Israeli Wines - time to get them off the Kosher shelves!

Tel Aviv

I'm going to jump, chronologically, to Israel. We've just returned from a few weeks over there, which, for someone who's never lived in a war zone, was interesting, if occasionally scary. Subsequently, I had to self-confess my own woeful lack of knowledge about Middle East affairs, history and religion. I have been a reading fiend since we returned. I wish little more than peace and harmony for the whole region.
But Israel is amazing and interesting and, for the focus of this website, it has some world class wines. I had the opportunity to meet a few wine folks and taste some excellent wine, and I'm excited to return there in a  couple of weeks for more vinous adventures and travels.

I was wandering through Tel Aviv one day, when I came across this store. Really? The Scottish Wines and Alcohol? I just had  to pop in to see if I could meet the owner. Dan Leeor is the President of The Scottish - a wine and alcohol import and distribution company, started in 1944 by two Scots who felt sufficiently patriotic to come up with the name.

newly acquired wine purchases outside The Scottish

When Dan took over the company, his intent was to get rid of the odd name - well odd for Tel Aviv. But he found that  the quirky, out of context title was both well known, and attracted curious folks like me, so the name stuck.

Me, looking short, which I am, sandwiched between Dan, on the left, and my husband, Gerald

Dan was enthusiastic and helpful. He knows Israeli wineries well, and sells and distributes many of their products. I left there with contacts, recommendations and vague directions, and a few bottles of wine. If you're in the city at some point, you'll find The Scottish on Hata'arucha St, near Tel Aviv Port. Do drop in. Like many people in Tel Aviv, Dan speaks perfect English, which was fortunate as I have about four words of Hebrew. Before I start in on wines, we need some pictorial travelogue snippets!
The beaches of Tel Aviv are pristine; the water is warm.
Tel Aviv Port is a recently revamped area filled with cafes and shops, and an amazing undulating boardwalk.

amazing undulating boardwalk

Crowds of people come out on sunny days to stroll, eat, meet, rollerblade, skateboard, run and just generally hang out.

refreshing mixture of arak (anis), mint and lemonade

Appetizers. Yum.

 Floating in the Dead Sea is a must. Covering yourself in therapeutic black mud is optional - as is the Tilley hat!

 Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, has a beautiful old city, vibrant night life and endless bars and restaurants.

I didn't absolutely fall in love with Jerusalem, although I definitely understand its pull for different religious groups. To my mind, it's an odd mixture of tensions, important religious sites, bustling underground markets and vying for tourist attention. But I was only there for a day - long enough to lose my Tilley hat, as it happens.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

the white things are yogourt pyramids

Church at Gethsemane

The Western wall

Very old olive tree in the garden of Gethsemane

 Caesarea National Park is an ancient coastal village, north of Tel Aviv and an important and incredibly well preserved archaeological site. It dates back to Persian rule in 586 BCE, and has a rich history, including  being ruled by King Herod between 37 and 4 BCE. Between the 13thC and the late 19thC it was desolate, but is now an important site with ongoing work. Caesarea is well worth a day trip. Apart from the ancient site, there are great little restaurants, where you can enjoy lunch and a glass of something, overlooking the Mediterranean on a warm November Day. That's what we did!

Sarcophagus from 2nd or 3rdC CE

Tumbled down ancient walls with a restaurant on top.

Nice view from Caesarea

Beautiful couple - just married

We stayed in the grounds of the Weizmann Institute of Science, in a beautiful house with orange, lime, pomelo and fig trees in the garden. And flowers..............

Israelis are not big alcohol drinkers. Annual consumption is about a quarter of Canadian consumption rates. More wine is drunk than spirits, and restaurants and stores do a fine job of promoting Israeli wines, as well as having a range of international wines. Many restaurants focus on local wines and, given their quality, this is a fine thing.
Wine
Historically, wine has been consumed in this part of the world since biblical times, but the modern wine industry was started in the 1880's by Baron de Rothschild of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, who helped start Carmel winery in 1882. There is, and has always been, a sizeable export market, 60% at some wineries, and much of it finds its way to Kosher shelves, where it's usually bought for religious occasions. Many Israeli wines in bygone years were not that good, creating an impression that Kosher wines were cheap or sweet wines, not intended for the table.
Fast forward a hundred years or so. Even at the turn of the millennium, there was only a handful of wineries in Israel  but, with increasing local interest in viticulture and wine making, aided by experts from other grape growing areas of the world, the Israeli wine industry took off. There are now close to 300 wineries! Wine Spectator magazine just recently named Golan Heights winery, founded in 1983,  as New World Winery of the Year.
Despite all of this, Israeli wines are still mostly found on Kosher shelves, and not everyone thinks to shop there, when searching for a nice little Cab Sauv to go with the BBQ lamb. In some stores, there might be a small section for Israeli wines or they might be nestled in a general section called Mediterranean, which can also be a last resort on the wander around the liquor store.
Paul Dubb is the winemaker and viticulturist at Tzuba Estate Winery, near Jerusalem. Tzuba was recommended to me by Dan at The Scottish. This is a winery making excellent wines, largely due to Paul's intelligent work in the vineyard, and experienced wine making skills, honed early when he lived in South Africa, where his father was a winemaker. Although 100% of Tzuba's wines are Kosher, Paul thinks that there's an impression that Kosher wines are inferior, and that some relabelling, and re-shelving would be advantageous to global promotion. He says that the only real difference between Kosher wines and non is that the former requires that a Sabbath observant Jew be involved in the process from harvesting to bottling. There are some other minor requirements, but nothing that would negatively impact the wine. So, while Kosher wines are the wines that should be sipped for Jewish religious occasions, it doesn't follow that they should only be drunk on those occasions.
I spent a fine morning with Paul at Tzuba, where we had a wonderful chat about the industry, the winery and his wines. I tasted an excellent range, including delicious whites, well balanced reds and some very promising  dessert wines. 
In the next story, I'll give more details about Tzuba and  the wines, as well as more info on the Israeli wine industry and regions. But it's been a couple of  weeks since I posted, so I'll put this out for now.
For Ontario readers, the LCBO currently has 50 Israeli wines on the books, ranging from $9.65 to $98. They are all Vintages products and certainly not available everywhere in great quantity, but if you browse the online system, you'll find some. Or, talk to your local friendly product specialist who might be familiar with some. Wineries represented that are worth trying - Dalton, Galil Mountain, Recanata and the Yarden label, which is the second label of Golan Heights Winery. Lovers of big, boozy wines will enjoy the fact that many Israeli wines are over 14% alcohol level. More on that in the next post.
Please check back next week. Off to Scotland for a few days.
Cheers! L'Chaim! Slainte!

Laphroaig - soft name, smoky whisky

If you ask occasional whisky drinkers to name a few distilleries in Scotland, chances are they will mention two or three beginning with Glen - and Laphroaig. Whatever the reasons, the Laphroaig name is probably the most well known of all the Islay distilleries. Perhaps it's the legendary smoky character, or its prestigious position as a Royal Warrant holder, (thanks to Prince Charles), or the easily identifiable old-fashioned bottle, or the uncomplicated range led by the great and consistent 10 year old. Unscientifically, it could simply be the soft sounding "Laffroyg", which rolls off the tongue in a delicious manner!

Outside of name recognition, Distillery Manager, John Campbell would say that it's the depth of flavour which makes the whisky, itself, so popular. Like so many other folks in the Islay whisky industry, John grew up on the island and has worked at Laphroaig for about 18 years, 6 of them as Manager. He is a busy man who not only oversees the many whisky production activities, but is a key figure in the global marketing side of the business. Whether he's tweeting with one of thousands of followers, or hosting a visit from His Royal Highness, he's always front and centre of Laphroaig outreach. With his gentle manner, knowledge about his product, and twinkling eyes, it's not surprising that Beam Inc (the parent company) like him on the road from time to time, talking about Laphroaig.
In September he was in Germany for Laphroaig Live, an annual 45 min internet show, which in recent years has been hosted in Sydney, Kentucky and London. More recently, he was in the US, one of Laphroaig's biggest markets. With his understated good looks and quiet, purposeful, concise way of speaking, he has the kind of presence that makes people listen - a rare gift.
I chatted a bit with John on a late Friday afternoon in mid September, a time when one could imagine the entire population of Islay downing tools to have a wee dram of - something! Not so at Laphroaig. Our chat was sandwiched between a meeting that ran late and a conference call that was still to happen. There was a sense of quiet urgency about the man which made me not want to take up too much of his time. Still, ask John a question about the source of Laphroaig's legendary smoky character, or his favourite expression, (the 10 year old) and he's happy to expand.
Laphroaig has been legally distilling since 1815 (the same year as Ardbeg, so 2015 is sounding like THE year to visit Islay during Feis Ile). It's one of the very few distilleries still conducting some floor maltings, after which the germinated barley is first exposed to a very smoky peat fire to lock in the desired smoky character, before being dried with hot air. John submits that this process is fundamental in producing the smoky depth of flavour of Laphroaig whiskies. The Islay peat is brick shaped to keep the moisture content high and to produce more smoky character. John also described their foreshot run, at 45 minutes, as the longest in the industry. A long foreshot run removes undesirable elements, puts more of the heart front end back into the next distillation, and leaves the heart of the run as close to pure, unadulterated new spirit as possible.
In the stillroom, I met Donnie (19 years at the distillery) and Michael (2 years). Unusually, Laphroaig has  3 small spirit stills and one double size still, the smaller ones producing a sweeter, lighter spirit. Careful attention is paid to the proportions of each going into the maturation stage.
Maturation is predominantly in first fill, ex-Bourbon barrels, giving a slightly sweet, vanilla, nutty character to the smoky new spirit. Sherry casks are occasionally used for final maturation of some expressions. About 70% of the casks are matured on the island, with 60% of that in rack warehouses and 40% in dunnage.
The range is uncomplicated (as in not too many expressions) and tasty. Here's what to look for in the core range.......
The 10 year old is hard to beat. It's smoky, a little bit salty, smoky, a little bit sweet, smoky. There's a cask strength version as well.
The Quarter Cask, which enjoys a few months of final maturation in small casks, offers up additional toffee flavours. I often use this one at tastings and never tire of it. It's a great whisky and, I hesitate to say this in case bad things happen back in Ontario, but it's very decently priced for such an interesting whisky.
Relatively new to the range is Triple Wood, essentially Quarter Cask with a final maturation in ex-Oloroso sherry casks. Such are the wonders of technology that I can tell you that there are currently about 65 bottles of the stuff on LCBO shelves in Ottawa. Go shopping, Ottawa whisky lovers!
The PX, available in Duty Free, is finished in sweet PX sherry casks. I haven't tried that yet but, as I seem to spend  a lot of time in airports these days, I plan to rectify this very soon. I'm expecting syrupy, then dry.
The 18 year old is a dram to be savoured and enjoyed. The extra 8 years in the cask adds more flavours to explore, more sweetness and less smoke. It's really quite delicious. For me, it's hard to choose between 10 year old, Quarter cask and 18 year old - all Laphroaig, each unique.
Slainte!

That's it from Islay for now. You can browse the article list at the side for stories about each of the eight distilleries. Next up will be some posts about  Speyside and other whisky stuff, Swiss wines, German beer and Israeli wine (delicious!) - not necessarily in that order.

Ardbeg - from mothballs to medals

It's really quite remarkable what the folks at Ardbeg distillery have accomplished in the last 15 years. Back in 1887, Ardbeg produced over 1 million litres of whisky and was the biggest producer on Islay, as well as one of the biggest in Scotland. But, about a hundred years later, changing fortunes and times saw production dwindle to virtually nothing and, in 1991, the distillery closed. Six years later, it was purchased by the Glenmorangie company, currently owned by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. Since then, Ardbeg, its people and its whiskies have won countless awards.
I'm a big fan of the whiskies, but I'm certainly not alone. Ardbeg has a passionate following that broaches on the fanatical. The Ardbeg committee (one of over a hundred that exist on Islay) has reported over 50,000 members for a few years now. In addition to spreading the Ardbeg message (which I am doing, as a good committee member), members have early access to special bottlings and other rewards of membership. If you live in an accommodating part of the world, these special bottlings can be shipped to you. 
With so many committee members having Elite access (to use an Air Canada analogy), some bottlings sell out very quickly, which generates even more demand for limited bottlings, and Ardbeg in general. All very clever.
Still on the subject of serious Ardbeg fans, Tim Puett from California has to be one of the most serious of all. If you love Ardbeg whisky, check out his unbelievably detailed website - The Ardbeg Project
There are many expressions to choose from. In addition to producing a core range that currently includes the very lightly peated Blasda, the "blow your socks off" peated Supernova, the consistently super 10 year old, the big and powerful Corryvreckan and my favourite, Uigeadail, Ardbeg distillery has produced over 100 whiskies, including committee bottlings and single cask bottlings, since being acquired by Glemorangie in 1997.
Jim Murray, who updates his annual Whisky Bible each year, named different Ardbeg whiskies as World Whisky of the Year in each of 2008, 2009 and 2010 - big accolades for a distillery which had its renaissance a mere 15 years ago.
The southern Islay distillery will be celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2015. It's reasonable to expect all kinds of parties and surprises during that year. I recently spent some time with Jackie Thomson at Ardbeg, Whisky Magazine's 2013 Visitor Centre Manager of the Year, and she's the instigator of many celebratory events at the distillery. With a  focus on good fun and a passion for Ardbeg, it's clear that the thinking cap is already on for some 2015 events. Jackie, (who won the same award on 2002),  flits around the visitor centre, wearing many hats in a very capable fashion. When she isn't talking about whisky, showing folks around or leading tastings, she might be tending cash at the enormously popular shop or working in the terrific restaurant, where hungry tasters can sample some great Islay food.
I sampled some whiskies with Jackie and it became clear to me that the clever handling of older stock, as well as very new, post 1997, stock was a huge factor in regenerating demand for Ardbeg.
In 2000, Ardbeg 10 was launched, but with older stock. From about 2008, the 10 year old character started to become more consistent, from the newer stock - all pointing to some interesting vertical tastings that can be held with Ardbeg 10, from 2000 to 2008. In 2003, the enormously popular Uigeadail was launched but, do the math, and it's clear that this is another whisky that changed with time before becoming Jim Murray's world whisky of the year in 2009. Between 2004 and 2008, various committee bottlings appeared, with names like Very Young, Still Young, Almost There and Renaissance, all selling out and continuing the buzz. Corryvreckan and Blasda were launched in 2008, Supernova in 2010 and, in other years, limited edition products like Alligator (re-charred casks), Rollercoaster, Serendipity ( a blended malt), and many others have continued to  fuel interest and demand. Just this year, a quirky, limited edition product called Galileo was launched, in celebration of the fact that some Ardbeg was sent to the international space station in 2011 for maturation experiments. Some of the whisky was matured in ex-Marsala casks and it's bottled at 49%. With a fruity nose and a peaty aftertaste, it's a different Ardbeg but, as always, has sold out. I managed to pick one up before it was gone.
Among the other whiskies I tasted was a 17 year old from older stock, which reminded me of Lagavulin 16 year old. The peat was more subdued, and it was fruity and elegant. The Blasda was light, as would be expected; the Supernova, big, bold, cask strength, enormously peaty and really tasty; and the Serendipity - a blend of Glen Moray and Ardbeg - had layers of aromas and flavours and was quite delicious. This whisky was apparently produced "by mistake", when some Glen Moray stock found its way to the distillery. It was then released as a committee, blended malt bottling and, to my mind, is proof positive that there should be much more blended malt production to explore new flavour combinations.
It could be argued that there are so many Ardbeg expressions out there, that it's all a  bit confusing for the consumer. (Back in Ontario, we only see one or two, most specifically the 10 year old, so we're not confused at all - sad, but not confused!). However, the fans seem to have no problem whatsoever with the wide range, and demand for Ardbeg, of any kind, keeps growing.
I haven't said much about the distillery itself, but it's quite charming and has some unique characteristics, such as one of the oldest working Boby mills in the world, a purifier on the lyne arm, and another of these long fermentation times to accommodate the high phenolic content, which requires more time for the yeast to break down the sugar.
After looking around with Jackie, and tasting a wide collection of Ardbeg whisky, I spent some time with Michael Heads. Mickey, as he is known, is the 17th Distillery Manager, a position he's held since 2007. Mickey's also a big fan of Uigeadail (it's much beloved by many!) and you can see him chat about this brilliant dram on you tube.
Ardbeg recently lost Master Blender extraordinaire, Rachel Barrie, to Bowmore distillery. Rachel was responsible for the creation of some very fine expressions for Ardbeg and Glenmorangie, so we will stay tuned to see what the next game plan is to be at Ardbeg. Meanwhile, if the distillery keeps producing whiskies in the same class as the 10 year old and Uigeadail, there will be many happy campers for a long time to come.
Slainte!
Next up Laphroaig.

Bunnahabhain - crazy roads, rustic stills, great whisky

The last few kilometres of the road to Bunnahabhain distillery is not for the faint-hearted! Although very charming, and offering up gorgeous scenery, we have here a single track road with few passing places, scary blind corners, and neck-stretching brows of hills.
On the other hand, the scenery on that road and surrounding Bunnahabhain, the most north - easterly Islay distillery,  is simply stunning, even on a  grey, drizzly day.
It was comforting to reach the distillery - a surprisingly large complex at the end of a wee road -  where distillery manager,  Andrew Brown, was there to greet me with a smile, some distillery stories and history, and several nice drams.
Very few distilleries in Scotland are independent. Most are owned by other companies which, in turn, might be owned by bigger companies.  It's a reality of the global economy and the huge amount of financing required to be a global player. For example, Ardbeg is owned by Glenmorangie Co Ltd, which is owned by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. LVMH own many luxury companies like Tag Heuer, Chateau d'Yquem, Givenchy, Sephora, Donna Karan and others. So, who owns Bunnahabhain?
The distillery is currently owned by Burn Stewart Distillers Ltd, which also owns Tobermory and Deanston distilleries, and produces Black Bottle whisky, a much favoured blend. Burn Stewart is owned by CL World Brands Spirits Group, which is owned by CL Financial, a Trinidadian based industrial conglomerate. This company is currently government controlled, and one can spend many hours reading about the various reasons leading to this status.
As it happens, CL also owns Angostura, so later that day I shook up  a cocktail, involving Bunnahabhain 18 year old (shame on me), angostura bitters, Cointreau, fresh lime juice and ice. I'm currently calling this the Margadale Special, in honour of the river nearby.
Andrew has been with Bunnahabhain distillery since 1988 and has undertaken most roles, until being recently appointed as distillery manager. He clearly enjoys sharing the history. The distillery was built in 1881, and the current owners have been in place since 2003. The name means "mouth of the river" in Gaelic and the river in question is the Margadale, (hence the cocktail name). The pure spring waters of the river are used in the production of Bunnahabhain whisky - not for cooling water, but in the other key areas.
As with quite a few distilleries, there have been periods of mothball, and some changing of hands and fortunes over the years. Until about 1963, the distillery produced a warm and peaty style of whisky, all of which went to blends. In that year much of the equipment was upgraded and Bunnahabhain started producing unpeated whisky - more of a Speyside style, according to Andrew. That style is much loved by Bunnahabhain fans, who enjoy the core range of 12 year old, 18 year old (a personal favourite) and 25 year old. Andrew was excited to share the news that a 40 year old would be coming out soon. The quantities will be very limited at about 750 bottles worldwide, more than 100 of which will be going to Taiwan, apparently. There will be about 10 available at the distillery in the £2500 range. In 2003 the distillery, once again, started to produce peaty whiskies, such as the new Toiteach (totche). The current range offers both peated and unpeated whiskies.
Andrew indicates that current production levels are about half of the 2.7M litre capacity, and last year about 90% of production went to blends. Presumably, the plan is to increase production to keep building stocks for anticipated future global demand. The core range was relaunched in 2011, with much acclaim, at a higher alcohol level, unchillfiltered. and with no caramel colouring. With the addition of new peaty expressions and World Duty Free offerings, Bunnahabhain should be seeing some of that increase in demand.
The peated malt at about 35ppm, comes from Port Ellen, and the unpeated, at about .8ppm, from Inverness or Berwick upon Tweed - all to Bunnahabhain's exact specifications. The mash tun uses about 12.5 tonnes of malt per mash and is fed with spring water. As with many distilleries, the draff residue in the mash tun goes to cattle feed. Many distillery folks will refer to fermentation times as having impact on the character of the new make spirit. At Bunnahabhain, however, fermentation time is typically longer at weekends than week days,  for labour reasons. Andrew reckons that there's no discernible difference in the spirit, although there will be slightly more alcohol in the washbacks for longer fermentation times, and the washback water temperature will be varied a bit. It was interesting to hear his perspective, since slow fermentation time is a definite aim at some other distilleries.
Much thought has gone into mitigating against power cuts. Bunnahabhain is more remote than the other distilleries and power cuts happen. Among the various things in the distillery bag of tricks, in the event of a cut, is to grate a little natural soap into the washbacks to "take the head out" when fermentation is raging.
The four stills at Bunnahabhain are uniquely shaped and, although they're made of copper of course, they have a rustic appearance that I hadn't seen in other distilleries. External appearance will have no impact on the whisky inside, but I realized that other distilleries, with gleaming stills, actually polish them!
With so much of the current production going to blend, a lot of the whisky is filled into tanks and taken elsewhere for maturation. But there are lots of barrels maturing on site and others waiting to be filled.
It was time for a tasting so, with some other keen enthusiasts, we headed into the tasting room, where Andrew treated us to some fine drams. First up was Darach Ur, a new, unpeated, duty free offering at 46.3% and no age expression. It had a fruity and vanilla nose and was very spicy. It softened down very nicely with a drop of water.
The relatively recently relaunched Bunnahabhain 12 year old, at 46.3%, was fresh, with citrus, vanilla and spice again. The 18 year old, a lovely whisky, is all elegance with great flavours. It's sweeter, fruitier, still with that characteristic spice, dried fruit and Christmas pudding. Both of these are available in Ontario at around $80 and $160. Ouch! Weep with us, my friends who have access to more favourable pricing.
The 25 year old was the most elegant, with vanilla custard cream aromas and flavours coming into play, along with everything else.
We were treated to a wee dram of the 2011 Feis Ile special bottling - a 14 year old, 59.4% whisky which had spent the last 3 1/2 years in a cognac cask. It was rich on the nose with orange and ginger spice, a cornucopia of flavours and fire on the palate, and a big spicy finish. This was also created to celebrate 130 years of Bunnahabhain. Thanks for sharing that one, Andrew. I'm sure there are few, if any, bottles for sale anywhere.
The Toiteach (means smoke on Islay, mist on Lewis) had a smoky, medicinal, young nose, and was sweeter and chewy on the palate. It had a nice smoky finish.
The other new duty free addition to the range is the Cruach Mhona (Peat stack/peat moss). This is another unaged expression, but drinks very nicely and is a good one to buy to get a feel for peaty Bunnahabhain.
In the distillery shop, there are all kinds of rare, unique and pricey bottles that collectors will love.
As you approach Bunnahabhain, signs on barrels point to the distillery. On the way out  a quirky barrel sign points to "other places". Brilliant! This is definitely a distillery worth visiting - for the drive in (not everyone will be as wimpy as me), for the warm welcome and the chance to taste some fine drams.

Slainte!
Next up Ardbeg, but not for a few days, while my travels take me to Munich. I feel a beer story coming on...............