Yesterday, April 7, 2010, I picked the Rudman family up at the Renaissance Hotel in Tel Aviv at 9am.  We drove up North to Zichron Yaakov. Our first stop was the Tishbi Winery, where the Rudman family enjoyed the Chardonnay-Mango and Cabernet-Fig wine jellies.  They also loved the 2009 semi-dry Gewürztraminer.
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Next, we traveled up the hill to Ramat HaNadiv, to see the outlook of the Mediterranean Sea and the beautiful roses in bloom.  The second winery was Somek Winery where the Rudman family enjoyed an intimate tour and tasting with Barak, the winemaker. They even got to see how the bottles were corked.  They thoroughly enjoyed the Port-style wine which is made from 50% Cabernet, 50% Merlot, fortified with Italian brandy and aged for 3 years in barrels.

We ate at the Carmel Bistro feasting on pasta, salad and fish. 
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The last winery, Amphorae Winery, which is set in the Makora Forest, had the cleanest and nicest facility. We toured the facility and enjoyed a tasting with Alon, the assistance wine-maker. We tasted their newly released Merlot-Barbara blend from 2007 which was smooth, fruity, hints of dark-chocolate from the French Oak and very delicious. 

The Rudman got dropped off at the Hotel at 5pm exactly where they passed out from all that wine and walking!
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On Sunday, April 4th, twenty young-adults enjoyed a day in Zichron Yaakov touring 2 different wineries, Tishbi, the 5th largest in Israel, and Smadar, producing 5,000 bottles annually from his back-yard.  They enjoyed a kosher for passover breakfast with a glorious tasting at the Tishbi Winery. 

They also toured the facilities at Smadar Winery by Motti, the winemaker and then walked along the Midrachov in Zichron Yaakov. We ended the day with a nice stroll in Ramat HaNadiv, Rothschild's Botanical Gardens.

You can view the video taken at Tishbi Winery from the participants on this day wine experience.  The tour was marketed by Drachim Young Professionals.
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On Thursday, April 1st, 2010, I met the Allen family at Tishbi Winery for a hearty breakfast of shakshuka, salad, cheese, wine jellies and maztah. Along with breakfast I treated them to a tasting of Tishbi's 2009 semi-dry Gewurztraminer, 2009 dry Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 young Merlot, 2006 aged Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 sweet Muscat dessert wine, and to top it off the 2006 Barabara-Zinfindel Port-style wine.

Somehow, after all that wine, the Allen family was still standing and able to take a nice tour of the Tishbi winery facilities, including the oak barrel room and Alembic Distillery which makes their brandy.
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We then drove up to Ramat HaNadiv and enjoyed a stroll along the botanical gardens. Because it was during passover, and most of Israel is on a vacation, there were lots of children running around and families enjoying the day together.

Our next stop was Somek Winery, where Barak, the winemaker, who is also the farmer, showed us his ancient pressing machine and French oak barrels.  The Allen family tasted the 2007 Chardonney oaked for 12 months, 2005 Carignon oaked for 24 months, and the blend Bakat HaNadiv (50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 15% Petit Syrah).
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During Passover the town of Zichron Yaakov holds a festival where over 80,000 people attend. There are food stands, musicians, artists and many things for kids to do.  We walked through the crowds so the Allen family could get a taste of the European feeling in Zichron Yaakov from the First Aliyah in 1882.
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