Carmel Winery has announced the formation of ‘Handcrafted Olive Oils of Israel.’ This new consortium of olive oil producers will operate alongside ‘Handcrafted Wines of Israel,’ a group of Israel’s finest wineries, which was successfully launched in February 2004.
David Ziv, CEO of Carmel Winery: “Our first objective is to add value to Handcrafted Wines. Wine & olive oil are natural partners. We also want to strengthen image of Israel as a Mediterranean country producing world class wines & olive oils. Finally we want to create a brand awareness of quality Israeli olive oil in gourmet markets worldwide.”
Carmel took great care in selecting the partners for this project to reflect the different growing regions and the variety & quality of Israel’s finest olive oils. They are as follows:
Gazit – Haim Gazit produces one of the finest boutique olive oils in Israel from his olive grove in the western Galilee. In the annual competition organised by the Olive Board, he was the winner of the small producer category in 2004. In previous years he was twice in 2nd and once in 3rd place.
Halutza – Halutza Olive Oil is an estate created in the last 10 years at Revivim, a kibbutz with 60 years experience of making the desert bloom, in the central Negev highlands. They use the most advanced agricultural & ecological methods. In the last three years, Halutza has twice been awarded the prize as Israel’s finest extra virgin olive oil and won the prize ‘Best of Show’ in the Kosher World Food Exhibition held recently in Los Angeles.
Kad Bnei Darom – Kad Bnei Darom is a family operation on a moshav situated near Ashdod. They are the only Israeli mill to produce olive oil using the Sinolea method, pioneered in Italy. Kad Bnei Darom has the most advanced olive mill visitor's center in Israel, where they also sell a full range of their own gourmet products.
Kibbutz Tzora – Kibbutz Tzora produce olive oil from the Judean Hills and foothills. It is sold alongside Tzora wines at the winery visitor's center. At Tel Tzora nearby, there is evidence of an ancient olive press and winemaking from 2,500 years ago.
Makura – In the western foothills of Mount Carmel, lays Makura Ranch which is famous both for its bio-organic produce and Amphorae Vineyard - the winery. The olive oil has received international recognition - at ‘Biol’ in Italy, the international competition for organic olive oils, Makura came 4th – out of 300 olive oils taking part.
Uri Sagie - The Sagie family has been in Israel for seven generations and was also founders of Kfar Bialik, north of Haifa. There Uri Sagie, a retired Major-General from the IDF, produces his ‘handcrafted’ olive oil. In the last three years he has once won the prize for having Israel’s finest olive oil from a small producer, and twice been runner up.
Carmel is one of the biggest producers of extra virgin olive oil in Israel with approximately 25% of the market. Their olive oil is collected from olive groves all over Israel and blended by specialists at Zichron Ya’acov Winery. For three years in a row Carmel Extra Virgin Olive Oil received a citation from The Olive Board.
David Ziv added: “Handcrafted wineries which begin to produce olive oil will be added to the olive oil group – provided they match up to the stringent standards of The Israel Olive Board.”
Gadi Horowitz, Assistant Managing Director of the Israel Olive Board: “We believe in the quality of Israeli olive oil. We support Carmel’s initiative and believe ‘Handcrafted Olive Oils of Israel’ will be successful in putting Israel olive oil on the international map.”
