Terravino Israel 2009
21.12.2009
By: John Salvi, MW
Israel, of course, is a fascinating country with fascinating people and the dream visit for many millions for a multitude of reasons. Therefore if one is invited to judge an International Wine Tasting Competition there, one literally jumps at the chance. I was extremely fortunate to have been invited to all 4 editions and this was the 3rd one that I attended, together with 16 other international tasters and 19 Israeli ones. 35 judges in total, forming 7 commissions of 5 judges each.
The event was organised by Haim Gan, the Executive Director, Moises Aaron Spak, an Argentinean/Israeli (founder and spirit of Terravino) carrying the title of International Affairs Director, and Raul C. Castellani, General Manager and also an Argentinean still living in Argentina. Oenologist Leonardo Castellani, his son, was the Samples Director.
The Competition was endowed with some fascinating side events, which were worth the trip on their own. They started with a dinner in Tel Aviv. I missed this as I had been assisting at WineFuture Rioja 2009 and had taken a night flight to arrive at 0500 the following morning. I just had time for a wash and brush and breakfast before our bus left for Jerusalem. There is no space here to describe the wonders of visiting the holy places of this legendary city, but it was a deeply moving experience. We could have spent the whole day here and more, but time dictated that we had to continue on to the Dead Sea. Here we spent a couple of hours savouring the unique experience of trying to swim in a salt encrusted sea. One bobs like a cork and it is virtually impossible to force one’s feet down to the bottom, which is covered in large salt crystals. It tastes both very salt and very bitter. Moshe gave us packs of Dead Sea Mud to smear on our bodies for beneficial effects. Brave souls did so and looked like Coco the clown. Exhilarated but exhausted, we bussed on to Eilat and the Isrotel King Solomon’s Palace, which was to be our tasting palace for the next few days.
Serious tasting started the next morning (Sunday). The day before had been the Sabbath, so we could not have tasted and that is why it was used for visiting Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.
The first morning we tasted 38 wines, my jury having 24 Sparkling ones.
Tasting conditions were perfect and impeccable. Good overhead lighting, white tablecloths, large and fine glasses, spittoons, bread, our National Flags, white napkins and friendly and proficient service by ladies smartly dressed in black.
Some statistics! There were 550 wines as opposed to 391 in the first edition (2006). There were 103 Spirits, whilst in 2006 there had only been 6. This has become an important part of the competition. Of the 550 wines, 301 were from outside Israel (54.7%) and 249 from inside (45.3%). This made it truly international and the competition enjoys the patronage of the OIV and uses the OIV/UIO Tasting Sheet. There was a new and original category, given the name of HOME WINES. It was not part of the official competition patronised by the OIV, but we awarded medals to the wines as though it was. These were literally wines made at home by amateurs from grapes which they either bought or which came from their small patches of vines. Most of them were of no more than some 300 litres in quantity. Literally garage wines! One of our judges was the young oenologist, Nir Shaham, who gives the wine making courses to the enthusiasts.
The marking system was interesting. If a judge gave a mark that was very different from the other members of the jury it was eliminated, but it had to be at least 5 points from the media. Otherwise all 5 scores were taken and averaged. This is, in many peoples opinion, a fairer method than methodically eliminating the highest and lowest scores. A minimum of 83 points was required for a silver medal, 88 for a gold and 93 for a Double Gold. A good feature was that, the next day, we were given a printed sheet with the marks of each member of our jury for each of the wines tasted, together with their divergence from the average and the final score. That way we could see if we were marking high or low in comparison with the rest of our jury. The first day my jury found that it had given just one Double Gold Medal.
The second day we tasted 44 wines, all red in my jury. Feeling that we had worked hard (the maximum allowed by the OIV rules is 45) we were given a fabulous boat trip on the Red Sea in the afternoon. We went as far as Jordan on the one side and Egypt on the other and could just see Saudi Arabia in the distance. In the middle we stopped to bathe and parasail. The water was warm, but so was the wine we were served aboard to refresh us!
The third and last day of tasting devoted the morning to the above-mentioned Home Wines. Some of them were excellent and truly fruity and tasted as if professionally made. If one wishes to be severe, the chief criticism of the others would be rusticity, but it must be hard to make excellent wines in just one barrel in a garage. We awarded a number of gold medals, which were not part of the official 30% in the OIV sponsored competition. In the afternoon we tasted the “Spirits”. This included alcohols of all sorts: spirits, liqueurs, flavoured alcohols, whiskies, brandies, piscos, etc. Some of them were both deadly and ferocious!!
The nest day was more or less a holiday before the Gala Dinner and the announcement of the medal winners. A film was shown, taken over the last 4 days, and the photographer had captured us all in the most unbecoming and compromising positions. It was hilarious. The Minister Of Agriculture and Tourism had come all the way to Eilat for the prize giving ceremony and gave a highly serious speech praising the competition, the wines, the producing wineries, and stressing their value for Israel in the eyes of the world. He thanked all the judges, and to my surprise and delight, singled me out for particular thanks. This gave me the opportunity to mention the Semana Vitivinicola, which I represented as Press.
Most of the judges left the next day, but I had arranged to stay on and help with Terravino’s wine weekend. I therefore spent the day visiting Petra, in Jordan, today regarded as the Second Wonder of the World after the Great Wall of China. Words are inadequate to describe the wonder of this ancient memorial!
That evening, exhausted but content, two of us international judges gave tasting lessons to some 200 wine lovers. This is a very clever idea. The Isrotel, together with Terravino, stage a wine lover’s weekend, a wine fair, after the Tasting Competition. Amateurs and every type and kind of person with a passion for wine attend from all over the country. Tonight they were given a tasting of about a dozen wines under identical conditions to those of our official competition, using the same rules, the same glasses, and the same tasting sheet and procedure. The only difference was that, after they had tasted each wine, one of us international judges went through it with them, slowly and carefully, and explained to them what they should have found in the wine. In addition some of the wine-makers were present and explained their methods of vinification and their philosophies. The event was sold out and there was a waiting list in spite of the cost being quite expensive.
The wine fair went on throughout most of the weekend. The following morning, on the beautiful terrace of the hotel, overlooking the Red Sea, many Israeli wine growers set up stands for people to taste and buy their wines. There were also olive oils, cheeses, delicacies and health foods. It was friendly, informal and great fun and I was able to taste a vast array of Israeli wines. In the afternoon there were lectures on alcohols and cigars and on the final day, Saturday, a fine tasting of kosher wines from Bordeaux, Chianti and Rioja. Haim Gan, who also owns a shop by the name of “The Grape Man”, was the organiser of this wine lovers’ weekend and was thrilled and delighted with its success.
To try and sum up, this is a brilliantly organised Tasting Competition with some worthwhile additions such as the Home Wines. It serves a serious and vitally important service, as the Minister of Agriculture so clearly said, which is that of putting the little known Israeli wines on the world map. We have to remember that it is not so very long ago that the production of all wine and alcoholic drinks was strictly prohibited under Muslim rule. The Rothschild family was one of the first to plant again when it was permitted, and Israeli wines have come a very long way in a short space of time. Today they are making a number of world class wines and I strongly encourage them to enter these wines in every possible International Wine Tasting Competition, as they have been doing for the last 2 years with excellent results. They will surely win medals and this will help them become better known worldwide. Terravino is a fine initiative and MUST CONTINUE. Israeli wines are now worthy of being taken seriously by importers from all over the globe. Whilst the majority of the wines produced are kosher, there are absolutely no hang-ups about religious significances and they are just wines that are steadily getting better and better.
Well done Terravino, congratulations to the organisers and I await the 5th edition with pleasure and anticipation.
ADDENDUM
When the medals were announced the Grand Champion for the best wine in the competition was NICOLAS FEUILLATTE PALMES D’OR 1998 CHAMPAGNE. The Champion of the Israeli wines was MASADA 2007 from GVAOT WINERY LTD, who also won the top medal for his kosher wine. Overall, apart from NICOLAS FEUILLATTE, 16 Double Gold medals were awarded, of which 4 came from Israel. There were also 68 Gold and 82 Silver, making a grand total of 167 medals or exactly 30% as the OIV dictates. For the Home Wines (not part of the official medals) the joint champions were YORO with a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and VINO VERITAS with a CABERNET/MERLOT 2005. Home Wines also won 3 Gold and 15 Silver medals.
The Grand Champion of the Spirits Competition was “Bacardi 8 Years” from Puerto Rico. Tequila won one Double Gold and two Gold medals. Pisco won two Double Gold and 3 Gold. Rum won 2 Double Gold and 4 Gold. Others (Whisky, Vodka, Grappa) won 3 Gold. Liqueurs won 2 Double Gold and 7 Gold.
The strangest drink in the competition was an ICE WINE GRAPPA XO. Beware!!!
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I buy Israeli wines in my country (Not for Israelis)
