William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

“ ...nature’s quintessential beverage is the fruit of the vine”  Rabbi Tzvi Rossen, The Art of Kosher Winemaking I never planned on becoming enamored of wines of Israel. It just happened.  Many thanks to Benhaim Family Winery for opening my eyes to their tradition of excellence. Benhaim is a boutique winery dedicated to the family’s tradition of making high-quality hand-crafted wines going back six generations to 1932. All estate vineyards are situated in the Upper Galilee. Production is at 35,000 bottles. Founders: Ruth and Elie Benhaim In 1970 Ruth and Elie Benhaim founded their eponymous family winery, making and selling wine at their house in Ramat Gan, and after 27 harvests opened a boutique winery in Kfar Azar. A decade later the winery moved to a large, new building in Ramat Hasharon – where it continues to operate today. Chief Winemaker: Itay Benhaim Itay Ben-Haim is Benhaim’s chief winemaker and a sixth generation vintner who draws inspirat...

A Kosher Wine not just for the High Holy Days Psagot winery was founded in 2003 by Yaakov and Naama Berg. By 2013 annual production was up to 200,000 bottles. Vineyards are located on limestone terraces 900 meters above sea level in the settlement of "Psagot" in Binyamin. The winery is located in a beautiful stone structure overlooking the Kelt Wadi and the mountains of Edom surrounding Jerusalem. Psagot Winery ages its wines in an ancient underground cave that was used for wine-making in the Second Temple period. I'm naturally fascinated by wines sourced from ancient winemaking locations. The wine making traditions of Israel go back millennia. Naturally, our human heritage has been influenced by wine and winemaking, for longer than many assume. I have strong opinions on this subject. Would we be who we are today without wine? Philosophical question aside, it is with pleasure I share my first Kosher wine review on this blog. "Winemaker Yaakov Oryah has creat...