Episode Details

Long before Israel had a modern wine industry, one man was already dreaming of its vineyards.

In this episode, Daniel sits down with Adam Montefiore, often called Israel’s senior wine writer and the ambassador of Israeli wine. Adam is a fifth generation member of the Montefiore family, a 27 year veteran of the Golan Heights Winery and Carmel, the Wine Talk columnist for the Jerusalem Post, and the author of the Israel section of the World Atlas of Wine.

Over a table of Israeli rosés, Adam traces the thread that runs from ancient winepresses hidden in Israel’s forests, to his ancestor Moses Montefiore’s 1839 vision of Jews returning to the land, to the hundreds of wineries producing world class wine today. He walks through Israel’s wine regions, shares how the industry grew from about a dozen wineries into a global contender, and makes the case for why putting an Israeli wine on your table matters right now.

In this episode:

• Why Adam calls rosé the quintessential Israeli wine
• Moses Montefiore: a wine lover, a forerunner of Zionism, and the man who first suggested Jews return to the land through agriculture
• The vineyard of Moses and Judith, and the story behind the Montefiore Windmill in Jerusalem
• How the Golan Heights Winery sparked a quality revolution in the 1980s
• The boutique winery boom of the 1990s and where Israeli wine is headed next
• Carignan, Petite Sirah, Argaman, and Dabouki: the grapes that make Israel unique
• A tour of Israel’s wine regions: the Golan Heights, Upper Galilee, Judean Hills, Judean Foothills, Central Mountains, Coastal Plain, and the Negev
• How the war has affected wineries in the Golan and Galilee, and how you can support them
• The secret visit from one of the world’s most famous wineries
• Adam’s take on the wedding at Cana and why the best wine came last

Scripture referenced:

• Genesis 9:20 (Noah plants the first vineyard)
• John 2:1-11 (Jesus turns water into wine at Cana in Galilee)

Find Adam Montefiore:

• Articles and portfolio: adammontefiore.com
• Wine Talk column: The Jerusalem Post

Connect with Vintage Land:

• Shop our curated Israeli wines or join the club: israeligoodwine.com Follow us on Instagram: @israeligoodwine

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L’Chaim.