Wine From Israel

Israeli wine has actually won in several categories in international wine tasting competitions.

In the last 10-15 years the wine culture in Israel has developed in very fast pace and there are well over 100 wineries in Israel which is a lot for such a small country. While some of the wineries are small and produce only a few thousands of bottles per year, the big wineries are producing several millions of bottles per year.

Israelis have become passionate about the subject and wine is produced in many places from the Golan Heights in the north and the big wineries of Mount Carmel to the smaller wineries in the desert and the southern part of Israel. For such a small country you get quite a variety in the wine industry and as a tourist you can visit in the wineries and sample some of the wines.

Wine from Israel has been traditionally grown in the area of Mount Carmel in the beautiful towns of Zichron Ya’acov and Binyamina. In this area you will find the “Carmel” winery which is the biggest winery in the Middle East alongside smaller wine producers.

The regions that are considered the best in terms of Israeli wine are the upper Galilee and the Golan Heights. If you visit the town of Katzrin in the Golan you would probably enjoy visiting in the Golan Heights Winery which offers a tour and tastings of their great wines. I’m not an expert but I was told those wines are similar in taste to wines grown in California.