The basics for Israeli wine: 60 commercial wineries (the top 6 wineries total 75 % of the harvest), 5.500 hectares of vineyards planted with international varieties that have been well adapted to the country's mesoclimates and a climate with extremes. A map of the wine regions of Israel from winesisrael.com is shown at the end of the post. Consumption per capita is very low, just 4 lts and the biggest threat in the vineyards is leaf roll virus with Esca making a strong comeback. Israel has also its first Master of Wine, winemaker and general manager of Tzora Vineyards Eran Pick MW.
''In a country with such a warm climate with extremes, the biggest challenge for the winemaker is to make balanced complex wines. Which means picking decisions, protecting the grapes from the sun and good tannin management are all critical'' says Eran Pick MW.
We started out tour with Tabor winery situated in the heart of the fertile Galilee in the foothills of Mt. Tabor. Tabor winery produces about 2 million bottles from a variety of soils mostly from high altitude vineyards (800-900 m at Golan Heights) and they seem to pay a lot of attention to viticulture. We tasted together with Or Nidbach and agronomist Michal Akerman (pictured below) a good selection of wines.