If the 1980’s heralded the quality revolution in Israeli wine and the 1990’s saw the development of boutique wineries, the 21st century has so far witnessed the revival of four historic & traditional wineries of Israel. Carmel, Efrat, Binyamina & Segal have each managed to rejuvenate themselves in the last few years having faced up to the developing wine industry, which in the last 20 years had left them behind. They deserve credit for the changes they have recently made, to respond to a more discerning public demanding wines of better quality. The most spectacular transformation has been made by Carmel; Efrat & Binyamina have both lately made significant strides in the search for quality & the Segal brand is under new ownership and thriving like never before.
Carmel Winery has made perhaps the most noticeable advances. Founded in 1882 by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, owner of Chateau Lafite, Carmel remains Israel’s biggest wine company. They own the country’s two largest wineries, at Rishon Le Zion and Zichron Ya’acov. In quality terms, Carmel was going nowhere during the eighties and nineties as the rest of the industry developed and the legendary Carmel Special Reserves of 1976 and 1979 remained a distant memory. However in the last few years, the quality revolution also reached Carmel.
The change began under previous Managing Director, Avraham Ben Moshe, who retired in 2002. New vineyards were planted in the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights - quality wine growing areas, which were not traditionally cultivated by Agudat Hacormim/ the wine growers cooperative. Ben Moshe also developed the plans for the Ramat Arad winery & vineyard, which was later launched as Yatir Winery.
The next Managing Director, David Ziv, changed the old guard of winemakers. Israel Flam & Koby Gat retired and young, highly qualified, internationally trained winemakers took their places.These included Lior Laxer & Asaf Paz, who graduated in France, Sam Soroka, Kobi Arens and Eran Goldwasser, who graduated in Australia, and Yaniv Stern, who studied in New Zealand. Ziv also appointed Californian, Peter Stern, who worked for the Golan Heights Winery for 20 years, as wine consultant. He built three state of the art small wineries: Yatir Winery at Tel Arad, Zichron boutique winery, situated within the Zichron Ya’acov facility and at Ramat Dalton in the Upper Galilee. He then released the country’s first series of Single Vineyard wines – from vineyards such as Ramat Arad & Zarit, and launched Yatir Winery.
The new management, Chairman Israel Ivzan and Managing Director Moshe Meron, were appointed in 2005. They almost immediately decided that Carmel should concentrate only on its core business of wine, and the production of spirits, liqueurs, olive oil & vinegars was discontinued. Their first releases include the Kayoumi Shiraz, which finished in first place in a blind tasting of the best Israeli & imported Shiraz/Syrahs in Al Hashulhan magazine; Kayoumi Cabernet Sauvignon, which received 92 points from wine critic, Daniel Rogov and Sha’al Late Harvest Gewurztraminer, which was ranked as the best dessert wine by both Ha’aretz & Globes. So the attention to quality is only being reinforced and the success appears to be continuing. No wonder ‘Rogov’s Guide To Israel Wines 2006’ named Carmel as ‘Israel’s Fastest Improving Producer’ for the second consecutive year.
Efrat Winery is an old family winery, founded in 1870 in the Old City of Jerusalem by Rabbi Avrom Teperberg. The family, who learnt to make wine in Hungary, were previously drinks distributors since 1852. After the War of Independence, the winery moved to modern Jerusalem. In 1963 they moved again, to Motza, at the entrance to Jerusalem.
For most of its existence the winery was known for producing strictly kosher wines of every type for a religious market. The company, though the fourth biggest in Israel, was respected for its market presence in the Jerusalem area and for its Badatz, Eda Haredit kashrut certification, but not for its quality.
However in the last few years, Efrat has also changed direction. It began by employing an internationally trained winemaker for the first time. Shiki Rauchenberger studied at UC Davis, worked with Peter Stern in California and for Carmel at Rishon Le Zion Winery,` before joining Efrat.
Since he started, the winery have launched the Teperberg Family Estate label, which includes: Teperberg Reserve and Teperberg Selection. These are produced from well kept vineyards in the Judean Hills. Teperberg wines are marketed as though they are a separate boutique winery but are produced by Efrat. However the new presentation and the wines themselves, clearly show a winery for whom quality has suddenly become important. The Teberberg series marks Efrat as one of Israel’s fastest improving wineries. Their wines, both under the Teperberg & their ‘Israeli’ label, are clean, fruit forward and represent excellent value for money.
Efrat is still owned & managed by the Teperberg family. There are now advanced plans to build a new winery at Kibbutz Tzora, which will make Shiki Rauchenberger’s objective to improve wine quality even easier.
Binyamina Wine Cellars. In 1952 Yosef Zeltser from Hungary, decided to open a winery named ‘Eliaz Binyamina (18-18)’ in memory of his son, Eliezer, who was killed in the 1948 War of Independence. The site of the winery was originally opened by the Rothschild family as a perfume factory in 1925, but this closed because it was unviable in 1932.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Eliaz was the second largest winery in Israel and but their focus was almost exlusively on kosher wine for a Jewish public. In 1992, the winery was bought by Los Angeles partners from the film industry. They appointed a dynamic, young Managing Director, Ilan Hasson, and he renamed the winery ‘Binyamina’, to try and get away from the stigma of poor quality. The efforts were commendable but not immediately successful – apart from numerous gold medals received for their Muscats - both the semi dry and dessert wine versions were regular award winners. However in the last two years, the winery has also turned the corner. Ilan Hasson, together with Sasson Ben Aharon, the winemaker, and a new wine knowledgeable marketing manager, have made subtle improvements to the winery to combine the history of the place, with more modern winemaking techniques. Samir Saouma, who started his winemaking career modestly at Domaine de Latroun, but has since gained a reputation as a world class winemaker in the Burgundy region, has become a consultant.
The first step forward was the improved quality of The Cave, a stand alone boutique wine with a production of less than 6,000 bottles. The 2002 was referred to by Daniel Rogov as the best yet from Binyamina, scoring 90 points. The winery were also pioneers, being the first in the country to release wines from the Tempranillo & Vognier varieties.
However it is their latest releases which best show the advances made. A new series of wines called ‘Yogev’, represent excellent value for money. Best of all, advance tastings of their new deluxe wines called Hachoshen, are likely to take Binyamina to a new plain – the Sapir Cabernet Sauvignon, & Tarshish Cabernet, Merlot & Shiraz blend being especially promising. These are potentially the finest wines ever produced by Binyamina, whose recent improvements will be well appreciated by wine connoisseurs and wine lovers alike.
Segal Wines. The final brand which has enjoyed a revival is Segal. The Segal family, distillers in White Russia, settled in Tel Aviv in 1925. They founded a winery called Askalon Wines in 1950. It was known by this name because the family thought that the vineyards of Ashkelon (correct spelling!), would turn out to be the Bordeaux of Israel.
The winery name later changed to Segal’s (Shel Segal). The wines were known for their innovative labels and their Ben Ami and Segal’s red wines were well regarded in the 1980’s. However there was a distinct decline in quality in the mid 1990’s and in 2001, they were bought out by Barkan, the country’s second largest winery.
Segal’s wines are made at Barkan’s state of the art new winery at Hulda. Their winemaker is Avi Feldstein, who was originally the professional drinks manager of Segal, but he succeeded to reinvent himself as a talented, self-taught winemaker. In the late1990’s, Feldstein was one of the first people to see the potential of the Upper Galilee as a quality wine growing area. His single vineyard wine from Dishon vineyard and Segal Unfiltered are two of the best Israeli wines on the market. Both are from the Upper Galilee. Segal’s Merom Galil wines are drinkable blends, also from the Upper Galilee. At the other end of the price spectrum, the inexpensive Shel Segal varietals are also some of the biggest sellers in the main supermarket chains, being good value for their very reasonable prices.
So Segal Wines is no longer an independent winery, but a brand within Barkan Winery, which is now in turn owned by Tempo, Israel’s largest brewery. However, production and marketing is kept separate from Barkan to maintain individuality. It is arguably true that Segal has never made better wines than it does today.
The rebirth of Carmel, Efrat, Binyamina & Segal is important because their names are a reminder that the modern Israeli wine industry did not begin in the 1980’s. Yet the advances these wineries have made since the turn of the Millennium, have shown that it is not only the new & boutique wineries that can produce quality wine.
