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Rating Israeli & California WinesHow do Israel’s finest red wines compare to their California counter
Part One in a series of two articles, reviewing some of Israel's finest red wines.
The land of Canaan, now Israel, has been heralded as a prime candidate for the birth of wine and winemaking. The biblical book of Genesis credits Noah of flood fame with being the first vineyardist and winemaker. His vineyard would, presumably, be in the region near Mt. Ararat, not far from the land of Canaan. There are hundreds of references to wine and vines in the Old Testament. See our blog on the origin of wine. Winemaking continued without interruption in the land of Israel until the region fell under Muslim control in 636 A.D., when Islamic zealots ripped out the vineyards. The vine was reintroduced in 1882 by the son of James de Rothschild, who had recently purchased Chateau Lafite in Bordeaux. The Rothschild family opened Israel's first modern winery under the name Rishon Le Zion in Samaria. Rishon Le Zion remains Israel's largest wine cooperative and exports high quality table wines under the Carmel label. Today there are over twenty wineries operating in Israel and wine is made in almost every region of the country. The best wines, so far, come from Galilee (Galil), which includes the Golan Heights. The Golan Heights vineyards enjoy volcanic soils and an altitude of around 3,000 feet, much like California's Sierra Foothills region. Other Israeli appellations are Samaria (central Israel), Samson (central coast), Judean Hills (Jerusalem) and the Negev (Beersheba). While most Israeli wine is made from the descendants of the original Rothschild plantings (Grenache, Semillon, Muscat of Alexandria, and other southern French varietals), Israel's rising reputation rests on the classic French varietals introduced in the 1980s-Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. These splendid wines are difficult to find in North America, a few may be found online at places like the Judaica Web Store and Royal Wine Corp. THE WINES Our tasting panel conducted a blind review of three outstanding examples of contemporary Israeli wines, comparing them with three California counterparts, priced similarly. The wine list:
See the following article for the results of this blind comparison.
The copyright of the article Rating Israeli & California Wines in New World Wine is owned by Alan Boehmer. Permission to republish Rating Israeli & California Wines in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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