Haim Gan is one of the central figures on the Israeli wine scene. He manages & owns ‘Ish Anavim’, which translates to ‘Grape Man’. He is independent, dynamic and has a guru like following from those who have participated in his wine education courses and those who are members of his Customer Club. Most Israeli wineries, importers & distributors see Ish Anavim as the most authentic wine venue in Israel.
Haim Gan is one of the few people in the wine business with experience from all sides of the business. He has knowledge of the sharp end – being in the restaurant business exactly at the time that the Israel quality revolution took root and famous wines from all over the world started to be imported. He brought with him experience of the restaurant business from Miami. He was restaurant manager of Kapot Tamarim, then one of Israel’s finest restaurants and the sommelier for Tapuch Zahav (The Golden Apple) – which many argue was the finest & highest quality Israeli restaurant, both at that time and since. This was the restaurant owned by Israel’s most famous Chef, Israel Aharoni. Both these restaurants were pioneers in raising the quality of wine lists and in bringing new standards of wine service & knowledge to Israel. Haim Gan was a central figure at this exciting time.
He then worked for a winery and gained experience in the production side. He chose the historic company of Israel, Carmel Mizrahi, founded in 1882 by Baron Rothschild, an owner of Chateau Lafite. Carmel had over 50% of the wine business in Israel and owned the country’s two largest wineries, the cellars of Rishon Le Zion & Zichron Ya’acov. Here he worked for four years using his experience in food & beverages to raise the standards in hotels & restaurants around the country. Israel started the 1990’s in a cultural backwater (from a wine point of view) and finished the decade as an exciting, dynamic wine producing country. Gan was one of the pioneers bringing a new wine culture Israel.
Haim Gan then chose the independent route, founding Ish Anavim. No-one really can pin down exactly what Ish Anavim is. It is at the same time a wine bar, wine school, wine restaurant, wine shop, wine cellar, a function room for wine events and a club or meeting place for Israel’s wine intelligentsia. If there is an interesting tasting going on, from Israeli or imported wineries, it will be at Ish Anavim. Courses on wine education & how to taste are oversubscribed. Wine connoisseurs want to be seen there and wine loving tourists have to visit. The food is refreshingly simple, not pretentious, from good, basic ingredients and stylishly presented. The service is courteous, friendly and very professional – as you would expect. And the choice of wines – surprise, surprise – will satisfy every taste at every price point.
The Grape Man is a three story building in the oldest & most historic part of Jaffa, which has been beautifully restored. The building holds a large wine lounge, temperature controlled wine cellars & special room for tastings and courses. From here it is possible to wander around Jaffa, with a glass of wine in hand, visiting the museums and artisan shops selling hand made items that the commercial shops don’t carry.
Quite apart from this, Ish Anavim provides wine consultancy services to many companies including restaurants, hotels, wine magazines etc. Recent clients include Dan Hotels & El Al. Haim Gan himself is the chairman of the tasting panel of Wine & Gourmet. His very independence adds credibility to his tasting skills.
The two latest initiatives are IsraWineExpo and Terravino. IsraWineExpo is Israel’s first international wine exhibition which will be held at the Israel Trade Fairs convention Center in Tel Aviv from June 13 – 15th 2006. Terravino is a Mediterranean International wine challenge will take place from June 6 – 12th 2006. Haim Gan is on the committee of both events and heavily involved with the organization of Israel’s first ever International tasting competition. As you would expect the press conference announcing the event took place at Ish Anavim – where else?
Ish Anavim – Grape Man – 9, Mazal Shor Street, Old Jaffa 68036, Israel Tel. (+ 972) 3 5180533
