Raising a glass to Israeli wines in Jerusalem

The Jerusalem wine festival is set to kick off its 10-year anniversary at the Israel Museum from August 5-8.

By SAMMY HUDES
Wine (photo credit: Courtesy)
Wine
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The Jerusalem wine festival is set to kick off its 10-year anniversary at the Israel Museum from August 5-8, with this year’s edition featuring over 50 brands of Israeli wine, according to festival organizer Ran Toren.
For NIS 85, guests will be given a glass which can be used for unlimited wine tasting.
As a special feature this year, the museum’s Herod the Great exhibit, which Toren calls the museum’s “most popular and most expensive exhibition” will also be open to all visitors of the festival.
The four-day festival will take place outdoors in the museum’s Art Garden each evening from 7-11 p.m. The Herod exhibit will be open to festival-goers from 5:30- 11:30 p.m.
Toren said many wineries will be debuting new selections at this year’s festival. Of the approximately 55 winery brands that will be there, about 50 will be kosher, he said.
These brands include some of Israel’s biggest names in the wine industry, such as the Golan Heights, Galil Mountain, Carmel and Recanati wineries.
The event will also offer kosher food, including sushi, fish and chips, cheese and focaccia, Toren said, noting two bands will perform each evening to provide guests with entertainment as well.
Toren feels the outdoor nature of the festival creates the perfect atmosphere.
“It’s the best location for this event,” he said. “You have the weather in Jerusalem, you have the museum, you have the wine and you have the music and the food, so it’s perfect.... It’s very high class because it’s in the museum.”
Toren expects about 20,000 people to attend the four days of the festival. This number is a far cry from the 1,500 that attended the first festival 10 years ago, he said.
“It goes up every year,” Toren said. “People wait for this event. We have a lot of tourists from the United States that write us in the winter [asking] the date of the festival because they want to be here.”
The festival is a big draw for so many tourists due to the combination of being able to taste top quality wines and visit the Israel Museum all at the same time, according to Toren.
“The Israeli wines are very popular all over the world,” he said. “In one night they can see the museum and pay for all the great wines that we make in Israel.”