Planning a trip to Israel for my Mom’s unveiling, I made the decision to make it a longer trip of a couple of weeks so I could spend some time volunteering, see some family, and visit as many wineries as possible. I was lucky to have the opportunity to visit several wineries across the country and now will relay my experiences here, hopefully to help some of you plan similar adventures, and to support our brothers and sisters in Am Yisrael.
Domaine du Castel
As you leave Jerusalem on Route 1, one of the closest wineries is just off the main road, right past Mevaseret: the well-regarded Domaine du Castel, often referred to simply as Castel. Every year on my birthday, I receive an email from the winery offering me a special deal to buy five bottles and get one free. I usually delete the email, but this year, knowing that I was going to be in Israel, I kept it with plans to drop in on my way out of Jerusalem.
The winery is in a beautiful location overlooking the Judean Hills with both indoor and outdoor seating. They offer tastings throughout the week, which includes a history of the winery, a visit to the barrel room, and a tasting of wines accompanied by cheese and bread. Although this visit was simply to pick up some wine, I was still offered a tasting of the 2022 Razi’el, a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Carignan. The 2022 vintage is not imported into the U.S. as it is made from the shemittah harvest, but it is delicious and well worth picking up a bottle if you happen to be visiting Israel.
There are four Razi’el offerings which are currently made in the original location of Castel’s winery. In 2015, Castel moved to their current location in Yad Hashmona, which is where all current Castel wines are made, and where they the visitors center is located. The proximity to Jerusalem makes this an extremely enjoyable way to spend a morning or afternoon for 2 to 3 hours including travel time.
Shiloh
My next stop was to visit my friend Amichai Lourie, winemaker at Shiloh Winery, which is down the road from the town of Eli, and not far from ancient Shiloh. Amichai has been making outstanding wines for many years, and after a one-year delay, Shiloh has finally opened its new visitor center. For many years, a visit to Shiloh meant visiting an oversized garage, and yet Amichai was able to still produce delicious wines. Now, there is a state-of-the-art winery and visitors center in a gorgeous building, the opening of which was delayed by the war following the terrible events of 10/7. The new visitors center was built by all Jewish labor which was difficult to come by during the way, but now the center is up and running.
You can immediately tell the attention to detail that has been placed on every aspect of the winery. Amichai showed me the new barrel room that you can view from a catwalk above, and there is plenty of indoor space, while the outdoor space overlooks the beautiful Judean Hills. When I visited, they were still working through their soft opening, so no food was being served yet, although since that time they have begun.
A noticeable difference from other winery visitor centers is that there will not be any cheese offerings with the tastings at Shiloh. Known for his love of meat, Amichai does not appear to be deviating from this with the food offerings at the winery.
Being familiar with their lineup, I was able to sample the latest offerings as well as a couple of hard-to-come-by wines that seem to disappear pretty quickly once they hit the States. One of these is the Shiloh, Shor, Barbera, which is a wonderful expression of the Barbera varietal. If you can get it when it comes stateside, grab it quick as it does not last.
Drimia
A few days later, with some close friends, I found myself heading to the southern Judean Hills and the Yatir Forest. Just north of the forest is a small town called Susya where the Drimia Winery is located. Created by the third generation of families who live in the area, this is truly a realization of the desert flourishing. We tasted a number of their wines with some bread, cheese, and olives. All of the wines are available in the U.S., so no need to schlep anything back, but it is always nice to connect a wine that you have had with a visit to the winery. Really nice wines!
One wine that I feel compelled to mention is a wine called “Oz,” which Drimia owner Elad Movshovitz named for his fallen comrades, the soldiers of his unit who fought on October 7th, the profits of which will be dedicated to the families of the fallen. The bottle is available at FillerUp in Teaneck, NJ.
Yatir
15 minutes south of Drimia lies the Yatir Winery in Tel Arad. This is a winery that I came close to visiting many years ago when I was at the Dead Sea, but with three kids in tow, my wife suggested that it was not a good use of our time in the height of summer. I finally managed to get here and it was well worth the trip. We were given a tour while we learned the history of the winery, and while standing outside we were able to see the vineyards at a distance.
We saw the stainless steel tanks in the production room, and also toured the barrel room, where we saw some of the largest barrels that I have ever seen at a winery, as well as the clay amphorae which are now used to make white wines.
We were fortunate that even in November it was warm enough to sit outside under the tress pictured below as we sampled our way through their offerings with some cheese and fruit. One added advantage of visiting the winery is the opportunity to taste and purchase wines not sold outside of the winery. I managed to snag one of the last bottles of the Chalutz series only available here.
Inside the tasting room there is a beautiful painting on the wall illustrating where the Yatir forest is and where the various vineyards are located relative to the forest.
Both Drimia and Yatir can be visited in one day. It’s just under an hour and a half from Jerusalem if you take the long way and less if you are comfortable driving straight down through Chevron. If you’re headed down to Mitzpe Ramon, you can even combine with a visit to Nana Estate Winery, which is on my list for next time.
Vitkin
Friday was my mother’s unveiling in Netanya, and as I was wont to do when I visited her, I decided to stop by Vitkin. Some 15 minutes from Netanya in Kfar Vitkin, this trip was often a well-deserved couple of hours spent in the company of really good people tasting delightful wines. Vitkin is another of my favorite wineries and winemakers, Assaf Paz. Assaf is known for making wines that are “ABC,” Anything But Cabernet (and Merlot and Chardonnay), and is a pioneer of Mediterranean wines.
The visitor center is not just for tastings but they also have a restaurant on the premises where you can enjoy a wonderful light meal. Make reservations in advance as this popular center gets booked up pretty quickly, especially on Fridays.
Not all Vitkin wines make it to the U.S., most notably a delicious white wine called Macabeo and a red Journey, Special Edition. Especially delightful is their Carignan and Riesling, and the Carignan is one of the few 100% Carignan that are made in Israel. I was fortunate that on this visit, Assaf was at the winery, which is rare for him on a Friday, and I was able to taste some wine with him. The place was packed both inside and out, and I was left to taste through their various offerings at the bar.
Alexander
20 minutes north of Vitkin is the Alexander Winery in Moshav Beit Yitzhak in the Sharon plains. I am less familiar with this winery and have only tasted a couple of their wines, but I figured since I was in the neighborhood on my way north, why not stop in? Similar to many wineries, they not only have an opportunity for a tasting, but there is a full-blown dairy restaurant on the premises.
It’s a picturesque building, again with both indoor seating and the outdoor seating overlooking what I believe to be some of their own vineyards. This was a pretty short visit as I was starting to be tight on time.
Odem Mountain
The last two wineries of the trip were in the Golan, Odem Mountain and Matar. Odem Mountain is the northernmost winery in Israel, located in Moshav Odem, just about two miles from the border with Syria and 10 miles east of Kiryat Shmona. It’s a quaint little winery with a visitor’s center that has indoor and outdoor seating and has a dairy restaurant. I had the chance to talk to the winemaker, Adam Alfasi, who indicated that the winery was now producing 250,000 bottles a year.
Odem Mountain has a broad range of wines from the entry level Forest series up to their flagship wines under the Alfasi label. This should not be confused with the entry level cheap wines from Chile called Alfasi.
I tasted a number of their wines, which are all pretty much available in the U.S. My two favorites were the Reserve Nebbiolo, which was my first time tasting a 100% Nebbiolo, which may be the only Israeli Nebbiolo (the past decade had offerings from Golan Heights Winery (Gamla), Avidan, and Ramot Naftaly). I also tasted Odem’s version of a Port-style wine.
Odem Mountain Winery also sell jams, honey and other items that are made on the Moshav.
Matar/Pelter
From Odem Mountain, I drove down to Ein Zivan, which is the location of Matar Winery, which is probably the second most northern winery in Israel. Matar was established as in 2012 as the kosher arm of the Pelter Winery, which at the time was probably one of the best non kosher wineries in Israel. At their winery you can taste both Pelter and Matar wines in a very relaxed setting, right in the production hall where the wines are made. You can also order cheese platters, and on the weekends, which for them is Friday, Saturday and Sunday, they offer locally-sourced products.
I tasted the latest vintages of wines that I am familiar with and available in the U.S. I also met with Tal Pelter, the winemaker and CEO, and he opened a 2020 CB that was absolutely delicious. I always recommend to folks that wine needs to breathe and should be opened well before it is to be drunk. Yet, he opened the CB, poured, and we tasted several minutes later. This wine is so approachable and really exceptional.
However, the real highlight of the visit was the single malt whiskys they are now producing. I have always found Israeli whiskys to be a little rough, but the three single malts that I tasted were truly delicious. They are not yet available for purchase but will be coming soon. They also have a cognac and other spirits, which are all 100% kosher.
I hope this has been an interesting read for you and I leave you with a couple of messages:
This past year has been incredibly tough for Am Yisrael, and the wineries have not been immune from the difficulties; from a reduction in consumption, many fewer visitors, absent employees who have been drafted into the IDF, and an inability to get to their vineyards. I’m a huge fan of Israeli wineries and wholeheartedly believe in supporting them. Please do your part, even if the Israeli wine is a few dollars more than you might usually spend.
Second, there are wineries all over the country, and many within an hour of the main population centers of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Netanya, Tiberias, Ashdod, and elsewhere. You do not have to invest a huge amount of time for a visit, and each winery is happy to have your visit, taste with you, and tell you its individual story.
Jaicky Tammam lives in West Orange, NJ. A wine aficionado, he runs the wine sales at his local shul. He also runs the monthly West Orange Rosh Chodesh wine club, and can be found at wine tastings in the NJ/NY area.
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