The first winery town of Israel is the unpretentious, pretty Zichron Ya’acov, which lies on the southern slopes of Mount Carmel, midway between Haifa and Netanya. It is close to Route 2 (the coast road), Route 4 (aka ‘the old road’) and easily accessible from Route 6 – The Yitzhak Rabin Highway.
In this modest town, it is possible to visit the largest winery in Israel (and one of the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean or Middle East) and also small garagistes, producing a few thousand bottles a year. This is the heart of the most traditional wine growing region in Israel and the area where the first vineyards were planted in the 1880’s by Baron Edmond de Rothschild.
Zichron Ya’acov is the Tuscany or Provence of Israel. It is a town that still has the village appearance of pre-state Israel, and the surrounding valleys are covered with vines. The Founders Street (HaMeyasdim) has been turned into a pedestrian area allowing tourists to browse in craft shops, eat in Mediterranean style restaurants or sip coffee in the coffee shops and watch the world go by. Many of the houses are original and are still occupied by the founding families, whose forefathers went through unspeakable difficulties.
When the first families arrived at Zamarin (as it was originally called) from Romania in 1882, they found an inhospitable place with the ground so stony that it was difficult to clear the land in order to build. They were not used to physical work and were hopelessly unequipped to survive in such a hostile environment. Early attempts to grow wheat and potatoes were not a success and they swiftly ran out of money. In the early years, no less than ten per cent of the settlers died and the cemetery reveals graves of some 300 children that died in the first twelve years. However the settlers of the First Aliyah had spirit in abundance. When a representative of the philanthropist Baron Hirsch visited Zamarin, he urged the families to reconsider their positions, offered finance and suggested they return home or face starvation. However the settlers were determined to stay, saying “We purchased this land with our well-earned money. We have no other home in the entire world. We will not leave even if we die of disease and even if we gnaw the stones from hunger!”
The person receiving this message was so impressed by the response, that he immediately approached Baron Edmond de Rothschild, a Frenchman from Paris, for financial assistance. Rothschild, who had already started to assist the fledgling settlement of Rishon Le Zion, was quick to provide finance, advisors and a direction. He sent agronomists to Palestine, who recommended the planting of vines as being suitable for the Mediterranean climate and stony soil. He provided finance to subsidize the settlers and initiated a massive planting program of vineyards in the 1980’s.
In 1887 Baron Edmond de Rothschild visited Zamarin for the first time. At his request, the village was renamed ‘Zichron Ya’acov’, which means In Memory of Jacob. The Jacob in this instance was Edmond’s father – Baron James ‘Jacob’ de Rothschild. He was known as the Great Baron and was a financial genius. Apart from this, he also purchased Chateau Lafite, the most famous winery in the world, for the Rothschild family. Thus Baron Edmond inherited the ownership of Chateau Lafite. Possibly this was significant in his determination to create a modern wine industry in Israel.
In the 1990’s Rothschild built Israel’s two largest wineries, at Zichron Ya’acov and Rishon Le Zion. After the wine turned to vinegar in the early harvests because of the high temperatures of Palestine during the harvest, he was forced to build deep underground cellars in order to better control the temperature. The investment alone at Zichron Ya’acov Wine Cellars was 5 million francs. This was a massive figure in those days and even more than the 4 million francs paid by the Rothschild’s to purchase Chateau Lafite!
However Zichron Ya’acov thrived and it became the center of Israel’s new wine industry. The success of Zichron Ya’acov was regarded with some jealousy by the other colonies supported by Rothschild. They used to refer to it as ‘Little Paris’ as it became a symbol of new Israel. Well over 100 years later, Zichron Ya’acov still sits Mt. Carmel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. There are still vineyards on either side of the mountain ridge and, though it has grown into a large town, it still retains its own special atmosphere.
A tour of Zichron inevitably involves wine, but there are also museums which record the history of this unique place. The places to visit are as follows:
Tishbi Coffee House, 33 Hameyasdim St.
This is housed in one of the original buildings on the ‘Founders Street’ owned by the Tishbi family, a veteran family of wine growers. Here it is possible begin the day with either an Israeli breakfast or a special selection of wine and cheeses. It is a place to meet and be seen.
Beit Aaronson - Aaronson House Museum, 40 Hameyasdim St.
This museum provides an insight into the lives of the early settlers, because the two houses belonging to the Aaronson family are preserved, with the original furniture and household belongings in place. The dramatic story behind the buildings, reads like a spy novel. It revolves around the Nili spy network that worked for the British against the Turks. The chief actors were Aaron Aaronson, a world renowned agronomist, and his sister Sarah, who took her life so as not to reveal any secrets. It is worth visiting the museum to be told the sad story.
Aliyah Museum, 2 Hanadiv St.
The museum of the First Aliyah is dedicated to those immigrants who arrived to Israel between 1882 and 1904. The short films, sculptures and displays show it like it was, with all the hardships, including the heartbreak of a family returning to Romania, the rebellion against the Rothschild administrators and the battle to encourage Hebrew to be spoken.
Carmel Winery - Zichron Ya’acov Wine Cellars, Wine St.
Carmel’s Zichron Ya’acov Wine Cellars was built in 1892 and remains the largest winery in Israel. This is the only winery in Israel where you can see the old, new and ancient world of winemaking in one setting. There are a few large wooden barrels on display, which were used for fermentation in the early days but they were replaced by large cement tanks – and this is the only Israeli winery where these may be seen. Today they in turn have been replaced by stainless steel tanks, temperature controlled by computer, and small 225 liter French oak barrels.
At Zichron Ya’acov Cellars, it is also possible to see winemaking on both a massive and small scale - a large commercial winery, a boutique and even a micro-winery for R & D, are on the premises. The size of the stainless steel tanks tell the story – they range from to 500 liters in the micro-winery, to 200,000 liters in the mass market winery.
Zichron is not only the most historic winery in Israel, but it also illustrates the cutting edge of modern winemaking technology. In 2003 a modern, small state of the art facility was added to allow winemaking from individual vineyards on a small scale. It is arguably the best equipped and most up to date winery in the country. Sam Soroka, an experienced winemaker of international repute, was appointed as its winemaker. This is where Carmel’s finest wines are produced from Upper Galilee, Golan Heights and Zichron Ya’acov vineyards.
Bayit Ha Yekev – The Winery House, Wine St.
The Winery House was used until the 1970’s for housing the manager of the winery and the winemaker of Zichron Ya’acov Wine Cellars. Today it is a visitors center with a shop and restaurant.
At the restaurant it is possible to have a Mediterranean style dairy lunch. It is kosher. The shop stocks a range of Carmel wines to suit every palate, from the prestigious Carmel Limited Edition to the mass market best seller ‘Selected’ wines. There are also occasionally some rare bin ends.
For those seeking local wines though, the Appellation (Sidrat Eizory) Old Vine Carignan and the Carmel Ridge Red, White and Rose (known as Reches in Israel) are wines which represent the terroir of Zichron. There are also wine books, wine accessories and local olive oil.
Smadar Winery, 31 Hameyasdim St.
A new small winery owned by local vineyard owner Moti Shapira, whose forebears planted Rothschild’s first vineyards. The winery, which produces about 5,000 bottles a year, is situated in old stables, which are part of one of the original houses in Zichron. The winery specializes in the Mediterranean grape variety Carignan, grown north east of Zichron at Shefaya, which is most associated with the region.
Somek Winery, 16 Herzl St.
A new ‘garagiste’ winery situated in the road adjacent to Hameyasdim, producing six thousand bottles a year. It is owned by a vine grower, Barak Dahan, whose family were planting vineyards for Rothschild in the 1880’s. Their vineyards are in the Hanadiv Valley, in the foothills of Zichron. The winemaker studied winemaking in Australia. The Chardonnay and Port style wine are recommended.
Ramat Hanadiv Memorial Gardens and Nature Park
Baron Edmond de Rothschild was known as the ‘father of the yishuv’ by David Ben Gurion. However of all places that he helped, it was Zichron Ya’acov that had a special place in his heart. He purchased land in the area between Zichron Ya’acov and Binyamina, which came to be known as Ramat Hanadiv (‘Hill of The Benefactor’) and requested to be buried there. In 1951 the remains of Baron Edmond de Rothschild and his wife were interred in a specially constructed mausoleum. This is the place for a hike or picnic. Apart from the opportunity to pay respects to the founder of Israel’s wine industry, there are beautiful gardens to be seen and archaeological and historical remains, including an ancient wine press.
Tishbi Winery
Tishbi Winery lies in between Zichron Ya’acov and Binyamina. It was founded in 1985 by Yonatan Tishbi and was originally called Baron Winery in honor of Baron Edmond. The present generation’s great grandparents, Michael and Malka Chamiletzki, arrived from Russia in the 1880’s to settle in the tiny village of Shefaya, north east of Zichron. They also became vineyard owners with the sponsorship and encouragement of Rothschild. The national poet Chaim Nachman Bialik encouraged the family to change its name to Tishbi. Today the 5th generation is involved in the business and though it has become the 6th largest winery in Israel, it still remains a family affair. Yonatan’s wife, Nili, runs the visitors center and son Golan is the winemaker. Here it is possible to sit under the trellised vine to enjoy local cheeses and a glass of wine. Worth seeing is the Alambic Still for distilling brandy, purchased from the Cognac region of France. This is a speciality of Golan, whose brandy has won international awards. Some of the Tishbi series of wines come from Yonatan’s own vineyards in the surrounding valleys.
Until comparatively recently, the Zichron Ya’acov and southern Mt. Carmel region was Israel’s largest wine growing area. It still remains the area with the largest concentration of vineyards and remains the center of Israel wine country.
