Friday

March 29th, 2024

L'chaim!

Given Trump's courageous move, why not toast him with a world-class Golan Heights produced wine? Here is your best choice

Joshua E. London

By Joshua E. London

Published March 25, 2019

 Given Trump's courageous move, why not toast him with a world-class Golan Heights produced wine? Here is your best choice
Given the Purim day Presidential tweet about the US recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a little Golan focus seems appropriate. Setting permanently aside all geopolitical and policy considerations—this is a booze column, after all, the Golan is in fact one of the most important wine growing regions in Israel.

First, the Golan was the launching pad for Israel's foray onto the international wine table. Specifically, the Golan Heights Winery (GHW) caused wine lovers across the globe to really begin to pay attention to Israel; the GHW began what is now universally acknowledged as Israel's wine "quality revolution."

Back in 1972 Prof. Cornelius Ough of the University of California at Davis—my undergraduate alma mater—identified the Golan's potential for quality wine grape cultivation.

At that time, it was a newly developed apple orchard area, but Prof. Ough noticed that the fruit was very good—apples, like wine grapes, also need a fine balance between fruit and acidity. He recognized, and explained to the locals, that the conditions were potentially ideal for grapes.

The Israeli Golan is a volcanic plateau—about 44 miles north to south, and about 27 miles from east to west at its widest point, altogether covering an area of about 444 square miles—which rises from Lake Kinneret to the foothills of the snow-covered Mount Hermon. The high altitude and cool climate combine with the hospitable soil composition—a mix of volcanic tuff and black basalt stone—to provide suitable conditions for high quality viticulture.

While Israel is on the same parallel as North Africa and is therefore one of the hotter wine-producing countries, climbing topography can neutralize some of the less optimal effects of the latitude, since elevation typically translates to cooler temperatures. Ranging from 1,300 to 4,000 feet above sea level, the Golan's vineyards have some of the highest altitudes in Israel, and so also enjoy the coolest climate and a longer growing season.

As Victor Schoenfeld, chief winemaker of the Golan Heights Winery, once explained it to me at a private tasting here in DC: "We have a classic Mediterranean climate: cold, wet winters providing the vines a deep dormancy, coupled with warm dry summers; we typically enjoy a long and surprisingly gentle growing season. Our days during the ripening period are dry, and almost always accompanied by afternoon winds; the nights are cool with fog or dew. Vines love these conditions!"

Taking Prof. Ough's advice, the first vineyards in the Golan were planted in 1976, and a core group of four kibbutzim (collective communities) and four moshavim (cooperative communities) then in partnership took the endeavor to the next level by establishing GHW in 1983.

GHW also imported from California winemaking expertise in the guise of consultant Peter Stern and embraced and invested in his recommended new world technology. Schoenfeld, another California import, took over from Stern as head winemaker in 1992 (he was the assistant in 1991). Equally significant, this new world technology was matched with new approaches, such as the elevation of the importance of the vineyard and of proper vineyard management. Vineyards used not to have so much primacy, whereas today it is universally understood that the foundation of quality wine is made in the vineyard.

This new focus on the vineyard for wine production also meant that the management of the vineyard—the decision-making process of how to prune and when to harvest—shifted from the grower to the winemaker. This was another significant "first." Taken altogether, Israel's wine "quality revolution" was born.

The GHW's first wine, a 1983 Yarden Sauvignon Blanc, was released to the market in 1984. It received widespread attention and equally widespread approval by wine critics across the wine world.

The GHW seemed to be blazing a path. In 1987 the Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon 1984 won Israel its ?rst major international wine award: the Winiarski Trophy, and Gold Medal at the International Wines & Spirits Competition in London. The GHW has since become something of a symbol of Israel at such international competitions, routinely winning major awards in a wide variety of categories.

Part of the great accomplishment of the GHW was not merely—as 40-year Israeli wine industry veteran Ed Salzberg (formerly of the Barkan Winery) once told me during our interview—the creation of dry table wines that finally reached an internationally acceptable standard, but also the fact that it "created the perception of quality Israeli wine," and that, in turn, "forced the entire industry to follow suit," planting better quality grapes in better matched locations; and forced them to reinvest in production technologies.

Until the Israeli "boutique wine revolution" of the 1990s, in which small new wineries began to flourish while focusing on excellence, the Golan was widely considered Israel's only top-quality wine region. Since then, the Upper Galilee and the Judean Hills have also become known for superior quality. Evens still, the Golan has flourished.

There are now numerous successful wineries garnering attention and critical praise, though non of these wineries have yet matched GHW in accomplishment.

Indeed, GHW continues to blaze a path. Despite dramatic increases in volume production, GHW continues to be perhaps the most technologically advanced winery in Israel, with exemplary vineyard management and development, while still producing some of the best wines across various price-points. In 2011, for example, GHW won the Trophy for Best Winery in the World at Vin Italy, and in 2013 GHW was awarded the trophy of Best New World Winery by Wine Enthusiast Magazine here in the United States.

So, this week let's all toast Israel's Golan region with a Golan grown wine. My own choice is the Golan Heights Winery, Yarden Rosé, Brut, 2012 ($40): This delightful, lightly pinkish, elegant sparkler is a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (typically 70/30 in most years), offering aromas of citrus, strawberries, stone fruits, and brioche, all draped in flowers. The bubbles are nicely sharp and concentrated, and the acidity is zippy and zingy. Yummy!

L'chaim!

Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

JWR contributor Joshua E. London is a wine and spirits columnist who regularly speaks and leads tutored tastings on kosher wines, whisk(e)y, tequila, and other unique spirits.


Previously:

4 cups of wine, yet so many choices

Wine is Best Savored, Not Saved. Growing national movement does it in shul (synagogue)

You definitely want to be hit with this 'snowball'. A perfect -- rich, thick, creamy, sweet, and custardy -- cocktail

Taking the Rosh Hashanah apple motif to the next level

Lightening Up On The Four Cups: Wines that won't fog the mind during the long holiday ceremony

Four ardent spirits to warm with

An Ageless Beauty: Try this NAS Whisky from the Isle of Skye

Putting the spirits into spiritual: Enjoy these single malt Scotch whiskies

Variety of new wines for new year delight

Sweet Beaujolais memories

A toast to the grillmaster: What to pair on a summer's eve with grilled beef, such as a juicy, gloriously fat-marbled, rib-eye steak

July 4: Cheers Beyond Beers: On Independence Day consider these premium rye whiskies

Tradition meets innovation meets delicious wine

Kosher wine's hero

On Purim, with a religious duty to imbibe, do it right!

Why not enjoy all of that holiday wine?

Fungus among us produces a distinctive dessert wine

A classic curative cocktail --- Hot toddy: A remedy for a, or the, cold

The growing population -- and popularity -- of sweet reds + the World Whisky Of The Year

This year, give the gift of booze

What you should drink for Thanksgiving

Some atypical wine blends --- and a whisky-tourism trip

A wine bargain, and Johnnie Walker goes platinum!

And now they're kosher

Columnists

Toons