Having followed Israel wines for many years I knew this day would come. Having worked at Israeli wineries I was sure that others would eventually acknowledge the high quality of up-and-coming Israeli wines. Having chosen a career in Israeli wines I have PRAYED for universal acceptance of Israeli wines. Ladies and gentlemen, Israeli wines have arrived!
In all seriousness I know that it will take a while, but the past 12 months have brought a barrage of recognition for Israeli wines. First it was the extensive tasting of Israeli wines by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (“Israeli wine isn’t an oddity any more, and it is certainly not just for those who keep kosher”). Then it was Wine Spectator’s Kim Marcus traveling the holy land (“I came away impressed by the leaps in quality, especially of the red wines, and by the dedication of the vintners”).
And more recently Israel earned its own chapter in the latest release (7th Edition) of ” Parker’s Wine Buyer’s Guide” – a whole NINE pages – as many as New Zealand and more than South Africa!
But I chose to write about my beloved Israeli wines today as there was more news yesterday.
Top 100
Wine Spectator’s “annual roundup of the years most exciting wines”, AKA the top 100 wines of the year included an Israeli wine for the first time. The Golan Heights winery’s Yarden 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon came in at 91. How cool is that! Also pretty cool are the messages of congratulations I received from several industry contacts. Although I had NOTHING to do with the making of this wine I feel like a proud parent.
Now go out and buy some great Israeli wine…you’ll love it!
Happy Israeli wine tasting!
WTG
Tags: Israel Wine, Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator, Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon
Awesome! Congrats, super encouraging to see, the praying has paid off! 🙂
Mazal Tov to Golan Heights winery. Now I can’t wait for Margalit to get the recognition is deserves. I have been using Yair Margalit’s book for my wine production for the last 6 years. Good stuff!