Famous for making the desert bloom with fruit and vegetables, Israel is now demonstrating that the south of the country has fertile soil for winemaking.
By Simon Griver
Israel's southernmost vineyard is located at Mitzpe Ramon, a small desert town lying about halfway between Jerusalem and the Red Sea resort of Eilat. In the summer of 2000, the vineyard yielded 150 tons of grapes - including Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Merlot (all dry red), and Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer (dry white) - and the wine produced the
following year was greeted with enthusiasm by the country's connoisseurs.
"The vineyard is a striking swathe of green in the desert," says Amatzia Shueli, who manages the vineyard for Barkan, Israel's second largest winemaker."Located at the northern entrance to Mitzpe Ramon, it is a testament to the remarkable capabilities of Israeli agriculture, and is visited by thousands of tourists every year."
Carmel, Israel's largest and oldest wine producer, also has extensive vineyards in the Negev desert. Last year the company's vineyards in Ramat Arad, near the Dead Sea, yielded 430 tons of high quality red grapes, which produced first-class Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon wines. To further improve the quality of its desert wines, Carmel recently opened a small boutique winery in Ramat Arad to avoid the long journey to its main winery in the center of the country. In the coming year, prime vineyards in the Yatir and Maon regions of the Negev will grow a diverse variety of grapes including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Zinfandel.
These desert wines are the result of more than a century of Israeli know-how in arid-region farming and winemaking. Although the Negev desert comprises large areas of totally barren terrain, the sandy soil is actually highly fertile. Over the decades, farmers have discovered that premium quality fruit and vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and melons can be grown as long as adequate water is provided. Israel's National Water Carrier (which brings water from the north of the country) and advanced, computer-regulated drip irrigation systems have solved the problem.
Israel's connection with winemaking goes back thousands of years. One of the seven biblical species - grapes - were part the staple diet of the ancient Israelites, and wine has always played a central role in Jewish religious ritual. This was reflected in the late 19th century when the first modern winegrowers in the Land of Israel produced only the sweet red wines
traditionally used for the kiddush sanctification before the Sabbath meal.
But according to culinary expert Daniel Rogov, "Sophisticated wines have now risen out of the morass of cheap, cloyingly sweet wines that burn the throat. Many local dry red and white wines are as good as some of the fine wines of California, Australia and the so called 'new world' wine-producing countries."
The breakthrough in wine production was made in the far north of the country during the 1980s. The Golan Winery pioneered improved quality grapes with the assistance of Californian experts. The production of finer wines is reflected in the consumption as a whole; Israelis now drink an average of 6 - 6.5 liters of wine per capita annually compared to just 3.9 liters a decade ago. However, this still falls well below the US average of 11 liters and the 60-liter-plus annual consumption of the French, Italians and Spanish.
The Golan experience demonstrated that better quality grapes could be cultivated in Israel's drier, cooler inland hills. Boutique wineries sprouted up throughout the country, especially in the Jerusalem foothills and the Galilee mountains. But with the vast improvements in desert agriculture, Carmel, Barkan and some other smaller companies turned their attention to the Negev - with surprisingly good results.