5 stops in wine country - Travel Features - Israel travel and tourism

Most people head for the chalk hills of the Gezer (Seidon) area in the winter when it's green and lush. But in this northern section of Yoav Yehuda, which as far back as biblical times was known for the quality of its grapes and wines, the summer is actually the region's big season. This is the time when plums, figs and other sweet fruits are sold by the roadside; the grapes are ripening in the vineyards and the harvest is at its height.

Any bare-breasted nymphs are long gone, and daughters of Israel no longer go out to the vineyards with song and dance, dressed all in white. These days, the labor of the harvest is entrusted to quiet Thai workers in wool hats, or to Bedouin men and women, overseen by work contractors and covered from head to toe for protection from the burning sun. The harvest season is an especially good time to head for the wine routes that have developed in this country in recent years.

1. Farmers' market

The Menachem family has been making honey and olive oil for a long time, but like a lot of other farmers, in recent years they had trouble finding places where they could sell their products. Hilaf Menachem set up a small farming center where the family products are produced and sold, and right next to it is a large and beautiful fruit and vegetable orchard where you can pick your own produce. Also on view, along with the grindstones of the small olive press, are a tehina machine imported from Syria, a still for making arak and liqueurs, coffee and spice grinders and ancient farming implements.

Children will enjoy recreating the ancient wine production process by stomping on fresh grapes in the wine press in the yard. The whole family will enjoy roaming around the lovely orchard - amid the furrows of vegetables, the huts formed by passion fruit trees, 13 species of pomegranate, 16 fig species and dozens more fruit trees from all over the world. And if you?re not keen on having your own farming experience, you can also buy the products in the factory store (though be aware that the quality here is not uniform).

Melo Hatene, near Karmei Yosef
08-9797039, 050-7990097
(Melo Hatene)

2. Simply poetic

Today, when there are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of boutique wineries in Israel, and when new ones appear to be sprouting up every other day, their existence seems less than remarkable. But in the early 1960s, you had to be a crazy romantic, or at the very least a nonconformist, to open such an establishment.

The average Israeli, who now consumes 8 liters of wine per year, drank only one liter per year back then. And even today's higher figure pales in comparison to the amount consumed by the average Italian or Frenchman - 50 to 70 liters per year. A few decades ago, practically the only wines on the market here were from the big commercial wineries, like Eliaz (Binyamina) and Carmel Mizrahi.

In 1964, Alex Tal, Natan Hochberg and Emile Shenberger opened the Mikveh Israel Winery, one of the first boutique wineries in the country. This winery lasted nearly a decade, until 1973, and closed due to a dispute among the partners. Shenberger was the vintner, while Hillela and Alex Tal brought with them grapes from vineyards in the Gezer Sidon area. Natan Hochberg, son of Netanel Hochberg, the legendary agriculture teacher, author of books about grapes and creator of new varieties, brought to the enterprise an extraordinary dowry: the old structure of the Mikveh Yisrael winery. This winery had been founded by Karl Neter in 1870, even before Baron Rothschild established the big wineries in Rishon Letzion and Zichron Yaakov. After 45 years of independent operation, it was incorporated into the Carmel Mizrahi winery. The large stone cellars that were hewn into the rock by Sicilian builders, following a precise blueprint outlined by French professionals, have been used as storerooms ever since.

The most famous wine produced by the bold group that revived the glory days of the Mikveh Israel winery was Vin Fou (?crazy wine?), a mixture of Carignan and Grenache grapes from the Karmei Yosef region. But there was also Karl Neter brandy, Karl Neter Brut - a vermouth made from Mikveh Israel grapes, port and other wines - limited and numbered series of bottles whose labels were drawn by noted Israeli artists. This group also founded the ?Fifth Saturday Club,? regular get-togethers featuring good food and rivers of wine.

Dovi Tal, the son of Hillela and Alex, now lives on a farm near Karmei Yosef with his family, who cultivate fruit orchards and grapes; he produces about 10,000 bottles of wine per year under the Red Poetry label. The romantic spirit that Tal appears to have inherited is evident not only in the name but also in the French wax, made from oak resin, that is used to manually seal each bottle, and in the revival of his parents? tradition of using Israeli art for the labels. Visitors are warmly greeted here, just as at small boutique wineries abroad, and welcomed to a small table in the modest office where a dish of raisins dried naturally in the sun awaits, as do glasses of wine for tasting and a bowl of fresh fruit. This week, it held yellow-green Muscat grapes; the last of the heavy purple clusters of the Flame Seedless, one of the tastiest grape varieties; and on the vines were the black grapes of autumn, which will reach their full sweetness in late November. If you visit in the coming weeks, you can also get a taste of the odorless Thai guava.

Red Poetry Winery at the Tal Farm, Highway 44, 500 meters south of the Pedaya junction, 08-9287655, 08-9210352

3. Once a month

All around, workers are picking bunches of purple-black jewel-like grapes and packing them into small crates; then the tractor brings them to the crusher on the small plaza in front of the winery. At the Bravdo Winery, they try to capture in bottles the wonderful aroma that arises from the freshly squeezed fruit.

At the Bravdo Winery, they produce, live and breathe wine, and they also talk about it - with a pleasing simplicity and depth of knowledge. The concern is headed by two professors - Oded Shoseyov and Professor Ben-Ami Bravdo, the latter one of the world?s leading experts on viniculture. They met when Shoseyov was doing his doctorate in Bravdo?s lab. At their winery, they apply the knowledge they have amassed over the years and, above all, strive to preserve in the final product the fruit?s primal and natural aroma, via a unique production process.

The person in charge of the vineyards is Zvi Shoseyov, Oded?s 80-year-old father, who has worked in agriculture all his life. Wives, siblings, children and grandchildren all take part in this enterprise - all are involved in the winemaking, all come from veteran vintner families and are linked by bonds of friendship and family.

At the tasting events held by the winery, a lecture is always included, usually by one of the professors. Sitting beneath the beautiful pergola here, surrounded by the vineyards, at sunset, with a glass of wine in hand, is one of the greatest delights offered by the Israeli wine world. The winery is open to visitors the first Friday of each month. Right now you can taste the Heuriger Chardonnay straight from the fermenting tanks - it?s something like pale yellow grape juice at this point, and wonderfully fragrant and flavorful. At this stage, two to three weeks from the start of the fermentation process, it already contains 6-7 percent alcohol.

Bravdo Winery, near Karmei Yosef, 08-9286098

4. Ancient and modern

A calculation based on the density of the vineyards and the number of inhabitants in the region indicated that in biblical times, wine consumption was something on the order of 300 liters per person annually. This monumental drinking capacity was possible because the wine was mixed with water. Some say it was the other way around - that the water was mixed with wine in order to purify it and give it a better taste.

At Tel Gezer, the site of the ancient city of Gezer, the Gezer tablet was discovered. It contains the oldest Hebrew inscription regarding the counting of the months of the year and the various agricultural tasks to be carried out in them. Three millennia ago, the same things were being done - the Hebrew months of Tammuz and Av were yarhu zamar, the months for pruning the vines, and Elul was yareah katz, the time for picking the summer fruits.

The original tablet is no longer here; it now resides in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. A replica installed by the National Parks Authority was plundered, but a tour of the park among the ruins and the enormous boulders is fascinating all the same.

Tel Gezer National Park, near Karmei Yosef, 02-5006261

5. The upper crust

Eyal Rotem, a thin and wiry guy, climbs onto the plank laid over the open fermenting vat. Using a long pole, twice a day he carries out the difficult task of mixing the crust of seeds, sking, twigs and thorns that covers the surface of the grape juice like a blanket. In the case of Syrah grapes, the crust is blacker-than-black, and his stirring reveals the rich purple streams below. This semi-primitive method used to be the way that all wine was made.

When Rotem returns to earth, the staff of this small winery near Mitzpeh Harel, Clos de Gat, sits down to breakfast on the balcony, under the stone arches of an abandoned Arab building that was beautifully restored. On the table were labaneh yogurt cheese, olive oil, sliced tomatoes and fresh-baked pita.
Clos de Gat doesn?t make life easy on potential visitors. The place focuses on making wine, not on telling stories to the chance tourist. Visits are by appointment only, the tastings are not free, and the wine prices make this a destination for the smart set only. They, however, will find themselves tasting choice wines and viewing one of the most beautiful wine cellars in the country.

Clos de Gat, near Mitzpeh Harel 02-9993505
(Clos de GatWebsite)
(Clos de Gatarticle)