Israeli Wine Route

'Israeli Wine Route? What? Since when did Israel have a wine route? The last time I had Israeli wine, it was at bubbie's seder - perhaps Tishbi or Carmel, and I don't remember it being very good. I haven't seen any Israeli wine besides maybe one or two wineries. What is the Israeli Wine Route?' you may be thinking.

Adam Montefiore, the Ambassador of Israeli wine, dispels these myths in the video below. Israel has over 200 wineries, all improving, and the quality revolution is being led by the small wineries, including several available at the Israel Wine Company. Adam Montefiore is my mentor and teacher - now via the magic of YouTube you can learn from him.

Ella Valley Vineyards

Ella Valley Vineyards, in Israel's Judean Hills just outside of Jerusalem, was one of the earliest wineries in Israel to make absolutely fantastic wine. Founded in 1997, the winery, under the supervision of French-trained winemaker Doron Rav Hon, released its first harvest from the 2002 harvest.

While commonly found in Israel's finest restaurants, this kosher wine is much harder to find in America, and thus not commonly known – particularly outside the small kosher consumer. But, Ella Valley produces great world-class wine worthy of drinking by anyone who likes fine wine. Luckily, of course, the Israel Wine Company has gift packs which include Ella Valley that can be purchased. It's also distributed to members of the Israel Wine Company's Israeli wine club – great reason to join!

I visited the winery in February and was, of course, treated with the finest service. This boutique winery, located on Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed Hay, blends in with its Jerusalem Hills surroundings, but has been the site of wine making for thousands of years. The image on the front of many of its bottles is a gat, an ancient wine press that was found on the winery's property.

According to Daniel Rogov, the International Herald Tribune and Ha'aretz's wine critic, the winery serves “as a model of efficiency and beauty.” I enjoy sipping Ella Valley's wines from Jerusalem, but now these lush and rich wines are available for you.

June Israeli Wine Club shipment being prepared

I am currently working on putting together the next shipment for the Israeli Wine Club. I have a great line-up of wines. If you haven't yet signed-up, I will still ship the May shipment of Israeli Wines until the last day of the month. After that, you can order them separately. This month there will be some very unique Israeli Wines. One hint: one of them isn't made out of grapes...

Looking forward to sending your Israeli wines out... Don't forget to post your reviews and comments about the Israeli wines you received under the May wine club posting below...