria Ziv, Mitzpe Ramon: "We study the area in depth, conduct a lot of experiments in the vineyards. This allows us to know which varieties develop better here, to adapt irrigation and fertilizer regimes to each variety, and to understand who yields higher quality wine and which varieties are better left to others."
The Kerem Ramon Cooperative Agricultural Society is joined by 14 young families who decided a decade and a half ago to make the Negev bloom. The spirit behind the establishment of the association and its director to this day is Shmuel Coca (48) from Mitzpe Ramon, who is considered a humble and respected man of action.
"In 2007, I took over the Mitzpe Ramon Yeshiva, where I was educated myself," explains Kuka. "The trend of the yeshiva since its establishment has been to push its graduates to participate in national missions, including the establishment of Torah nuclei that will strengthen the connection to the Land of Israel and the people of Israel in the periphery. For some reason, there was no plan for Mitzpe Ramon, because frankly, this community has never gained much trust from potential entrepreneurs and stakeholders.
"We held meetings between the families and agreed that it would be a privilege to settle the Negev in a place that contains the diversity of the people. A group formed, and my wife and I even sold a small apartment we had in Jerusalem and purchased land for construction in Mitzpe Ramon. All around us we were treated like crazy. We soon established cultural, educational, and employment committees, and at exactly the same time a call came out from the Ministry of Agriculture to establish agricultural branches in the area.
"None of us was a farmer by profession, but we agreed that this was a move that would connect us to the place, to the land, and also enable employment and a dignified livelihood. We turned to professional guidance and began the process with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Israel Land Authority (ILA)."
Setting up a vineyard is not a cheap business. Where did you get the initial funding? All in all, you were a few idealistic young families.
"We really didn't understand what we were going for, we were naïve. We thought that each of us would put in 20,600 shekels, turn to aid funds, take maybe some loans and get by. We had no idea that building a vineyard on an area of 10 dunams required an investment of <> million shekels. In practice, the banks refused to fund plantings, but heaven took care of us. At the Bar Mitzvah celebration of my brother-in-law's son, the late Rabbi Ehud Barzilai, one of the guests was a businessman. He heard about our initiative and decided to connect with us."
Kerem Ramon from the air,
"We were afraid of losing everything"
The savior businessman is none other than Haim Danon (77) from Sde Warburg, one of the owners of the car importer UMI and chairman of the mechanical equipment company Comsco. Danon is also remembered as one of the heroes of the containment battle against the Syrians in the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War, when he commanded the 57th Battalion of the 679th Armored Brigade. In the book "Coordination of Intentions", by Rabbi Chaim Sabato, it is written about him:
"Danon was left with only one more instrument. What courage for this commander. And what power. At that time I thought, who would ever know about these people and what they did?" In the reserves, he served until 1995 as deputy commander of the brigade, and at the same time served as voluntary chairman of its association and chairman of the Friends of Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot.
Coke: "I explained to Chaim about our plan, and he told me simply: 'Come on, I'm with you. I love the Negev, I want to do something for my soul, and I'd love to participate.' I assumed that he would donate a sum of money to us, but to my surprise he immediately made it clear that he was not interested in becoming a philanthropist, but a full partner - 'just as the land is registered in your name, so it will also be registered in my name.' As an idealistic young man, a movie crossed my mind that a real estate tycoon wanted to turn us around, so I said, 'No, thank you,' and we parted as friends."
Carmei Avdat Farm,
Even in the initial conduct vis-à-vis the ILA, obstacles were discovered in the way of the members of the association. "We ordered vine seedlings while paying in advance, but the ILA delayed approving the agreement with them, citing a water shortage in the country. They told us, 'If we give you agricultural land, we will be obligated to allocate you a quota of water as well.' In the meantime, March arrived, just before the planting date, and nothing progressed.
"Out of pressure, we went into the district administration at the ILA, even burst out a bit, and told her: 'We ordered 22,<> seedlings, invested hundreds of thousands of shekels, and if we don't get the land now, everything will be lost.' We seem to have been able to speak to the core, because within two weeks we were told that the contract was ready to be signed, and that we only had to pay the fee."
אבל עדיין לא הכל זרם חלק. "רצתי כולי מלא אושר לבנק, אבל הפקיד שם אמר לי: 'אין לכם מספיק כסף בחשבון לשלם הכל'. התברר שרמ"י, כחלק מהנוהל שלהם, דרשו תשלום מראש לשלוש שנים על כל 600 הדונמים, מאות אלפי שקלים, שלא היו בחשבון האגודה. זה כבר שבר אותנו לגמרי. בצר לי הרמתי שוב טלפון לחיים דנון, ובתוך שבוע וחצי הוא העביר לנו את הסכום. ככה התחלנו".
דנון מאשר את הדברים בחיוך. "נראה לי שבלי המימון שנתתי להם, הכרם לא היה מצליח לקום. במקורי אני תל־אביבי, לא אדם דתי, אבל הציונות של החבר'ה האלה נפלאה בעיניי. הם ממש מוציאים לפועל את חזון הנגב של מקימי המדינה, והשותפות שלי איתם נהדרת".
אתה מגיע מעולם הרכב. איך יין משתלב בזה?
"אין קשר בין הדברים. היין זה תחביב וציונות. כל הרווחים שלי מהפרויקט חוזרים לקהילה. זה סיפוק גדול להיות שותף בפרויקטים כאלה. לראות את הנגב פורח, גם מכרמים וגם מעשייה חברתית, נותן סיפוק גדול לנשמה".
אתם לא מתפרנסים מהכרמים? כל הרווחים נתרמים בחזרה לקהילה?
קוקה: "קבענו לעצמנו כבר מההתחלה ש־50% מהרווחים יופנו כתרומה חברתית לפרויקטים במצפה רמון. רק עכשיו, 13 שנה אחרי שהקמנו את האגודה, זו תהיה השנה הראשונה שהחברים יראו רווח ראשוני קטן. עד עכשיו החזרנו חלק ניכר מההלוואות שלקחנו והעברנו כמיליון וחצי שקלים לפרויקטים חברתיים במצפה רמון - קידום תלמידי תיכון עם קשיים מיוחדים, סיוע בהקמת מרכז להשאלת ציוד רפואי, הקמת בית כנסת קהילתי חדש, מלגות לסטודנטים שמתגוררים במצפה, ועוד".
את הענבים שמניב הכרם שלכם אתם מוכרים ליקבים מפורסמים מכל הארץ, ובהם תבור, טפרברג, ברקן, רמת נגב ומדבר. לא מדגדג לכם לייצר בעצמכם יין מהתוצרת?
דנון: "רוב הענבים אכן ימשיכו להימכר ליקבים, שאיתם יש לנו הסכמים ארוכי טווח, אבל במקביל אני בונה כעת יקב חדש במצפה רמון, נקרא לו 'יקב רמון', שימוקם לפני תחנת הדלק בצומת הרוחות. היקב יכלול גם מרכז מבקרים לטעימות, חדרי ישיבות ופרגולה חיצונית לישיבה נוחה. כושר הייצור שלנו יהיה לפחות 100 אלף בקבוקים לשנה. השלד כבר כמעט גמור, ואני מקווה שבתוך שנה נעמוד על הרגליים".
אתה מאמין באיכות היין שמופק מאדמות הנגב?
"אני לא מומחה יין גדול, אבל כשאני נוסע בעולם אני טועם יינות מקומיים. אני אומר לך שהיין שאנחנו עושים בנגב הוא ברמה גבוהה מאוד. אין לנו מה להתבייש באיכות שלו. להפך, יש כאן אמירה גם ציונית וגם ייננית ייחודית מאוד".
מקום לזנים אדומים
דנון שכר את שירותיו של יפתח לוסטיג (42), יינן מחונן ותזזיתי מחיפה, שאת השכלתו המקצועית רכש במחוז פיאמונטה שבאיטליה, שבו למד ועבד ביקבים מובילים (למשל, Giacomo Fenocchio). מאז ששב לארץ הוא יועץ ומלווה יקבים בתחום המקצועי והשיווקי, וכיום הוא מוביל את התחום היינני־מקצועי בהקמת יקב רמון.
יקב רמון שנבנה בימים אלה ליד מצפה רמון. "נייצר כאן 100 אלף בקבוקים בשנה", צילום: יהושע יוסף
"חיים הוא איש החזון, אני איש המקצוע", מבהיר לוסטיג. "אני מאמין במיקום הזה - יש בו יתרונות וייחודיות טרואריים שאין בשום מקום אחר בארץ. בעבר ההבנה היתה שהנגב מתאים יותר לזנים לבנים, אבל לטעמי יש מקום גם לזנים אדומים. צריך רק לבחור אילו מהם יתאימו במיוחד לפה".
אגב, המילה חזון מתאימה כאן בהחלט. זה חלום עם לא מעט "שיגעון".
"החקלאות הישראלית אוהבת ללכת נגד הטבע - ולפעמים זה גם מצליח, למשל בגידול פלפלים או כותנה במקומות צחיחים, אבל השאלה היא באיזה מחיר והאם זה נכון. האדמה במצפה רמון מאוד צחיחה ודלילה, לא מחזיקה יותר מדי פעילות אורגנית, אבל מצד שני יש כאן הבדלי טמפרטורות גדולים של 20-15 מעלות בין יום ללילה - שזה דבר נהדר לענבים".
היינן יפתח לוסטיג. "עד כמה שזה יישמע מפתיע, לא חם פה יותר מאשר ברמת הגולן", צילום: יהושע יוסף
קשה להתווכח עם העובדה שחם פה מאוד.
"עד כמה שזה יישמע מפתיע, לא חם פה יותר מאשר ברמת הגולן. אנחנו נמצאים 800 מטרים מעל פני הים, כמו מרכז הרמה וצפונה, ומכתש רמון כאן עובד כמו משאבה - האוויר החם עולה והקר יורד, מה שיוצר אפקט אידיאלי שמקרר את הענבים שגדלים על הגפנים. גם אין כאן כמעט מחלות בגפן ואין ריקבונות. הווירוס ליפרול, שפגע בכרמים רבים בארץ, כמעט לא קיים במדבר".
מצד שני, המדבר מזמן גם לא מעט אתגרים.
"כן. למשל, בגלל הקרקע החולית יש קרינה גבוהה מאוד, גם הקרינה שמגיעה ישירות מהשמש וגם זו שחוזרת מהאדמה, ואנחנו עושים הרבה ניסויים כדי להתמודד עם זה. ויש כמובן את עניין המחסור במים, אבל זה שולי. בארץ כולם משקים את הכרמים שלהם".
יש עוד דוגמאות ברחבי העולם לגידול ענבי יין במדבר?
"ליד העיר וואלה־וואלה, שבגבול מדינות וושינגטון ואורגון בארה"ב, יש אזור של כרמים, וגם שם יש מדבר גבוה. זה האזור השלישי הכי נטוע כיום בארה"ב, אזור יין ענק ומקסים - ומצפה רמון דומה לזה. עבדתי שם, ויש הרבה מאפיינים דומים בין האזורים. מבחינה טופוגרפית ישראל היא 'מיני העולם' - יש אצלנו דוגמה לכל אתר גיאוגרפי וטופוגרפי, והנה כעת יש לנו גם את המדבר".
ממה שהספקת ללמוד, יש זנים שמתאימים יותר לגידול בנגב?
"אני לא מכיר את הנגב כולו, רק את אזור מצפה רמון. כבר כיום הענבים הלבנים של מצפה נחשבים מאוד, וממש רואים 'בום' היסטרי בביקוש להם - מיקבים גדולים ועד יקבי בוטיק. אבל לטעמי, האזור הזה עדיין לא מקבל את הכבוד הראוי לו, למרות שהוא לא נופל מרמת הגולן, מהגליל העליון או מהרי ירושלים.
"In terms of red varieties, we are still learning which ones are suitable for the desert. You have to understand that the harvest season here is very short, starting at the end of July and ending at the beginning of September, and you have to make significant stylistic choices."
What for example?
"Whether to reflect the terroir or the grape variety, or to what extent you want to interfere in the process, etc. As far as I'm concerned, Ramon Winery is going to be the display of purpose of Mitzpe Ramon's unique terroir.
"If we compare to concepts from the world of music, the vineyard is the song, the grape variety is the soloist, and the winemaker is the music producer. I want to know Mitzpe Ramon's song in the best possible way, and I'll get to that if I can figure out who the vocalist best fits there. That's why I'm studying the local terroir, to put it at the forefront."
Are there any "soloists" you wouldn't take to sing in the Negev?
"Of course. First of all, we need to free ourselves from the jaws of the Cabernet Sauvignon, which is in great demand all over the world, but does not reflect terroir. It is a grape variety that no matter where you plant it, it will remain the same extroverted cabernet. On the other hand, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Chardonnay and even Merlot are very sensitive to where they are grown, and this is reflected in the flavors and quality of the grapes.
"We need to find the vocalist of the area. There is a lot of talk today about the winemaker's hand, about his style, but this is secondary, and in any case must come along with the terroir. We work first and foremost in the vineyard, and if we did a good job there, the work at the winery will be very easy."
Yiftach Lustig, winemaker: "The soil in Mitzpe Ramon doesn't hold too much organic activity, but there are large temperature differences of 20-15 degrees between day and night, which is great for grapes, and the crater works like a pump - the hot air rises and the cold falls, which creates a cooling effect."
You live very far from Mitzpe Ramon. What attracted you to go there?
"Haim Danon, who is a true visionary who runs forward until sometimes it is difficult to catch up with him. I also have a personal-family closure with him: my father was a soldier of life in the Yom Kippur War, and today I am his 'soldier' in Mitzpe Ramon."
Italians were enthusiastic
A strong tailwind for branding the Negev as a leading wine tourism region has come in recent years from Mirage Israel, a family philanthropic foundation founded by David Merage, an American Jew of Iranian descent living in Denver, Colorado. The foundation has been operating in Israel since 1998 and deals with a variety of social and economic fields, including the development of the Negev. Four years ago, its management was entrusted to Nicole Straw (42), a Ra'anana resident who immigrated to Israel 13 years ago from Colombia, where she worked in regional economic development and tourism.
"At the Mirage Foundation, we identified growing wine grapes in the Negev as a competitive advantage," explains Straw. "It's one of the only deserts in the world where vineyards are grown. Two years ago, we began a process to develop agricultural tourism in the Negev. We mapped vineyards and wineries and established the Negev Wineries Club, which provides personal business guidance, professional training for farmers and meetings for cooperation between the wineries.
"At the same time, we set up a website that coordinates the information about each winery, and we are working with the regional and local authorities so that they understand what treasure they have in the field. We also encourage wineries to participate in wine events, culinary festivals and agricultural festivals. At Somalia 2023, Israel's largest professional wine exhibition, held six months ago, we presented all the Negev wineries in one joint stand. For us, this was a fresh new statement, according to which the Israeli Negev is a legitimate wine region.
"There's a great thing here: to come to the desert, and in the middle of the yellow and sand to discover vast areas of green vineyards. It's spectacular and exciting. The pictures they take here are very Instagrammable. An hour's drive from Tel Aviv, you're in a completely different place, an amazing virgin area that produces super-quality wine."
Who is eligible to join the Negev Wineries Club?
"We are talking in general about the terrain cell from Kiryat Gat to Eilat, but from a terroir professional point of view we are now working with experts on micro-regional definitions, that is, division into sub-regions, each with its own characteristics. It will take time, but we hope to eventually reach appellational definitions similar to what exists in Mateh Yehuda. In the meantime, we are flexible, and wineries and winegrowers from all over the region are welcome to join the club. We have 37 members, who are almost 90% of everyone who grows or produces wine in the area. By the way, membership in the club is voluntary."
Do you also work with wine export markets from the Negev?
"A year ago we sent a delegation of the club to northern Italy, the Barolo and Barbaresco regions, to learn how a 'wine region' works. It was a real Game Changer. People suddenly realized what power a wine region has when it is defined and functions as such. It also created a great connection between the members of the club, who suddenly understood what wine tourism should look like, how to tell visitors the story of the place while holding wine tastings and so on. At one point on the tour it seemed that the creators had changed – the Italian hosts were so enthusiastic about the concept of wine in the desert that they wanted to hear from us more than we wanted to hear from them."
Do the wineries here cooperate with each other? No mutual suspicion and competitiveness?
"It's a process. As time passes and the club grows, so do the collaborations, and people see that working together does them nothing but good – joint purchase of equipment, marketing as a joint tourism route of the Desert Wine Route, mutual recommendations and advocacy between neighboring wineries. The bottom line is that everyone just benefits from it."
What is your vision going forward?
"We believe in wine as a gateway to all tourism in the Negev. In our assessment, there is potential to bring the Negev from a figure of 250,<> visitors a year to about a million, but we will need more partners for action – for example, from the hotel industry and government ministries and authorities. Bureaucratic and regulatory barriers are the central part of the difficulties in establishing new businesses in the Negev.
"We hope that we will find a listening ear in the current government so that it approves at least some of our initiatives. After all, we and all the wineries and winegrowers with us are working to advance the Land of Israel and the State of Israel."
Well, and how are the astringents? We tasted three wines originating in the Negev
Right: Chardonnay 2022, Nana Winery; Vionia Reserve 2021, Binyamina Wineries; Ramon Petit Verdot 2021, Ramat Negev Winery, Photo: Annie Selby Studio, PR
Ramon Petit Verdot 2021 - Ramat Negev Winery
100% Petit Verdot from the windy vineyard, planted at an altitude of about 800 meters, at the foot of Mitzpe Ramon. Manual vintage. Matured 16 months in new French oak barrels. Dark burgundy color, deep and opaque, almost black. Abundant nose ripe black fruit, dark chocolate and vanilla. Full and velvety body, a gorgeous fruity line that continues into the oral cavity. A supportive acidity that lightens the wine, and a touch of Italian influence. Impressive by any scale (129 NIS)
Vionia Reserve 2021 - Binyamina Wineries
The Shomriya vineyard, from which the grapes came for this wine, is planted in the northern Negev on soil mostly loess, clay and sand. The cool nights allow the grapes to develop and ripen optimally. Judicious use of barrels - half of the wine was aged in 300-liter barrels, a quarter of them new, a quarter American and the rest French. It is a wine with a refreshing and summer character. The nose has aromas of pear, pomelit and tangerine. In the tasting the wine is crisp and mineral, fruity and has good acidity. Lovely wine - and the price too (65 NIS)
Chardonnay 2022 - Nana Winery
The wine was installed on the basis of Chardonnay grapes, grown in the Nana vineyard in Mitzpe Ramon. Half of it was fermented in stainless steel and half in oak barrels. It has a golden hue, a fresh aroma of white fruit (peach, apple) with citrus flavors, elegant minerality, supporting wood in the background, medium-full buttery body and balancing sourness. We ran out too quickly (120 shekels)
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