The following is from Wines Israel and reprinted w/ permission
Two recent initiatives show promise for the future of Israel’s wine regions.
Israel’s current registered wine regions were decided in the 1970’s. This was before the quality wine revolution began in Israel and also before all mass of today’s vineyards were planted it. This means that many believe the regions are either out of date, and that they do not do justice to the variety of Israel’s various terroirs and topography.
A proposal for new, updated regions was made at a recent presentation by viticulturist Eran Harcavi at the Wine Seminar recently held at Rosh Pina in the Upper Galilee. Instead of dividing up the country’s regions horizontally as is the case now, he proposes following the contours & topography of Israel which would entail splitting the wine regions into vertical strips. Certainly food for thought. It is good the subject is being discussed. For most people in the industry, this is long overdue.
During roughly the same time the Rosh Pina Conference took place, Israel’s most progressive wine region decided on other progressive step. A few years ago the Judean wineries gathered together into a club or consortium, to market their own region and advance tourism. Booklets and maps were printed, internet sites were set up & local wine fairs were organized. This was very progressive for Israel, and a beacon for other wine regions to follow. Then, last year they published a very advanced, academic study of the terroir of the region. It was the most in depth, professional study of any wine region in Israel to date. Now in their latest pioneering proposal, they have discussed the idea of encouraging both the planting of vineyards in their region, and encourage wineries mainly to use vineyards from their region. This would then lead to marketing the wineries, vineyards and resulting wines as being products of their region. As usual they are ahead of the game.
The discussion of regionality at the Rosh Pina Conference, Eran Harcavi’s presentation and the proposal by the Judean wineries show that some people are thinking progressively and creatively about Israel’s wine regions. This gives hope for the future.
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