Wine, even more than other foods, has this amazing way of connecting people across cultures and experiences. We speak with David about the role of wine in Israel’s economy and wine’s central place in a kind of positive cultural rebranding of Israel in the minds of people around the world.

Trained in Bordeaux, Asaf today serves as winemaker at both Binyamina, one of Israel’s oldest and largest wineries, and also at rising star, boutique winery Vitkin located in the Sharon region of Israel.  Vitkin produces today around 3,000 cases annually and is well known for experimenting with a wide range of grape varieties. Binyamina is the fourth largest winery in Israel with production of about 2.8 million bottles each vintage.

In a recent interview with the Napa Valley Register, Asaf joked with the reporter that, ” …Israeli’s were making wine in Israel when the French were still hitting each other with sticks.”

Photo by Beni Maly

In the last several weeks, Golan and Flam Winery has been featured in both Wine Spectator and on the cover page of the wine section of the San Francisco Chronicle. Golan intends to regularly visit the United States to actively introduce Americans to Flam wines.

Wines mentioned in this episode:

Flam Winery, Sauvignon Blanc-Chardonnay 2007
Flam Winery, Classico, Red Blend 2006

In addition to hosting a popular online food and wine forum, Rogov is the author of an annual guide to Israeli wines where he has catalogued the reemerging Israeli wine scene.

Mr. Montefiore is seen by many as the informal ambassador of Israeli wine to the rest of the world. He is a descendant of Sir Moses Montefiore who, along with Baron Edmond de Rothschild, reignited Jewish winemaking and agriculture in what is now Israel during the late 19th Century.

Photo by Gilad Kavalerchik