Israeli wine doesn’t suck: Bloomberg

July 22 (Bloomberg) — Kosher wines from Israel have long had a reputation for being coarse and syrupy sacramental offerings.

Now they have improved so much that they can exploit their kosher label and win a wider global market, according to Ariel Ben-Zaken, whose family owns the Domaine du Castel winemaker.

Wine exports grew 42 percent in 2007 to $21 million, said Israel’s Export Institute. Kosher wines won praise from U.S. guru Robert Parker, who said on his Web site the Castel Grand Vin is “bursting with flavor and simply delicious.”

“Our ticket to the international wine market is the kosher label,” said Ben-Zaken, who produces about 100,000 bottles a year. He hopes they will find their way into the world’s top restaurants where they will be drunk by people who might not know or care that they are kosher. The production process is the same as other wine, though according to special dietary rules, only an observant Jew can touch the barrels or the wine or do the tasting.

Ben-Zaken, 35, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel was introduced to his Domaine du Castel wine at dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert earlier this year.

Gary Wantels, owner of the Skyview Wine & Liquors store in Riverdale, New York, said the new quality of Israeli wines may allow them to branch out. Still, he predicted that it could take as many as seven years for an Israeli-only label to take off.

“Kosher wine has gone from the sweet sacramental wine we all grew up on in Passover to great Merlots and Chardonnays,” Wantels said. “But there’s a lot of competition and Israeli wines still need to find their place in the world.”

Conflict Region

Wines made in Israel also carry the penalty of coming from a region of conflict, Ben-Zaken said.

“Wine is associative and that can be a problem since Israel is seen around the world as a country in the middle of war,” said Ben-Zaken, who served as a paratroops commander in the Israel Defense Forces before spending two years working for Michel Picard at Domaine Emile Voarick in Burgundy and studying winemaking in Beaune.

Twenty years ago, Ben-Zaken’s father Eli, the owner of an Italian eatery, was frustrated with the quality of Israeli wines and decided to make his own, at first only for personal consumption. Today, Castel bottles are sold around the world, including Italy, France, the U.K., Japan and the U.S.

The Domaine du Castel label resembles a Crusader fortress like the family’s house in the Judean Hills 35 kilometers west of Jerusalem. There is a small kosher K on the front corner and on the back there is a discreet kosher stamp.

White Chardonnay

It was only five years ago that Domaine du Castel realized a kosher label was needed to increase sales. “This was really a breakthrough for us,” said Ben-Zaken. The Ben-Zaken winery produces two reds, the Castel Grand Vin and the Petit Castel, and a white chardonnay.

The winery’s target market is the 13 million Jews living overseas, whose link to Israel makes them more likely to buy its wines even if they are pricier than the domestic alternative. Through Jews abroad, such as billionaire Lev Leviev, Israeli wines may sneak their way onto the tables of wealthy gentile friends.

Of the 175 boutique and commercial wineries in Israel, 35 produce more than 2 million bottles a year. A period of relative peace and economic growth 20 years ago prompted Israelis to travel more, leading to demand for better quality. Immigrants from Russia boosted demand and restaurants opened, headed by Israeli chefs who studied abroad.

Quality Issue

“There is arguably not one winery in Israel that is not making better quality wine than 15 years ago,” said the Israeli wine Web site ((http://www.israelwines.co.il). “All wineries that have been founded since then specialize in table wines — not spirits, Kiddush wine or grape juice — and pursue quality in every aspect of wine production.”

Carmel Winery, Israel’s oldest winery established in 1882, had a facelift a decade ago, planting vineyards at higher and cooler altitudes in the Golan Heights and the Judean Hills, hiring new management and wine makers trained in Burgundy and Australia.

“We want to make the best wine possible that also happens to be kosher,” said Adam Montefiore, the wine development manager at Carmel who joined the company during the period of management change. Parker gave Yatir Forest 2003, Judean Hills, one of the boutique wines of Carmel, a score of 93 points out of 100 in December 2007.

Israel has 40,000 dunams (10,000 acres) of vineyards, harvests over 50,000 tons of grapes a year and brings years of ancient history to bear on its winemaking.

“It all began here,” Montefiore said. “Israel has been making wines for 5,000 years. It’s in the biblical history, part of Judaism and Christianity.”