On Wednesday, February 24th, the Kirshenbaum family toured the Binyamina Winery, Ramat HaNadiv, Zichron Yaakov and the Carmel Winery.

They started off their day meeting Pamela Levene, a certified tour guide, and driving up the coast to Binyamina.  They enjoyed a private tour in English, breakfast and delicious tasting at the Binyamina Winery.

Feeling really happy, they enjoyed a stroll through Ramat HaNadiv for an explanation of the Rothchild's influence and important work in Israel during the late 1800s and early 1900s. They continued up to Zichron Yaakov, toured the paper mill and walked along the Midrachov.

They enjoyed an intimate tour with Valerie, an expert in Israeli wine, and tasted some of the highest quality wines at the Carmel Winery. The left the tour feeling really good, and proceeded to dinner at the Carmel Bistro.

JERUSALEM - Israeli archaeologists said Monday that they've discovered an unusually shaped 1,400-year-old wine press that was exceptionally large and advanced for its time.

The octagonal press measures 21 feet by 54 feet and was discovered in southern Israel, about 25 miles south of both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

"What we have here seems to be an industrial and crafts area of a settlement from the sixth to seventh century, which was situated in the middle of an agricultural region," said excavation director Uzi Ad of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

During this period, the whole area was part of the Byzantine Empire — the eastern half of the old Roman Empire.

"The size of the wine press attests to the fact that the quantity of wine that was produced in it was exceptionally large and was not meant for local consumption," Ad said in a release.

The wine was probably intended for export to Egypt, then a major export market, or to Europe, he said.

An identical wine press was previously uncovered 12 miles away, north of Ashkelon, he added.

CLICK HERE for full article

Today I toured Mark and gang to the Tishbi Winery, Smadar Winery and Carmel Winery.

They arrived from Tel Aviv to Binyamina Train station where I met them for a day of fun.  We then drove to the Tishbi Winery and enjoyed bread, wine jellies, of course wine and a detailed tour of the process of wine making.

After Tishbi Winery, to sober up, we took a nice stroll around Ramat HaNadiv.  The highlight for everyone was enjoying the simple pleasures and life of Motty from Smadar Winery.  We had an intimate tour and tasting with Motty where he explained the history of his family and how he puts all his love into his work.

We finished the day around 4:30 at the Carmel Winery drinking from their Private Collection Series at the cafe.  Wine was enjoyed by all!

Monday, February 15th, I toured Lisa and Amir Katz, owners of Brookline Liquor Mart, to Tishbi Winery, Somek Winery and Carmel Winery.

Lisa enjoyed shmoozing up Jonathan Tishbi and doing business the old fashion way, face to face.

We then enjoyed a delicious intimate tasting and tour at Somek Winery with the winemaker, Barak.  Lisa and I are going to now work together in exporting the boutique winery wines to Boston.

In between touring the wineries we strolled around Ramat HaNadiv, Rothschild's Botanical Gardens and walked along the Midrachov in Zichron Yaakov.

At the Carmel Winery we tried new wines that Lisa does not carry in her store and will now hopefully push the distributor in Boston to sell her new Carmel wines.  Lisa and Amir enjoyed the new image Carmel Winery is creating from their old unsophisticated wines to their new high-end vineyards and Wine and Culture Center.

Every two years Israel hosts a wine expo for export purposes.  Over 40 wineries are going to be attending.  The Wine Expo is open to the public for two nights, Wednesday, February 10th and Thursday, February 11th.

The Wine Expo is for people in the Wine business only on Tuesday, February 9th.

The cost is 60 NIS per a person and for that you receive a glass and all the tastings you want to drink!

The location is The Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center LTD. Exhibition Gardens, Rokach Blvd. Tel Aviv, Israel.  hall no. 10. This is near the University of Tel Aviv.

Click Here for more information:

Shop for Boutique Israeli Wines at Israeli Wine Direct.

They are a team that hand-selects the finest boutique Israeli wines from Israel and brings the bottles directly to you from the winemaker’s home.

Check out the article written by Eli Shapiro of New York.  Him and his friends came for a tour of Tishbi in January 2010 and these are his comments:

click here for the link to this article

" I am currently sitting in Brussels Airport on my way back from the Holy Land. The amount of changes and infrastructural improvement since my last trip was absolutely astounding. Some feel the modernization and commercialization of certain parts of Jerusalem has detracted from its character and charm. I have found that in most cases there is a balance between modern and ancient that suits the city well. Tel Aviv, on the other hand, is a huge disappointment and its only redeeming quality is its proximity to Yaffo. With that said, this was actually my first time driving in Israel. Caution, prudence, and responsibility are not virtues that our Israeli brothers and sisters behind the wheel share with us.

Of course not having been there in more years than I care to admit in this column, I did the required must-see and experience activities that people in my situation typically do, so I’m not here to tell you about that. I am here to tell you about a fantastic experience some friends and I shared that is not on the typical Israel trip itinerary—the wineries of the North. In recent years, even the most critical wine enthusiasts have identified Israel as a region putting out quality wines that hold their own in competition.

So it was with this in mind that I found myself with Dan Neuman of Ramat Eshkol, and Shaya and Garyn Lieber of Lawrence, NY heading North toward Zichron Yaakov to the Carmel and Tishbi Wineries.

Carmel is the largest winery in Israel putting out more than 25 million bottles of wine a year and was established by Baron Edmund de Rothschild, maker of the famed château lafite of Bordeaux France. While Carmel is required visiting, it is the much smaller Tishbi winery located about a mile away that really makes it worth the trip.

The Tishbi winery is the first family owned winery in Israel. In 1882, the time of the first immigration to Israel, Michael and Malka Chamiletzki, from Lithuania/Romania, came to live in Zichron Yaakov. They settled in a small community called Shefaya and in 1925 Chaim Nachman Bialik visited and gave Michael and Malka a new Hebrew last name “TISHBI” which is an acronym for “A Resident of Shefeya in Israel.”

Jonathan Tishbi, the grandson of Michael and Malka, started to plant his own vineyards in 1984 in Zichron Yaakov, where the current Tishbi winery stands. The Tishbi family produces approximately 1 million bottles annually and is still family owned and operated. Jonathan and his son Golan are the senior winemakers while his daughter Oshra founded the Oshra label of premium olive oils and wine based jams as well as operating the café in the winery.

Now I am up to my favorite part. In addition to tasting Tishbi’s highest end offerings including their oak aged special reserve, we paired the wines with the most fantastic dairy food I have ever had in my life. While I enjoyed a spicy shakshuka with salad and assorted cheeses from local kibbutzim, Dan and Shaya loaded up on fresh baked pizza and the most heavenly bread with Oshra’s wine based jams. The food, the wine, and the atmosphere of the Tishbi winery make it a must do for anyone touring Israel.

Esther Cohen, currently of Zichron Yaakov and formerly of Boston Massachusetts, led our Tishbi experience. For those of you who are interested in scheduling wine tours, Esther has made it extremely convenient with her successful business, “My Israel Wine Tours,” which provides high-quality, individualized wine tours for all the wine regions of Israel. Esther will help you create an itinerary that meets your needs, interests, and location. Tour durations of one or several days can be arranged and all the details including tour director, transportation, entrance fees, and other logistics are taken care of by contacting Esther through her website at www.myisraelwinetours.com.

That’s it for now. Tell Esther I say hi and make sure not to miss the great opportunities for wine and food pairings that Israel has to offer.


To contact Eli Shapiro, join his Facebook group, I Love Hock of the Rock. "

Today I visited LOTEM, an Integrated Nature Studies program who are the leading organization in Israel offering field trips, extracurricular activities and creative workshops to people with special needs. Lotem is located in Emek HaShalom near Yoquanam (Carmel Region) that has the only wine press accessible for disabled people.  There is also an oil press and by Summer 2010 there will be a bread bakery.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Paula, Amos and Ronit who toured me through the beautiful landscape, the farm and the wine and oil press.  From June to October thousands of people take part in making wine the “old fashion way” and enjoy walk along the trails around the hills of the Carmel.

If you are bringing kids on your wine tour, then this is a perfect activity for them…but also for you!

The Jerusalem Wine Store is owned by two very nice men, who come from Anglo backgrounds, so it is easy to communicate with them in English.  The sell high-end Kosher wine in a store in the Cardo of the Old City.

The can lecture on wine in the Bible, wineries in the Old City, and they can even host a number of people for a cheese and wine pairing.

If you are interested please contact me at MyIsraelWineTours@gmail.com or go on their website at www.myisraeliwine.com