Eli Ben Zaken – An Israeli Serge Hochar! 
 12.09.2009
 

Now it is true Chateau Musar is unusual. It is made in a totally unorthodox fashion, and the wines have an unlikely ability to age and improve over time. However, one of the secrets of their success has been their remarkable owner Serge Hochar. He is a character. He would appear in London or New York from the Levant – another world for most people in the wine trade. Invariably he dressed in a pin stripe suit, white shirt and tie, a speaking with his French accent and gesticulating like an Italian, he would explain in a sensual way the vagaries of the latest vintage. He would then drop in details of the latest atrocity or local terrorism, which affected the harvest itself. People admired him and the aristocracy of wine writers, like Michael Broadbent and Hugh Johnson, seemed to love him no less than his wines. No wonder Decanter Magazine named him their first ‘Man of The Year’ in 1984.

In Israel there have been few characters to put a face to the new quality of Israeli wines and Baron Edmond de Rothschild died a long time ago! The Golan Heights Winery has enjoyed great success and like Chateau Musar, participates in the New York Wine Experience, to which only the finest wineries in the world are invited. However there is no one person who represents the wines of the Golan. It is more a team effort, in which a number of different people play a part. Even winemaker Victor Schoenfeld keeps a low profile. Israel is short of characters producing world-class wine.

However in the mountains west of Jerusalem, there is a small family estate winery, whose owner has had the mantle of Israel’s finest winery thrust upon him. The winery is Domaine du Castel, the place, Ramat Raziel & the owner winemaker is Eli Ben Zaken.

Eli Ben Zaken can be seen at wine exhibitions, from Vinexpo to Vinisud – often the sole Israeli exhibitor. He looks like a slightly ruffled, absent-minded professor. He will usually be wearing a checkered shirt and the café crème cigars will never be far away. However what the casual exterior hides is a man of absolute passion and an unyielding perfectionist, who does not suffer fools gladly. Visit his winery, see his vineyard, look at his labels, taste the wine and you better understand the man. If you don’t find him in the vineyard wearing his large floppy sun hat, he will probably be showing around the latest famous wine journalist to visit Israel, in his quiet, understated way – unless there his a Grand Prix on television at the same time (another of his passions.)

This man of contrasts had a very international beginning. He was born in Egypt, and educated in Italy and England. He was a well-known restaurateur running an Italian restaurant in Jerusalem before he got the wine bug. However making wine for fun was not enough for Ben Zaken. He was self- taught, making the first vintages from Emile Peynaud’s book, like so many new winemakers. He planted a vineyard in front of his home in 1988, built his beautiful winery in an old chicken coop with a striking barrel cellar.

He sent his son Ariel to Burgundy to study & learn, brought in his son in law, Arnon Geva, to help him run the business and made it a truly family affair.
Running a family estate winery in the scenic Jerusalem mountains would be idyllic enough for many, but Ben Zaken’s wine was also rather good. He called the winery Castel, after a nearby Crusader castle, and the Judean Hills growing region was translated to ‘Haut Judée”, showing his Francophile tendencies. He called the wine ‘Grand Vin’ - and that was what it turned out to be.

The first vintage of Castel,1992, was ‘found’ by Serena Sutcliffe, Master of Wine and Head of The Sotheby’s Wine Department. She wrote it was the best Israeli wine she had ever tasted. The Castel Grand Vin in later years became the first Israeli wine to become Decanter Wine of The Month, a feat that was repeated no less than three times. His ‘C’ Blanc du Castel also was ‘Best New Release’ in the same magazine. Eli Ben Zaken was invited to present his wine at the ‘Decanter Rising Stars Exhibition’ and then at their ‘Fine Wine Show’ featuring some of the world’s finest wineries.

Eli Ben Zaken is a passionate Zionist, generous with praise of other Israeli wineries. At Vinexpo & Vinitaly he has been known to organize & present tutored tastings of Israeli wines, even when Castel was only one of many wineries taking part. Unlike many individualists, he is eager to advance his competitors if it is good for the perception of Israeli wine.

Many were interested to see what would happen to the quality when Castel became kosher in 2003. However, since then his wines have received even greater international acclaim than before. In the first major Israeli tasting by the Wine Advocate, all three of the wines submitted scored 90 points or over. In the last two years, Castel has had no less than seven wines with 90+ scores from Robert Parker, more than any Israeli winery. Furthermore, Blanc du Castel was the first Israeli wine to get more than 90 points in the Wine Spectator and the Grand Vin was the first Israeli wine to receive a healthy score (93 points) from Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV.

However the success was not confined to American critics. Recently Castel became the first Israeli wine to gain the prestigious four stars in the Pocket Wine Book by Englishman Hugh Johnson, the doyen of the world’s wine writers. Also Castel was honored to be selected as Israel’s only representative in the book: “The World’s Greatest Wines” by the French partnership of Michel Bettane & Thierry Desseauve.

Eli- Gilbert Ben Zaken may not wear a suit like Serge Hochar, but his wines are certainly gaining respect internationally to an extent previously unheard of for Israeli wines. The recognition from the likes of Robert Parker, Hugh Johnson and Michel Bettane may be a reason for celebration at Ramat Raziel, but it is also a source of great pride for the Israeli wine industry as a whole.