A Brief History of Wine in Israel

It’s not a surprise, though is often forgotten that for centuries, it was the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean was the birthplace of the world’s wine-making culture. The oldest documents point to Canaan to be among the first nations to taste wine, which was more than 2500 years prior to when the vine arrived in Europe.

From Noah’s planting of some of the first recorded grapevines to make wine–to the spies that surveyed the area and found that it was healthy wine played a significant role in the development of the country of Israel. As prophesied by many prophets and prophets, wine symbolized God’s plan for redemption. Over the years it was a factor in the economy, society and the religious practices throughout Israel in the case of the Jews as well as later for Christians.

The ancient Israel was a wine-producing industry as shown by the digging of wine presses buried in the earth and storage vessels. It culminated in the time during the Second Temple. In the Roman ruin of the Temple caused the exile of Jews out of the country, and the once-proud wine industry was dismantled. After the fall of the Temple and the Arab conquerors of the around 600 A.D. and the prohibition of alcohol in Islam led to a number of remaining vineyards throughout the country particularly located in Judea and Samaria to be sacked.

A brief period of time, Crusaders in the Holy Land briefly revived the growing of grapes and vines were planted in areas such as Bethlehem or Nazareth. However, the revival of this land only short and short-lived. However, after they Crusaders came back to Europe they were able to bring back many noble grape varieties, including Chardonnay, Muscat and Shiraz and originated in the Middle East.

When the Ottoman Empire, the wine industry in the Middle East was erased due to the declining economic prosperity in the region, conflicts, and epidemics that greatly affected the population. A lot of Jews as well as other ethnic groups who had backed the wine industry left to settle in other countries.

There was still hope for those who wanted to be able to go back again and grow vineyards on the hill that their forefathers had cultivated. The desire to return to the land ignited the souls of many Jews who started settling within their Arab neighbors during the middle of the 19th century. Since the time of the Ottoman rule to the present when the region was a wine-growing zone, the grapes in that region were cultivated exclusively for consumption. The revival of wine-making in Israel started in the mid 1800s, but it grew into a real business in the latter half of 1880. It started out as an “cottage industry” producing wine at home to provide the Kiddush (sacramental) wine to those in the religion of Jewish community or communion as well as altar wines for Christian pilgrims looking for “wine of The Holy Land.” The first evidence that was recorded of this was located in Jerusalem’s Old City of Jerusalem, in 1848, when the Shor family began producing wine in 1848.
Similar to the grapevines of Israel that started out in different ways and spread across the world, and finally returned to the land from Israel began to begin to “Aliyah” (or “ascent”) returning to their homeland with greater frequency towards the end of the 1800s.

The year 1882 was the time when Jews of Russia and Romania established new settlements in the area, which was then called Palestine. They sought financial help by the Baron Edmond de Rothschild, a banker and art collector from Paris who also was the owner of Chateau Lafite located in Bordeaux, France, one of the most well-known wineries around the globe.

Baron Rothschild provided immigrants financial aid. However, he, just like Moses of the Bible story requested a report to study the possibilities for agriculture within the “Promised Land”. The advice of their experts was for the planting of vines and in 1882 they first saw the vineyards established and grew in size. In 1887 Baron Rothschild visited the area that is now Israel at first. He became enthralled by the area around Mount Carmel, the place where the Bible states that Elijah sent fire down from heaven. Rothschild believed that this area may be an area that could be called the Tuscany as well as Provence of Israel and was determined to start a wine business. Rothschild recruited the best Agronomists from France and winemaking knowledge from Bordeaux as well as the best equipment that money could buy to ensure that his venture was successful. In the process, the first modern commercial wineries were established in Israel.

Wine from Israel – The wine industry in Modern Israel

It’s amazing that the rootstock (or the trunk) of a grapevine is able to be able to hold and develop different types of grapes same at the same time. This is done by grafting grapevines from new varieties onto an existing grapevine.

The grapevine and the wine serve as wonderful metaphors for the people of Israel that once was wild, was purged and then replanted and moved back to its initial soil. The country of Israel is home to various people groups over the many centuries, and consequently remains a subject of the weight of religious, political, and emotional weight and discussion. The year 1948 was the first time Israel became an independent nation. She has struggled for the right to settle her area.
Israel is stunning partly because it is an emblem of unity and diversity.

A tiny country about similar to New Jersey, Israel is situated on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea and is bordered by Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Israel, which has an estimated population of 8 million, with the majority of them Jews–has a number of important places of worship and archaeological sites that are that are revered to Jews, Muslims and Christians alike, and has a lengthy time-line of peace and war.

Much like the wine industry the culinary culture in Israel has incorporated ingredients, recipes and tastes from all over the world to make Israel (and particularly Tel Aviv) one of the top food destinations in the world. Mixing Ashkenazi as well as Sephardic Jewish influence, neighboring Lebanese, Syrian, and Turkish tastes, as well as high-quality Arab food, Israel is truly unique in its approach to bringing together different people with their tastes.

Israel Close Up

Reflecting their diversity, the inhabitants of Israel The winemakers and the varieties of wine produced in Israel are varied, distinct and abounding.

In the Second World War, the wine industry started to expand again. When Israel in 1948, there were State of Israel in 1948 the number of wineries was fourteen that were in operation. There are now 40 wineries that harvest 50 tonnes or more 250 boutique wineries as well as numerous “garagiste” or wineries that are domestic with less than half of them being Kosher.

Wine Regions and Wine Varietals

Israel is home to unique and traditional varieties that are native to the region and also Bordeaux type blends. The three most widely cultivated varieties of Israel currently comprise Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Merlot followed by Shiraz, Argaman and Petite Sirah. The majority of the top red wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Shiraz varieties or Bordeaux blends that are primarily based upon Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The principal white varieties that produce the best white wines in regions are Chardonnay as well as Sauvignon Blanc. There are also some fantastic White Rieslings, Gewurztraminers and Viogniers.

The area belonging to the state of Israel is only 7,992 sq. miles that spans only 263 miles from north to south. Despite its dimensions, Israel is producing some of the top wines worldwide due in large part, to the typical Mediterranean climate that is humid and hot summers and warm dry winters. Israeli wines have been able to compete with wines from old as well as new world wineries and have been awarded accolades and awards.
Israel is blessed with ideal conditions to cultivate grapes. the wine-producing regions are split into five regions across Israel: Galilee, Shomron (or “Samaria” in English), Samson, Judean Hills and the Negev.

The Galilee region lies in north Israel it is considered to be one of the top appellations. Two of Israel’s most prestigious wine producing regions are situated there, and are referred to as The Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights. Galilee is a large part of higher altitude, cooler climate vineyards, and also the mountains, forests with peaks that plunge and the stony hills. Absolutely, Galilee is one of Israel’s stunning wine region.

This region in Shomron is often referred to in the region of “Samaria”. It is Israel’s oldest wine producing region. It was been planted in the late 1800s. Mount Carmel, Ramat Manashe and the Shomron Hills are part of the Shomron Region. The region is a beneficiary of its southern Carmel Mountain range and cooling breezes from the Mediterranean Sea. The scenery of Shomron is what you imagine when you think of a biblical setting and a number of biblical tales were set in this region.

Samson doesn’t refer to any geographic location however, the region of wine is named in honor of the Biblical character who was a frequent visitor to the region. It comprises the central coast Judean Plain and Judean Lowlands which lie to the south and south east of Tel Aviv and it features a humid and hot climate. The majority of vineyards used for large volumes of wine originate from the Judean Plain region. The second region, known as the Judean Foothills, is the most rapidly growing region for new vineyards being planted and the start-up of wineries. The rolling hills that are dotted with limestone soils are seen on the way from Jerusalem.

Fourth region known as the Judean Hills, is a excellent wine region that is underdeveloped and not well-developed that extends from the mountains north of Jerusalem and through Gush Etzion to Yatir Forest located to the south of Hebron. Cool nights and warm days temperatures are typical of the region, where numerous wineries are making wine that has won awards.

The Negev is the region of desert which comprises half of the land of Israel. There are vineyards being planted in the upper regions of the northeast in Ramat Arad, a semi-arid area, and within the Negev’s central Highlands. The region is extremely hot in the day, with cooler nights and cold winter nights. Due to the dryness and absence of humidity, a few ailments can affect the grapes, and the vineyards are often covered by mists in the morning early morning hours.