Success and promise of Israeli wines: 2014 review

As 2014 came to a close, Galil Mountain Winery’s Head Winemaker since 2006, Micha Vaadia, shared some of the year’s highlights. Vaadia previously worked at wineries in California, New Zealand and Argentina.

What were the most memorable experiences and challenges in 2014?

Vaadia: In Israel, we experienced great weather that was not extreme. Last December started out very cold and stormy, which was followed by a relatively dry winter and a moderate summer. For winemaking, weather plays a huge role and the temperate seasons helped the quality of the wine. Quality really stands out. Each year has its own fingerprint when it comes to winemaking, based on various external factors. The uniqueness of each harvest is bold, flavored by deep tones within the grape, the climate’s varied cycles and refined winemaking. We are grateful that in 2014 the Galil Mountain Winery bore lots of good, developed wines.

 So if 2014 was such a great year, what are the best wines of 2014?

Vaadia: There isn’t one way to answer this question, as wines are based very much on individual tastes and preferences. In addition, we will only begin to taste wines from the 2014 harvest in the coming months. However, this season’s Syrah vines really stand out. Several wines are based on it — most notably the Meron wine. In addition, our Galil Ela, Galil Alon and Galil Mountain Syrah wines all featured Syrah varieties.

In recent years, Israeli wines have placed extremely well in international wine competitions. Where there any notable awards in 2014?

Vaadia: There were actually several. The Galil Yiron 2010 won the Mundus Vini 2014 Grand Gold and was named the Best Red Wine of Israel in Germany. The Galil Meron 2010 won the Selections Mondiales Des Vins 2014 Gold award in Canada, the Les Citadelles du Vin 2014 Gold Prize and the Special Prize as the Best Israeli Wine in France, and the Gold Mundus Vini 2014 in Germany. In addition, the Galil Alon 2011 snagged the Gold Award at the Les Citadelles du Vin 2014 in France. This year, our wines received unprecedented recognition at lavish international wine shows and we are so proud.