The Winery

Orna Chillag’s winery is a delightful phenomenon, as is Orna herself. Her entry into the Israeli wine scene at the end of the 1990s breathed new life into the sector and today it is difficult to imagine “Israeli wine” without its, and her, sparkling presence.

When Orna embarked on her wine venture, she left behind a long and distinguished academic and political career. For her the move from intensive public service in promoting human rights and the status of women in the region  to producing excellent Mediterranean wine was a natural progression.

It all started when she left her post as Head of External Relations at the Tel Aviv Municipality and went to study enology in Milan, Italy. There, in the “land of the boot”, Orna discovered the classic and “Old” world of Italian wine and how to prepare it.

In order to “soften” the passage from the “wild” Middle East to Italy’s tranquil northern region (as well as to reduce expenses), Orna lived in a monastery in the town of Piacenza near Milan. After completing her studies in 1998, she did her internship at the renowned Antinori winery, Tenuta Belvedere, in Tuscany.

When Orna returned to Israel she decided to make wine independently and launched her first barrel of Primo Merlot in 1999, produced at Nachshon Winery with grapes from Latroun. It was enormously successful, lauded by critics and enthusiastic tasters alike, and Orna was encouraged to expand the small winery.

For her achievements, Orna was awarded a Knighthood of Castellana, awarded to women throughout the world for their contributions to the wine sector and to the advancement of humanity. She was also granted membership to ”Le Donne del Vinno”, an organization that promotes enology worldwide.

In the same year she expanded the winery, purchased new equipment including fermentation tanks, destemming and crushing machines and new French oak barrels. The success of Chillag wines led to doubling production to 40,000 bottles a year, the optimal amount according to Orna, who wants to preserve the wine’s uncompromising quality as well as its affinity to classic Italian wines.

The Vineyard

As a staunch proponent of “Old World” winemaking methods, Orna believes that it all begins and ends in the grape. She therefore developed close relations with the family of winegrowers on Moshav Kerem Ben Zimra in the Upper Galilee, who grow her Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Even though she found planted vineyards in the most suitable wine region and personally chose the clones and trellises, she spends weeks on end in the vineyard, supervising all growth stages and meticulously ensuring that they are properly nurtured with very little water, minimal anti-pest treatment and plenty of love. When she decides the grapes are ready, they are harvested manually and transported at chilled temperatures to the winery where they are received, fermented in temperature controlled, stainless steel tanks and aged in French oak barrels.

Orna’s Merlot grapes come from a vineyard planted in terra rosa soil high up in the Jerusalem hills, at an elevation of 700 meters above sea level, on Moshav Ness Harim.

The Winemaker

Orna obtained her vinological education in the Faculty of Agriculture at Milan’s Catholic University, where she earned a masters degree in Enology. She then worked for a year in the Tenuta Belvedere Winery in Tuscany, where she completed the practical part of her course. She was part of the winemaking team that produced the world famous Guado al Tasso wine. It was during this period that Orna identified with the principles of “Old World” winemaking methods, which rely on quality grapes, propose minimal intervention in the winemaking process and do not “impose” the flavors of oak barrels on the wine. The experience she accrued in the Italian winery and in Israel greatly influences her choice of grapes, her winemaking processes and her wine blends.

The Wine

Chillag produces three main labels – Primo, Giovani and Castellana (all the wines are produced using the same processes – the differences lie in the aging periods).

Primo Label

Primo Cabernet Sauvignon – 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot, aged for 18 months in French oak barrels and bottle-aged for one year.

Primo Merlot – 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged for 18 months in French oak barrels and bottle-aged for one year.

Giovane Label

Giovane Cabernet Sauvignon – 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot, aged for 7 months in French oak barrels and bottle-aged for one year.

Giovane Merlot – 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged for 7 months in French oak barrels and bottle-aged for one year.

Castellana Label – blended wines such as:

70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot.

60% Merlot, 15% Petite Sirah and 15% Petit Verdot.

Personal Touch

Orna, a member of the woman’s wine organization in Italy, believes that women have a lot to contribute to the world of wine. Their fine tastes and feminine palates that are rich in taste buds, together with their inherent understanding of entertaining and matching  various dishes to drinks, provides them with significant advantages that are important to put to good use.

According to Orna, the connection between wine and goat cheese with olive oil in the Mediterranean experience facilitates our positive and genuine integration in the region. Any attempt to import “styles and cultures” into the Mediterranean Basin is doomed to failure. Orna enjoys seeing her wines, in which she invested her heart and soul, being served in elite restaurants in Italy alongside juicy chunks of polenta, as well as in cheese delicatessens in Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market – L’Chaim!

Business Card

Chillag wines are available in several good restaurants and in select wine stores in Israel and cases may also be ordered directly from the winery. The wines are exported for sale abroad in ever-increasing quantities.

Chillag Winery also produces kosher wines for export to Europe and the United States.