Experts talk wine’s history, cultivation, and challenges in Israel

Read about what makes Israeli wines so special.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF FEBRUARY 8, 2025 00:42 Updated: FEBRUARY 8, 2025 00:44

THE GOLAN HEIGHTS is most well known for its wine and vineyards. (photo credit: GOLAN HEIGHTS WINERY)

A panel of Israeli wine experts met on Wednesday to discuss the beverage’s ancient historical and cultural significance and the nation’s innovative viticultural practices of the nation’s vineyards.

The discussion was moderated by Combat Antisemitism Movement’s Director of Community Engagement Shira Granot.

The panel featured experts Pinto Winery winemaker Yaakov Uriya, WateRevive Bio-Engineering Founder Yael Ben Zvi, and Ariel University’s Institute of Grape and Wine Research’s Dr. Shivi Dror.

“Eleven thousand years ago, the grapevine was first domesticated in the South Levant, which is actually Israel, Syria, and Lebanon,” Dror explained. “If we move forward a few thousand years, grapes will be processed into wines, and the wines from the land of Israel, from the Holy Land, will be considered of the best quality.”

Israel's vineyards and climates

Speaking on the practices he uses to cultivate his grapes in a desert, Uriya explains how Israel’s unique environment enables a variety of yields from within one vineyard. 

Grapes (credit: INGIMAGE)

“From one Vineyard you could get six profiles that complement each other. And you can put them together and get a real lovely, complex wine, even though you're growing them in a hot region which should give you theoretically poor wines,” he explained.

Talking about the work her company does to treat wastewater, Ben Zvi explained that WateRevive Bio-Engineering works to construct wetlands.

These artificial wetlands “take natural processes , engineer them, intensify them, and also tailor make them” to address the specific wastewater challenges Israel faces, Ben Zvi said.