Judean Hills Wine Festival 
 06.11.2010 

By: Yonatan Sternberg

A couple of weeks ago I attended the 12th annual Judean Hills wine festival. As a Jerusalemite, this event provided me with a wonderful opportunity to sample a variety of wines produced by some 20 wineries situated in the hills surrounding Jerusalem.

After being rained out last year, this time the organizers decided to find an indoor venue, eventually choosing the Leilot Can’an hall on Kibbutz Tzora, home to the Tzora Vineyards winery and only a 4 minute drive from the Mony winery situated in the nearby Dir Rafat monastery.

At these types of events, I often find it difficult and unfair to take down serious tasting notes but rather try to stop by each booth and sample a couple of their vinos. In my opinion, it takes more then a couple of minutes to evaluate and receive a genuine impression of the wine and serving temperature, ambient odors, glasses and other factors that influence the tasting are far from being ideal.

At the Judean Hills Wine Festival, I was pleased to see some of my usual favorites alongside some new surprising releases being poured. The Castel Grand Vin (07), a complex Bordeaux style blend considered as the flagship vino at the Castel winery. Winemaker Shuki Yeshuv from the Agur winery has also released some very good wines over the past couple of years, and at his booth I enjoyed a red blend titled Kesem (Hebrew for Magic) as well as the recently released Special Reserve (shmira meyuchedet), both from the 08 vintage. Yossi Yitach owner and winemaker at the Katlav winery produced a very enjoyable blend under the Wadi Katlav (06 and 07) label. Zeev Dunia at Susson Yam also had a few interesting wines and while not served at the show, if you have the opportunity, I recommend trying his varietal Chenin Blanc. Since this is one of my first encounters with the winery, the most surprising and interesting was a 100% Pinot Noir based wine from the 2006 vintage produced by the Anava winery, a boutique winery situated on Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim.

The Judean Hills (Harey Yehuda) is considered by many to be one of Israel’s top wine regions. Every wine region (of course conditions do vary from vineyard to vineyard within the region) is characterized by a different and unique terroir. Due to the hilly topography and relatively high altitudes (500-1000 meters above sea level) many vineyards are planted on terraces and mountain slopes, enjoying warm temperatures during the day and cool breezes at night.

Over the past 20 years, many new players have joined the local wine industry and today the region is home to some of Israel’s top boutique and medium sized wineries, including: Domain du Castel from Ramat Raziel, Flam (which will be receiving kosher certification in the near future), Clos de Gat from the Ayalon valley, Bravdo – Karmei Yosef, Ella Valley winery and others.

A few years back, owners, local municipalities and winemakers partnered to establish and mark a Judean Hills route du vin (wine trail), laying the foundations for wine and culinary tourism in the region. The wine trail allows visitors to easily plan a day tour (or more), visiting wineries and sampling their offerings. Keep in mind that many of the smaller wineries do not have regular visiting hours and making a reservation is advised. Of course kosher wineries will be closed on Saturdays and close early on Fridays.

Additional information about the wineries and tour options is available at - http://touryoav-wine.org.il/

L’chaim!