Best Wine Producer in Israel

I love headlines like this:

Psagot Winery overcomes the Earth’s elements to produce award-winning wine

It comes from an item that originates in London.

In a country with a hot climate, minimal rainfall and a shortage of indigenous wine grapes, setting up a vineyard in Israel doesn’t necessarily scream “success story”. Psagot Winery, however, has overcome all these challenges to rejuvenate the ancient tradition of Israeli wine making, thereby making it a true competitor against its Mediterranean rivals.

...Psagot Winery’s founder Yaakov Berg was keen to reawaken the ancient status that Israel once held...hard work eventually paid off, with a growing customer base worldwide. This year, moreover, Psagot Winery was included in the World Finance Fine Wine Report 2018 and received the award for Best Wine Producer in Israel, 2018. 

... 65 percent of Psagot’s wine is exported. Now an established international player, Psagot Winery is focusing on its long-term plans of expanding its portfolio to include white wine and sparkling wine.

Continue to learn about Psagot Winery in  Ya’acov Oryah's story here.

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Wines from Binyamin Region

Guess what?

ESHKOL HAZAHAV
May 5, 2015
Israel’s premier wine tasting competition
The winners of this year’s Eshkol Hazahav (Golden Cluster), were announced at The Peres Center For Peace in Jaffa...Two hundred and fifty nine wines were sent in from fifty-six wineries, to be tasted blind by panels of experts. These included winemakers, sommeliers, wine critics and wine connoisseurs.

The surprise of the evening was Shiloh Winery...Shiloh won an outstanding four Gold Medal Trophies, all of them red wines...

The Gold Medal Trophies, (first place), were awarded to the following wines:

RED BLENDS (NIS 90-120)
Legend, Shiloh 2012
Legend 2, Shiloh 2011

CABERNET SAUVIGNON (More than NIS 100)
Sod Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiloh 2012

MERLOT (More than NIS 100)
Sod Merlot, Shiloh 2011

Oh, and 

MERLOT (Less than NIS 100)
Psagot Merlot 2013

But the venue of the Peres Center was, well, satisfying.

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How Do Shiloh Winery Wines Rate?

88
87
86
84
82
81

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Gat Wine?

The gat at Shiloh:

The explanation:

The winepress, (gat in Hebrew), is the area where the grapes were pressed. This was normally a limestone basin cut into the rock. Usually they were square but sometimes round...The winepress was usually close to the vineyard because there was less wastage and a greater opportunity to maintain control of the winemaking process...

Grapes would be carried in baskets and laid on the floor of the winepress, and the men usually did the pressing. This was done by treading on the grapes with bare feet. There was enough pressure to extract the juice but not enough to crush the grape pips and release unpleasant bitterness...The juice, or must (tirosh), would then flow down a gulley or channel from the main pressing area into a deeper hole, known as the yekev (literally “winery”). Twigs or thorns would be placed strategically to act as a rudimentary filter.

In the yekev, the wine would begin to ferment naturally. The natural yeasts on the skins of the grapes would find all the sugar in the grapes irresistible. The deepness of the hole and the stone surrounds would keep temperatures stable. Fermentation of the tirosh would take three to five days, and the result would be wine.

As soon as the production of carbon dioxide (a by-product of fermentation) finished and before the wine could begin to oxidize, the wine would be channeled into an even deeper pit, where Canaanite jars were filled. This was a pottery container with two large handles and a pointed bottom.

They became better known by their Greek name, amphorae. They were closed or sealed with pine resin. This imparted a unique flavor that may still be sampled in the retsina wines produced in Greece. The amphorae were stamped with seals giving the information of the vintage, vineyard, type of wine and color.

The Talmud describes 60 types of wines. Some wines were diluted with water. Others would invariably have flavors added to improve the taste and act as a preservative. Salt, seawater, herbs and spices such as cinnamon were added. Raisins or date honey were used as sweeteners. These flavored wines were forerunners of the punches or vermouths of today. Smoked wine was cooked wine. They were the forerunner of Mevushal wine, though it was done to concentrate the wine into a syrup rather than for kashrut reasons. Even in those days they knew about drying grapes on mats to concentrate the sweetness...

The Shiloh winery:

L'chayim!
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On The Wine of the Shiloh Winery

In Haaretz!

Here:

Established in Shiloh in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria, this winery released its first wines from the 2005 vintage.

Winemaker Amichai Lourie relies on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah and Chardonnay grapes, largely from the winery's own vineyards. Production in 2007 was of 70,000 bottles, in 2008 (a shmita year ) 40,000 and in 2009 about 60,000.

Shiloh, Mosaic, 2006: Deep, almost impenetrable garnet with purple reflections, full-bodied, reflecting its 20 months in French oak with generous but not-overpowering spicy wood and gently mouth-coating tannins. A blend of 60% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, flushed out with Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot. Opens to show a generous red berry and chocolate personality, and on the long finish notes of dried herbs. Drink now-2015. NIS 230. Score 91. K

Shiloh, Shiraz, Sod Reserve, 2008: Dark, full-bodied, reflecting its 20 months in primarily French oak with notes of sweet and spicy cedar and graphite and still gripping tannins, those needing a bit more time to integrate but already showing fine balance and structure. Opens with blackberries and purple plums, going on to aromas and flavors of wild berries and vanilla and, on the long, gently gripping finish an appealing note of freshly cured cigar tobacco. Approachable and enjoyable now, but best from mid-2011 to 2015. NIS 120. Score 90 K

More on the winery.

A previous post from 2007.

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Okay, So I Know The Owner But L'Chayyim Anyway

Psagot Wines Proves Israel Competing Favorably with World Class Wines

Quality wines are so much a part of the culture and history of France that it is automatically given the edge when it comes to winemaking. Yet, of late Israeli wineries have fared extremely well in international competitions even against the best French wines, and yes Israel with its rich tradition in general has a long history in winemaking.

A good example is the Psagot Winery, which is located in the Judean Hills just north of Jerusalem overlooking the Edom Mountains to the east. This area was once the home of hundreds of ancient wineries whose remnant can still be seen today. Psagot's wine cellar is an ancient cave used for winemaking that dates back to the time of the second temple. In this wine cellar Psagot ages enough wine to produce about 80,000 bottles a year. Their signature wine is called Edom and it is made from a collection of the various grapes at the wineries. Smooth and rewarding Edom is rich with the flavor of berries, vanilla and oriental spices.

"The flavor comes from the mountains surrounding Jerusalem”, says Yaakov Berg, one of Psagot’s owners. "The soil is very rocky and in order to plant we need to drill into the rocks. Because of this the grapes receive a lot of minerals from the soil that add to the overall taste of the wine". With eight different wines, Psagot Winery is primed to become one of the premier labels in Kosher wine.

There's a picture of Yaakov here.

(Kippah tip: HL)