Unique topographical conditions and state-of-the-art technology combine to allow high-quality wine grapes to be grown in Israels arid south.
by Daniella Ashkenazy
Israels agriculturists have gained renown for "hoodwinking" Mother Nature. By augmenting light, flowers bloom in the dead of winter. On a diet of silage laced with orange peels and other agricultural waste, dairy cows produce world-breaking quantities of milk without pasture. Fruits and vegetables are grown on rocky hillsides in hanging plastic sleeves filled with potting soils, and fruit trees planted in plastic buckets are coaxed into dormancy at the height of the summer with a "field trip" to a cold storage plant, creating high-priced out-of-season peaches.
Nowhere are such modern miracles more apparent than in Israel's arid south the Negev, where farmers already raise a variety of crops, as well as fish in artificial ponds, in the desert. Carmel Mizrachi one of Israel's oldest and largest wine producers has boosted Israel's renown for innovative agriculture by growing wine grapes in the Negev desert.
The location: "Arad Heights" a yellow-hued loess plain 37 kms. east of Beer Sheva, near the site of the ancient city of Arad, overlooking the Dead Sea. The climate, say wine-makers, is ideal: during the maturation period, the days are warm and the nights are cool, making it possible to produce what are becoming some of Israel's finest Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon wines. The growing popularity of red wines, like Cabernet Sauvignon - aided by medical studies which found moderate consumption of red wine to be helpful in preventing heart disease - has enhanced Israel's position as a wine producer. While white wines thrive in cooler climates like northern Italy, Germany, northern France and parts of northern Israel, reds are also suitable to warmer climates.
Carmel Mizrachi is no newcomer to wine-making. When established by Edmond de Rothschild in 1882, the winery was reputed to be the second largest winery in the world. Throughout most of its history, Carmel Mizrachi has been closely associated with kosher wines, brandies and spirits. Today, like other leading Israeli wine producers, it is striving to go beyond its traditional markets.
"There is a world revolution in wine-making the emergence of new wine-producing countries like California, certain areas of South Africa and South America, Australia, New Zealand... and Israel," explains Carmel Mizrachis CEO, Avraham Ben-Moshe. The newly- acquired place of Israeli wines among connoisseur-class consumers is in part due to the adaptation of top-quality wine grapes to regions like Arad. Another factor which aided this change has been the application of new state-of-the-arts technologies, in which some 20 million dollars have been invested in the past three years.
The vineyards are located half a kilometer from Tel Arad, a site of ancient settlement where archeologists have uncovered remnants of grape production dating back to antiquity. The archeological site and the vineyards are located on a high plain at the edge of a steep escarpment overlooking the Dead Sea. The vineyards are planted 500 meters above sea level. The topography creates a special combination of conditions a desert climate that provides hot dry days (25-32 degrees C, 30% humidity) and relatively cool moist nights (10-17 degrees C, 100% humidity) during the growing season which helps the grapes to develop the correct color and sugar content.
"The Arad Heights region is unsurpassed," stresses Ben-Moshe. "We've had visits by wine experts who were stunned by the superb climate and the spectacular terrain. In the middle of the Judean Desert, one suddenly comes upon green vineyards against the backdrop of sandy loess desert and the Dead Sea beyond."
The accomplishment of growing grapes in this area, however, was the fruit of a long process identifying suitable cross breeds, employing advanced agrotechnology and planting commercial quantities of varieties producing top-quality grapes. The first grapes grown at the site were harvested in 1992. In 1997, 125 acres reached maturity. By the year 2000, Carmel Mizrachi expects to have 250 acres under cultivation.
The CEO revealed that success of the Arad Heights vineyards has prompted Carmel Mizrachi to investigate the feasibility of wide-scale planting throughout the Negev Heights vineyards irrigated with brackish water!