The  third annual ‘Eshkol Ha’Zahav’ Wine tasting competition took place recently. In the past, only small & boutique wineries submitted wines, and this year was the first that some of the larger wineries also decided to participate. 

The competition, organized by Studio Ben Ami, tasted 140 wines from 42 wineries. Each year the number of wineries entering grows, however this year there were still notable absentees like Barkan, Carmel, Castel & Margalit, who all chose not to enter their wines.

The results were announced at a Gala Dinner at the Dan Hotel Tel Aviv in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Israel Katz. The meal was cooked by Yonatan Roshfeld, one of Israel’s most famous chefs and in between the courses there was an auction of rare wines for the charity ‘Elem.’ The evening was a rare occasion when most of the Israeli wine industry were together – including CEO’s and winemakers of most of the big and small wineries. The atmosphere towards the end of the evening, when the eagerly awaited award ceremony took place, resembled the Oscars.

The prize winners were dominated by two wineries: the Golan Heights Winery dominated the white wines. They won first place in the categories for best Chardonnay, ‘Aromatic White Wines’ & Dessert Wines. They were also placed in some of the red wine categories. The winery is situated at Katzrin and their vineyards are on the Golan Heights.

Yatir Winery were the main award winner in the red wines. They won the prize for the best Cabernet Sauvignon, the best Merlot and were placed third in the competition for the best ‘Blended Red Wine’. Their winery is situated at Tel Arad and their vineyards are in Yatir Forest in the southern Judean Hills.

Other wineries to perform well were Efrat & Tabor, both of which did well in the categories for ‘value for money’ wines. A summary of the main results is as follows:

 Red Wines

Cabernet Sauvignon

Winner – Yatir Forest 2002, Yatir Winery

2^nd – Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon

3^rd – Terra Rossa Cabernet Sauvignon, Tabor Adama

Merlot

Winner – Yatir Merlot 2001, Yatir Winery

2^nd – Chateau Golan Royal Reserve Merlot 2002

3^rd -  Yarden Merlot 2001

Blends

Winner – Yiron 2001, Galil Mountain Winery

2^nd -  Teperberg Meritage 2003

3^rd – Yatir Cabernet – Merlot – Shiraz 2002

Syrah

Winner – Ayalon Syrah, Nachshon Winery

2^nd – Yarden Syrah 2001

3^rd – Harel Syrah 2003

White Wines

Chardonnay

Winner – Yarden Chardonnay 2002, Golan Heights Winery

2^nd – Tabor Chardonnay 2003

3^rd – Bravdo Chardonnay 2004

Sauvignon Blanc

Winner – Ella Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2004, Ella Valley Vineyards

2^nd -  Dalton Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2004

3^rd – Chateau Golan Sauvignon Blanc 2003

Aromatic Wines

Winner – Yarden Gewurztraminer 2004, Golan Heights Winery

2^nd – Efrat ‘Israeli’ Emerald Riesling 2004

3^rd =  Gamla Riesling 2004 &  Ramim Shahar Riesling 2004

Dessert Wines

Winner – Yarden Heights Wine 2002, Golan Heights Winery

2^nd = Golan Moscato & Ramim Desert Ice

3^rd – Efrat Ninve Muscat Alexandria

These were the results of the competition involving larger wineries & the more commercial boutique wineries. In addition there was also another competition for domestic or ‘garagiste’ wineries producing under 10,000 bottles a year. In this section, Ruth Winery won two first prizes for the best Cabernet Sauvignon & for the best blended red wine, and Ben Shoshan Winery won the prize for the best Merlot.

April 2005