January 29, 2025 • 54 mins
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Discover the captivating world of Israeli winemaking with Or Nidbach, Tabor Winery's head winemaker, as he takes us through his unconventional journey from bartender to winemaking visionary. In this episode, learn how his passion for crafting elegant and drinkable wines emerged, alongside his educational experiences at UC Davis. Or's unique perspective is reshaping Israeli wines, moving away from traditionally powerful styles and focusing on the artistry of wine to deliver a refined sipping experience.
Dive into the evolution of winemaking at Tabor Winery, where sustainability meets innovation. We explore the transition from the Elements series to the Creation series, to the Desire series, featuring varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannant. Gain insights into how Tabor is leading the way with ecological practices that enhance vineyard longevity and quality. Or Nidbach shares his philosophy on balancing traditional winemaking techniques with cutting-edge advancements, emphasizing the winemaker's role in crafting wines of exceptional character.
Explore the rich tapestry of Israeli terroirs and their influence on wine profiles, from the Golan Heights to Mitzpah Ramon. This episode delves into the adaptability required in viticulture and the strategic expansion of wine portfolios, with a focus on varietals like Syrah and Grenache. Savor the depth of Israeli wines as we discuss the distinct characteristics brought out by different terroirs, and celebrate the exciting potential of Israel's diverse landscapes in shaping unique wine experiences. Pour yourself a glass and join us on this flavorful exploration!
For more information:
Or Nidbach Head Winemaker
Tabor Winery
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 422, Kfar Tabor, Israel, 15241.
Phone: 04-6760444.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S. Simon Jacob (00:09):
Welcome to The Kosher Terroir.
I'm Simon Jacob, your host forthis episode from Jerusalem.
Before we get started, I askthat, wherever you are, please
take a moment and pray for thesafety of our soldiers and the
safe return of all of ourhostages.
Welcome back to another episodeof The Kosher Terroir, where we
(00:31):
uncork the stories behind thewines, the winemakers and the
magic of kosher winemaking fromaround the globe.
Today, we're thrilled to bringyou an exclusive conversation
with Or Nidbach Bach, the headwinemaker of renowned Tabor
Winery, crafting wines fromacross Israel's varied terroir
(00:54):
to launching the premiumartisanal wine brand.
Orr's vision is reshaping thelandscape of Israeli wine.
One vintage at a time ofIsraeli wine, one vintage at a
time.
We'll dive into his journeyfrom vineyard to barrel and get
an inside scoop on new,yet-to-be-revealed wines that
promise to push the boundariesof winemaking excellence.
(01:15):
But that's not all.
If you're a loyal listener, nowis the perfect time to revisit
our treasure trove of episodeswhere we've been telling the
stories that shape the world ofkosher wine, and there's so much
more to explore.
So if you're driving in yourcar, please focus on the road
ahead.
(01:35):
If you're at home relaxing,please pour yourself a wonderful
glass of kosher wine, settleback and get ready to savor this
rich, flavorful episode with OrNidbach, right here on The
Kosher Terroir.
Let's raise a glass todiscovering what's next in the
(01:55):
world of wine Cheers.
So welcome to The KosherTerroir.
First of all, I have a fewquestions.
Can you share your journey intowinemaking and what led you
here to Tabor?
Or Nidbach (02:09):
All right, my journey in wines started maybe
something like 20, 21 years ago.
I was finishing after the army.
I went traveling all over theworld not concerned about wine.
Yet when I got back to Israel Istarted to think about my
future, what I'm going to do,and I started walking as a
(02:33):
bartender.
And in this specific restaurantthe owner was a wine lover and
he brought a lot of winemakersfrom all over Israel to explain
about the wines for the waitersand bartenders.
And when I started hearing aboutwhat's going on about wine, the
(02:53):
vineyards, the passion, I gotinto it.
I got the bug and then Istarted to find out what I need
to do in order to do wineprofessionally or to be in this
kind of business, the businessof wine.
And most people told me thewinemakers that I met.
(03:15):
They told me you should go toUC Davis and learn about wine.
And then I started my journeyabout wine.
And then I started my journey.
I did my bachelor degree inisrael, in uh, in the hebrew
university, in agriculture, um,and then my uh.
And then, when I graduated frommy bachelor I I asked myself um
(03:40):
, maybe I need to walk a littlebit with wine, because I never
walk with wine to understand ifthis is what I want to do
practically.
So I started looking for winejobs and I found one here.
Apparently, the assistantwinemaker was walking here.
(04:01):
He went to study abroad andthey looked for someone to take
care of the of the lad and stufflike that so I can came along.
Um, it was 2010 and I startedwalking here.
I did it for two years, twovintages and um, and I found out
that I like it.
(04:22):
You caught the bug.
Yeah, I caught the bug Bingtime and then I started.
I applied to UC Davis and Iwent there for doing my master
to use and I took my wife I wasmarried at the time already and
(04:44):
I actually was planning to stayin Napa.
I mean, I wanted to work for awhile at least in Napa, but then
they called me from here.
They told me there's awinemaker job for you if you
want it, and it's not easy tofind a job in Israel a winemaker
(05:04):
job because there's not so manylarge wineries that are looking
for professional winemakers.
So I did it.
I came back and since 2014, I'ma winemaker here and last year
I got the job to be the headwinemaker in Intable.
S. Simon Jacob (05:25):
Who was the one who was here before?
Who be the head winemaker inIntable?
Who was the one who was herebefore?
Who was the head winemaker?
Or Nidbach (05:28):
Aryan Escher was the head winemaker and he's still
here he's advising.
He actually established thewinery along with the Sela
family 25 years ago, 26 yearsago, so he's got a lot of I mean
(05:49):
, he did everything here.
S. Simon Jacob (05:51):
That's awesome.
The winery just recentlylaunched this artisanal premium
wines brand.
What inspired this and what canconsumers expect of these wines
in the future?
Or Nidbach (06:08):
So, along with me getting the Edwine hijab, we
wanted to change some of thewines.
Give me to put my philosophyinto the new wines.
So your fingerprint.
S. Simon Jacob (06:28):
My fingerprint, which is actually on the logo,
which is amazing.
Or Nidbach (06:30):
It's very cool, it is.
So we did the new artisanalseries.
That's my wines.
So I didn't change all thewines or at least didn't break
it and rebuild it, I just lookedfor, you know, some places I
(06:55):
need only a little touch andsome wines are new completely
and some wine we change, I think, drastically in order to to me
believing completely, and somewine we change, I think,
drastically in order to to mebelieving in the wines, in the
new wines, and I encouragepeople to taste because I think
(07:16):
we did a lot of nice things,different things.
It also it's a change, but itwill take a few years.
I mean it's wine, the change inthe vineyards and new plantings
and everything.
It will take at least fiveyears to completely be my
philosophy and change.
S. Simon Jacob (07:37):
What are some of the things about the changes in
your philosophy, specificallyyour philosophy?
Or Nidbach (07:44):
I believe in very drinkable wines, very elegant,
you know, not so powerful likeyou will get usually in the
Israeli market.
Very powerful wines because weare a warm climate region and
people tend to take the ripeningto very high degrees of sugar.
(08:05):
And it's not easy not to do itbecause you want the specific
ripening and it's hard becauseit's so warm.
You get sugar very high, acidvery low and the phenolic, the
taste, the flavors, is goingslowly, slowly.
So sometimes you'll get it uh,not uh, together, not parallel,
(08:28):
as as you wish.
Um, so we need to changesometimes the, the varieties.
Um, I prefer not to doeverything.
Uh, with cabernet sauvignon, Iprefer going into, I I think,
more Mediterranean varietieslike Syrah or Durif, or even a
(08:48):
Grenache that we don't have yet,or Marcellin, which is
beautiful Mediterranean varietythat you can bring your wines to
be more soft and elegant andmore easy to drink.
Not all wines should be.
You should wait 10 years inorder to drink them.
So that's in a nutshell, myphilosophy.
S. Simon Jacob (09:12):
Cool, you have these categories element
creation, desire series, thedifferent series Is there?
What's different in terms ofeach of those styles and what's
the target audience for each one?
Or Nidbach (09:27):
So Elements is the enterer series to the premium.
That's how I see it.
So all the wines are varietals.
We want people to understandthe different varietals, give
them the specific characters foreach variety.
So in the whites, for example,we have the Sauvignon Blanc and
(09:50):
we have Chardonnay andGewurztraminer and Chenin Blanc
and Roussan and also our Rosé,and the wines are very, very
accessible.
All the whites accept from very, very small amounts of oak
chardonnay in the chardonnay,but it's small percentage.
All the whites are un-oakedcompletely.
(10:13):
So you should get the messageof the character of the of the
varietal.
Yes, and the reds are oaked for12 months and they are what we
call the mid-premium.
So you know the people whenthey're getting into wines
usually they're starting withthe un-oaked wine reds maybe for
(10:38):
I don't know 30 shekels on theshelf.
So this is a step up.
Here you get some morecomplexity.
Still, the wines shouldn't beso aggressive and powerful, but
more complexity, a little bit ofoak spice, but still varietals.
(10:58):
That's the element.
Creation is a step up.
The wines also, most of themvarietals, but we also have two
blends.
Most of the wine here aresingle vineyards, so this is our
best vineyards all over Israel.
So we have the Chardonnay fromthe Golan Heights and the Atanat
(11:21):
from the Golan Heights andAvionier.
That's interesting.
S. Simon Jacob (11:27):
How is that doing?
Or Nidbach (11:31):
Tannanat is very interesting.
Yeah, because it's a veryunique variety.
You guys are the only ones, orone of the only ones, who are
making a Tannanat at the moment,so we were the first.
And still I agree.
I agree, I know some peopledo; they deployed and do have it
.
don't know of so many that dida varietal Tannant.
(12:00):
It's a very unique varietybecause it's very strong, it can
grow like a beast, groweverywhere, give you high yields
and also, because of the verythick skin of the berries, it
doesn't get any diseases orsunburn and stuff like that.
(12:22):
On the other hand, if you wantto take it to premium, you need
to do a lot of thinningthroughout the year because it
can give you high yields, like3-tons per dunam and something
like that.
So we do a lot of thinning.
And also in the winery, becauseof the thick skin, you get a
(12:48):
lot of thinning.
Um, and also in the in the inthe winery, um, because of the
thick skin, you get a lot ofextraction, a lot of phenolics,
a lot of tannins.
Uh, sometimes too much.
So in order to control it, wetaste it throughout the
fermentation, the alcoholicfermentation, uh, very often I
mean sometimes three times a dayin order to get a specific
points, that it's not too muchextraction, and if it is, we
(13:11):
separate the skins right away inorder to get the tannate
character.
But drinkable, yeah, which isnot easy, because if you taste
the Mad maduran, the frenchthanat, sometimes it's it's in
ebos 10 to 20 years in order to,uh, you know, be drinkable, uh.
(13:31):
So, yeah, it's a veryinteresting, uh, variety.
S. Simon Jacob (13:34):
it's not easy, but it's, it's that, that's the
fun of it, especially whenyou're making it as a single
varietal rather than as a blend,because it really doesn't leave
you much room to play it's asingle varietal and it's a
single vineyard also.
Or Nidbach (13:50):
So, yeah, it doesn't let you a lot of room to play.
That's us need to be very, veryhands-on in the vineyards, and
we have a very goodviticulturist, Barak, and we
have a very good viticulturistBarak which is every week in
(14:10):
every vineyard all over Israel,and we have a lot of vineyards
all over the country and hegives specific instructions to
the growers what to do, how toirrigate, when to thin, when to
like.
Now we are doing all thepruning and it's very important
if you want it to be, you know,high-end single vineyard.
(14:32):
So, yeah, thanat is very, veryinteresting and we are still
learning.
S. Simon Jacob (14:39):
We're tasting some more as well this morning.
So thank you, Sure Amazing.
So yeah, Tell me a little bitabout this.
Or Nidbach (14:46):
So this is our Sauvignon Blanc.
On the elements level, it's oneof our best known wines.
It's actually a blend ofSauvignon Blanc from the Golan
Heights and from Searing andKvartavo here, so also Vion
(15:09):
Blanc.
What I'm aiming here is to giveyou a very aromatic wine, as it
should, on the other hand, butnot too much.
I don't like the New Zealandstyle when it's on steroids.
It's too much, it's too juicyfor it.
Yes, so I like to be on mute ita little bit, but it's still
(15:32):
aromatic, very crispy andmineral, like Sauvignon Blanc
should be.
And this is the 24 vintage andI think it is a very good year,
one of the best Spada.
S. Simon Jacob (15:50):
It's got beautiful citrus aromas, it's
got great citrus flavors andit's got acid.
Or Nidbach (16:01):
It's just nicely balanced, yeah.
So, like I said, even thoughit's on the elements level, I
think of it as one of ourflagship wines, because we are
very known for Sauvignon Blancand I feel that I need to
deliver every year one of thebest in the country.
So this is what we're trying todo.
(16:23):
Very interesting.
S. Simon Jacob (16:23):
Very good, thank you.
Continue on the scale.
What's after creation?
Or Nidbach (16:29):
So yeah, creation is single vineyards all over the
country and the whites overthere.
Most of them no, all of themare oaked, fermented in oak.
We do a lot of souli andbetonage oak, fermented in oak
we do a lot of souli andbetonage.
We have a specific barrel roomonly for whites in the winery
(16:50):
Because of temperature.
S. Simon Jacob (16:51):
Yes.
Or Nidbach (16:52):
Because, unlike the reds, most of the whites are
fermented alcoholic fermentationin the barrels.
When you get a lot of heatgenerated inside, you need to
control it, so we have specificrooms only for whites in order
to control the temperature offermentation.
Are those the huge barrels?
(17:14):
At the moment we're using 225,like the regular, the break, 300
and 500 liters for the whites,not more than that, even though
I would like to try uh, higher,bigger formats of barrels for
whites.
We believe a lot in whites inthe winery we invest a lot in
(17:36):
technology and in the vineyardswe actually produce more whites
and red.
At moment we are 55% white inthe winery, so we are very we
believe in whites.
I think the people in Israelshould drink more whites.
S. Simon Jacob (17:52):
It's a warm climate, yeah, it's.
Drinking something like thisSauvignon Blanc is just perfect.
Or Nidbach (18:00):
I agree, I agree.
So creation, so after creation,we have the desire series.
At the moment we have only onewine, but a few will come in the
future.
It's a single vineyard, asingle variety of wines.
At the moment, the only one wehave is Cabernet Sauvignon, a
(18:24):
single vineyard from theMelchior mountain, which is just
amazing.
So the wines in desire should bevery high-end wines, all of
them, and in order to get there,you need them to.
(18:44):
I mean, you don't, you don'tjust select your best vineyard,
you need to be, you know, spoton, because, uh, the competition
is is very good.
Other other wineries does very,very good job and we need to be
on the same level at least.
So, uh, in desire, we should,we should have more varieties,
(19:05):
probably in the next two orthree years.
What type of varieties are youlooking for?
So I believe in Syrah.
Syrah should be there, cabernetFranc should be there.
Those varieties, I think, cangive you complexity but also are
better for this climate,because Cabernet Franc you can
(19:27):
get to the right ripening prettyearly, not like Cabernet
Sauvignon, that usually you needto take it to ripening in high
bricks.
In Cabernet Franc, you can doit probably a bit earlier and
that's very good, I think, formy philosophy in wine.
So yeah, syrah, petit Syrah.
(19:48):
Maybe in the future flagshipwine will be a blend, but in
desire at the moment those arethe varieties that I'm aiming
for.
S. Simon Jacob (20:04):
Sustainability is a key focus in many wineries
being ecological and sustainable.
What's the commitment here?
Uh, I'm gonna say it to boarwinery.
I know you branded thisartisanal, but you're changing
the name of the winery.
No, okay, so it's just.
(20:24):
It's the Okay, so it's just abrand.
Or Nidbach (20:26):
It's just a brand.
S. Simon Jacob (20:26):
Yes.
Or Nidbach (20:27):
What we did actually in the rebranding is separating
the premium wines from theregular wines.
So the regular wines are calledTavor, yeah, and the premium
are called Artisana.
So it's a house of two brands,but the the winery is tabor.
(20:48):
Okay, this doesn't change.
We are very proud.
You know, winery there.
Um, we are not changing thename.
Um, so sustainability.
So, uh, as you know, or maybenot, the former brand was
actually everything aboutsustainability.
It was the howl, the barn owl,which is one of the best
(21:12):
ecological predators, and we dida revolution.
It was almost 15 years ago thatwe changed all of vineyards
into sustainable, ecologicalvineyards, all our vineyards
into sustainable, ecologicalvineyards.
Not spraying, removing fences,let animals go and go out to the
vineyards, growing cover cropsall over, and everything was
(21:37):
aiming to do less spraying, lesstractors goes in and out,
because we believe this is theway to give our vineyards longer
years, because in Israelusually we are replacing
vineyards after 20 years, whichis very young vineyards, young
(22:02):
vineyards.
So if you wanted to go to oldervineyards that can give you
more complexity, we thought theway is to do to go to
sustainable, let the vineyards,let nature help the vineyards
protect itself and you don'tneed to spray all the time and
(22:23):
stuff like that.
So, yeah, we invest a lot insustainability still.
S. Simon Jacob (22:30):
You talked a little bit about it, but the
artisanal brand emphasizes thewinemaker's fingerprint.
How do you balance thetraditional winemaking
techniques with moderninnovations and still leave your
mark on the wine?
Or Nidbach (22:48):
Well, I think it's easy.
I mean I have my philosophy,which I'm still learning.
I hope to learn, I mean all thekind and not stop.
And every year I'm going atleast to one different region in
(23:10):
the world wine region and everywinery I get to I learn
something, even if it's thesmallest winery or the biggest,
you learn something and changeyour uh, it's not changing your
philosophy or what you believe,but it changed the way you get
to the specific wine that youare aiming for.
And wine, the wine industry, isnot a high tech.
(23:33):
So, yeah, there are some moderntechnologies, we'll call it,
but basically they're doing thesame things that people done
like 100 years ago, butautomatically and not by hand.
So, um, I I don't change.
I still believe in the in thetraditional style, but where
(23:57):
it's helping us to extract moreor to get better wines from the
specific vineyards withtechnology, yeah, we'll go for
it for sure.
I mean, I believe in that and Ihave an open mind for
technology in wine.
S. Simon Jacob (24:16):
You brought up that you look around at the
different wineries all over theworld, but even within Israel.
Your vineyards span from theGolan Heights down to Mitzpah
Ramon.
All of these are differentterroirs within Israel.
How did the diverse terroirsacross Israel influence the
characteristics of your vines?
Or Nidbach (24:38):
That's a very good question.
So, first of all, we plantedall over Israel because we
wanted to be at the best regions.
Because it's a warm climate,you need to go high to the
mountains and we wanted to go tothe best regions.
So we have the Galil and theGolan and we have the Gush
(24:59):
Etzion area and the Shomron andit's Peramon, which is also it's
a desert, but it's 800 metersabove sea level.
And when we got there, wechecked for the soil, we did a
soil test in order to put theright variety, the right clone
and the right rootstock on thespecific soil and climate and
(25:24):
varieties.
We thought a lot about it and wedid some mistakes, but this is
how we learned and we changed onthe way and we learned, let's
say, for Ritz-Paramon, which notevery variety will go because
of the high radiation, it's noteasy to grow all the varieties.
(25:45):
So at the moment we have CheninBlanc and Malbec that we think
are very suitable for thespecific terroir.
But we are still learning andtasting and I'm going to
different wineries in Israel inorder to taste the specific
vineyards all over the country.
(26:07):
Yeah, we get different terroirand it's amazing.
It's amazing to taste after theharvest to taste all, let's say
, cabernet, sauvignon from theGalil, golan and we have in Gush
Etzion and the Chomron, totaste the different styles and
terroir that you get from eachregion.
S. Simon Jacob (26:28):
There's definitely a distinction between
each of them.
Or Nidbach (26:30):
Yes, definitely, and it depends on the variety also,
because some varieties are veryinfluential by clone different
clones, let's say Syrah Syrahcan be very different.
Terroir will impact, but theclone is very impactful also.
So, cabernet Sauvignon usuallyit's less on the clone and more
(26:51):
on the terroir.
So it depends on the varietyand this is how we learned what
we think is the best locationfor specific vineyards or
specific varieties, because wehave a beautiful single vineyard
, cabernet Sauvignon fromGouchetion, and we have a
specific and beautiful CabernetSauvignon from Malchia, very
(27:13):
different style, but both ofthem are.
S. Simon Jacob (27:17):
That's from the vineyard or it's from the
winemaking.
Or Nidbach (27:20):
It's from the vineyard because the winemakers
stay the same.
Pretty much it's from thevineyard.
Or it's from the winemaking.
It's from the vineyard becausethe winemakers stay the same
pretty much.
It's from the vineyard becauseit's amazing to taste it.
You'll get different styles ofCabernet Sauvignon and this is
something that every year youknow.
It's to understand how much isin the soil and how much is in
(27:43):
the vineyard, and this issomething we are still learning
and it's not easy to understand.
Sometimes you get problems inthe vineyard that you don't
understand why, and we're doinga lot of tests for the soil.
But this is what's interestingand wine, I think, the diversity
(28:06):
.
S. Simon Jacob (28:07):
Talk to me about what, in the terroir,
distinctly shapes the profile ofthe wine.
You talked about the twoCabernets.
What's different about them?
In the taste and the approach?
Or Nidbach (28:26):
For a specific Cabernet, let's say the Malchia
or the Galil, will give youusually very lush and very
powerful wines foot forward,usually very powerful, and from
the Gouchetion usually we getthinner, more elegant wines,
richer with pyrazines, which isa character of Cabernet
(28:47):
Sauvignon, but you feel it verydistinct in Gouchet Zion and you
actually get it also fromMerlot in Gouchet Zion, which is
amazing, and so it's thinner,more elegant, with more
pyrazines, but still has verynice complexity.
So for my style of wine Iusually prefer the Cabernet
(29:10):
Sauvignon coming from thatregion, from Lusitania, yes,
what about the?
S. Simon Jacob (29:15):
I know Shirazes can be so different.
Yeah, can be so different.
Yeah, they can be very spicyand very heavy and I've even
seen almost like um, very light.
Or Nidbach (29:29):
Uh, shiraz's that are not like rosé light but
close yes, sirah is uh, like Isaid before, it's it's very um
depends the clones.
You have different clones thatsome of them will give you the
take it to more earthy, moreanimalistic, like leather and
(29:54):
meat and stuff like that, andothers will give you more floral
style and foot forward wines,and it's amazing.
But that's not enough.
What you do in the vineyardswill change it drastically.
I mean the way you treat it onthe vineyards.
When you prune, how you prune,what's the yield?
(30:19):
What's the yield?
Usually Syrah is very, veryspoiled, with water also, which
is a problem in Israel.
You need to irrigate, so youneed our viticulturist.
This is what he does.
Syrah will look very happy, butif you don't give enough water
(30:40):
in one day it can fall apart andand fall down.
So, um, to be hands-on, thevineyards in syriza, very
important cabinet, so we only goanywhere.
It doesn't matter.
Syriza is a spoiled uh writerum, and the style is very
different with clone and terror.
(31:01):
So, let's say, our sy in theGalil usually will be very, very
fruitful, but the Syrah we'llget from Gush Etzion, let's say,
are like more the style ofleather and animal and earthy,
which is very nice.
S. Simon Jacob (31:18):
The Desired series features a Cabernet
Sauvignon produced only inexceptional years.
What are the criteria todetermine such a release and how
do you ensure itsdistinctiveness?
Or Nidbach (31:29):
So, like I said, we have a lot of, let's say,
cabernet Sauvignon.
Every varietal usually got alot of different vineyards of
the specific varietal.
So what we do usually duringharvest, in the tasting, we are
giving grades to the specificvineyards and after monolactic
(31:52):
fermentation, when we're donewith the first stage of the
wines, the fermentation, wetaste all the wines and also we
give them scores and we'll seethe best of the wines.
The fermentation we taste allthe wines and also we are giving
them scores and we'll see thebest Cabernet Sauvignon and then
we treat it as we should inpremium, we give it the specific
(32:13):
barrels and how long and therotations, and after giving
scores and we'll see which oneis the best, we'll put it in
barrels and usually it will be24 months, and after that we'll
taste it and then we'll decideif we think it's good enough to
be in desire.
Sometimes and we do it a lot wedo also blind tasting with the
(32:39):
competition in the market.
So we'll bring the high-endwines and do a blind tasting and
we'll see where we are.
And if I'm not in the firstthree, usually I'll not put it
in the market.
So it's a hard decision.
Usually the tasting will giveto professionals.
(33:01):
So it's a hard decision.
Usually the tasting will giveto professionals, so it's not
just me In the black tasting.
We'll bring people from theoutside, sometimes winemakers.
I don't tell them even what itis, just taste and give scores,
like in competitions.
So this is the way we challengethe desire.
We need it to be the high-endwine 2024, how's it looking?
(33:23):
Looking very good.
The whites are very, very good.
It was a warm winter year so wethought we were going to have
some problems and we had someproblems with the yield, but
quality-wise it looks very, verygood.
The whites some of them wealready released so we can taste
and see.
(33:43):
This is, I think, one of thebest here in the last decade of
our Sauvignon Blanc.
And the reds are in bells.
I tasted them a month ago.
It looks very good.
But again, in Israel you don'thave a lot of changes through
(34:03):
the vintages because usually theweather is very stable.
It's not like in Europe, inFrance, that you'll get storms
and rain during the harvest andvery, very diverse weather.
Here it's pretty stable.
S. Simon Jacob (34:19):
So usually the differences between vintages are
not there as a head winemaker,how do you envision the future
of Israeli wines on the globalstage, and what role does the
boar play?
Or Nidbach (34:33):
I think Israeli wines should be more recognized
in the global wine market and Ithink we should do like what
Greece did like 10 years ago,when they all got together, the
wine industry of Greece, andthey labeled them as the wine of
(34:58):
Greece and you saw all kind oftasting all over the world.
I saw in New York City, greecewine for tasting and it labeled
them very high in the winemarket.
And I think we should do thesame, because at the moment each
winery is for itself prettymuch, so it will give us more
(35:22):
power and the wines are verygood.
Everyone who tasted Israeliwines will tell you that.
You see the evolution of thewines.
They are getting better andbetter and there is no reason
why we shouldn't be on the youknow the big the stage with the
big ones, the big wines ofEurope and the new world.
(35:48):
And so first we need to cometogether.
All the wineries should cometogether and build, probably
with the help of the government,to build a label Israeli wines
and not kosher wines that nowyou see on the shelf kosher
wines and people thinknon-Jewish, people think kosher
(36:10):
wines ah, it's cheap, sweetwines.
No, it's very high-end winesfrom Israel and should respect
the history of Israel, whichproduced wine 3,000 years ago,
and that we are like a mix maybeGreece as well like a mix
(36:32):
between the old world and thenew world, because we had a lot
of transition in the wineindustry in Israel from 3,000
years ago to Rothschild and nowthe new age of wines in the last
40 years.
It's blossomed.
S. Simon Jacob (36:49):
It's amazing.
It's absolutely amazing yeah.
Or Nidbach (36:52):
So, and what's Tabor should?
I mean?
I would like, of course, ourwines to be.
I always like to lead thetrends and be in the front, so
of course I'll do my best to dothe best wines.
You know, they're not onlyTabor, also the wine.
(37:12):
The Israeli wine should getrecognized on the global stage.
But Israeli wines are amazing.
I think we have very, very goodwinemakers here and we have the
.
I mean this is what you shoulddo right now Take the wines and,
you know, take them out to theworld, because we are good
(37:36):
enough, that's for sure.
S. Simon Jacob (37:39):
It's amazing.
I was really impressed when Isaw the artisanal brand come out
.
Um, the whole branding of it isbeautiful and it really is
appropriate because the winesare special not only internally
within israel, but externally.
I think they can stand up toany other ones that are there,
(37:59):
so so I think it's amazing.
I really look forward to it.
Can you discuss any upcomingprojects or wines in development
with Tabor that enthusiastsshould look?
Or Nidbach (38:12):
forward to.
I don't want to put names, butwe have very new varietals that
are not existent in Israel still.
Really Well, we'll come,probably in the next two to
three years because we justplanted them a year ago.
So some new varietals, new tothe country, not only for Tabo.
(38:33):
Also, we are going to plantsome new varietals for Tabo that
we don't have at the moment,like Grenache, grenache Noir and
Grenache Blanc.
Both of them we also will put,I hope so they should get the
(38:55):
right quality.
But again, I believe a lot inSyrah in Israel, so I would like
to put a Syrah in the, you know, ian portfolio, so in the
creation, at least serious, anda lot of new plantings that
should be in there.
But you know it's wine, so youplant a vineyard.
(39:18):
If it's a premium wine, it willbe on the market in seven years
.
So it will be on the market inseven years.
So it will take a while.
S. Simon Jacob (39:25):
It takes a while .
How did the new ventures alignwith Tabor's philosophy and
commitment to quality?
Or Nidbach (39:31):
So again, I believe in very drinkable wines.
Usually the plantings, the newplantings I do is for varietals
that fit my philosophy andtogether with terroir and the
climate here in Israel, becauseI love Pinot Noir, I love it.
S. Simon Jacob (39:47):
This is maybe the most amazing, most
winemakers love Pinot Noir andthe trouble is they're just
trying to get it here and it'svery, very difficult.
Or Nidbach (39:57):
So yeah, I'm not even tried.
S. Simon Jacob (39:59):
I would ask you whether or not you were going to
look for a Pinot Noir varietal.
Or Nidbach (40:04):
I've tasted a lot of Israeli Pinot Noir.
I mean I think most of themit's not good enough.
They don't make it to PinotNoir, right, it's not good
enough.
And I know Pinot Noir, I usedto.
When I walked in Napa I walkedwith Pinot Noir of the highest
(40:24):
ranking in California and it wasbeautiful Pinot Noir and you
can't get it here.
I mean, this is so differentclimate and Pinot Noir is very
spoiled.
You need cool weather and Iwill be very surprised to taste
Pinot Noir with a verydistinctive style and quality in
(40:45):
Israel.
But so at the moment it's noton my, I'm not planning to.
So I will plant varieties likeGrenache Blanc and Grenache Noir
that I think are very suitableto the weather, that I think
(41:05):
very suitable to the weather, um, and also syrah and the reef
and uh and and maybe moresauvignon blanc, which also does
very, very good in israel.
Um, I don't know if you know,but to.
At this moment we are planting,uh, the, the.
The plantings we'll get is fromsouth africa.
It's not long, it's not longerfrom from europe.
So it's also different clonesand different the variety.
(41:28):
The same varieties, butdifferent clones coming from
south africa, which is somethingwe need to attest and see if
it's uh.
At the moment it looks prettygood.
Uh, the last two years thatpeople getting getting fruit and
wines from that I spoke to NoaMaoz.
S. Simon Jacob (41:45):
She's amazing.
So, yeah, I know about it andit's.
Yeah, that is a big change.
Or Nidbach (41:54):
It's a big change and so far it looks very good
the quality but it's somethingwe should taste for many years,
because I'm pretty sure we'llnot get the same style of wine
for for all wines.
Some of them may be better,some of them probably less, but
(42:14):
um but we don't have a choice.
We need to take care of ourvineyards in order to leave
something for the nextgeneration and not diseases.
S. Simon Jacob (42:24):
For listeners who are new to the boar.
Which wines would you recommend?
They start with the bestunderstanding of your portfolio
and winemaking style.
Where should they start?
How should they proceed through?
Or Nidbach (42:37):
I think, on the elements level, you should try
our Chenin Blanc and SauvignonBlanc and Syrah the Syrah, it's
called Syrah On the creation.
The Malbec and the Viognier, Ithink pretty much stand for my
style in wines which are elegantand easy and nice to drink and
(43:00):
complex but easy to drink at thesame time.
Yeah, pretty much this is it.
This is the wine I usuallyrecommend.
S. Simon Jacob (43:10):
Very cool.
Can we try some more Wines?
Sure, I'd love to try it.
You brought up the comparisonbetween the terroirs.
Or Nidbach (43:20):
In wines I can can.
If you want to compare, let mesee.
But and now we'll do acomparison of the cabernet
sauvignon from the galil andfrom the gushet.
So this is from the galil, butthis is just opened so usually
(43:40):
it takes a while to open.
The Galil is the desire.
It's from the Malkia vineyardand usually very fruit-forward.
Again, it's my stylespecifically.
I prefer it fruit-forward still, but elegant, not fruit bomb,
(44:01):
and a lot of oak.
But it's black fruit, verycomplex.
So in the Gush Etzion you getmore pyrazines.
S. Simon Jacob (44:10):
Yeah.
Or Nidbach (44:11):
It's very notable, which I like because this is the
character of the variety.
So it's notable.
But with age also, I mean, atthe beginning you'll get it very
green style of Pyrazine.
Some people doesn't like it,but when it ages in the bottle
(44:33):
it softens and it's getting morecomplexity in the wine and I
think it's giving it somecoolness.
You know, like mint style anduh, and which I like because
cabernet it's, it's a coolvariety.
See, why is a warm variety?
No, it's slush, it's uh, spicy,and cabernet it's cool, it's
(44:54):
the spirosines and it's it eventhough this was just so, it's
still really approachable.
S. Simon Jacob (45:00):
It's still real level yeah, thank you.
Or Nidbach (45:03):
It will open up in the next two hours and get more
complexity, but again, this isthe, the, the malchia, the, the
galil cabinet from, uh, it's thedesire level and this and the
reason why it's in desirebecause it's it's it's complex,
it's very complex on the mouthand it's in desire because it's
complex, it's very complex onthe mouth and it's got a very
long finish which, at the end, Imean I think those wines may be
(45:31):
pretty much on the same level,with a bit of a few points more
for the Galip.
This is why it's in desire.
But specifically, I think it'sone of the best Cabernet, the
Gouche Etion.
It's called the JudaicaVineyard, it's a single vineyard
.
It's also won last year in agold medal in the Schkola
(45:55):
Zahaber In the Cabernet, over100 shekels, which is it stands
up.
It's a very, very good CabernetSauvignon.
Yeah, but I love comparisons.
I can all day do comparisons.
S. Simon Jacob (46:13):
You know, some people have exceptional memories
, like Gabe Geller had a memoryfor years of different tastes.
They don't have that.
Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
Or Nidbach (46:27):
I need to compare it .
It's very hard to do, also toremember yeah remember smells.
You know our nose can, candetect differences uh, in 10,000
different smells.
But to remember them and saythis smell is like pure seeds,
like green, this one is likechocolate, this one is like
(46:49):
caramel, this is very hard forpeople to do and it's a lot of
experience, it's a lot ofpractice, practice yeah, I like
both of them very much.
They're very good ones.
S. Simon Jacob (47:04):
I can see drinking the Gush Etzion one
more regularly, and I can seedrinking it with more food
actually, because it's a littlelighter, and this is like I can
see drinking it with, you know,heavy steak yeah, it's more
(47:25):
heavy, it's got more body intoit.
Or Nidbach (47:28):
The Gush Etzion is a bit thinner, yeah, but it's
still complex, it is.
S. Simon Jacob (47:34):
Love it.
The Melchia is like almost it'sthe same vintage.
It's actually the same vintage.
Yes, 20th of May, so it'sactually deeper in color.
Or Nidbach (47:48):
Yeah, the Malchia vineyard is a very unique
vineyard.
You come to the vineyard, youlook at it.
You see, yeah, it's a TerraRosa.
This is what you get usually inthe Galil.
But if you dig under you getmaybe 20 centimeters of soil and
underneath no soil, it's onlyrock.
(48:14):
It's limestone rock up here yeah, it's in the, it's right on the
border with Lebanon You'll geta lot of rock, only rock.
So the roots of the vines needto dig very, very hard into the
rock to get into water and theystruggle.
(48:35):
They struggle a lot and whenthey struggle we get good wines
because, you see it on the vines, very small berries, very dense
and very concentrated berriesand you get very.
You look at the cluster, itlooks different than regular
(48:58):
Cabernet Sauvignon because it'sa bit smaller and very small
berries, and concentration isthe word.
I mean you get veryconcentrated grapes.
Without doing so, this vineyard,we don't do anything.
I mean you don't need to thin,it's all happened naturally
because, because the vines arestruggling, which is very good,
(49:22):
and this is the perfect vineyard, you don't need to do anything,
just let it grow, just pick onthe right time and very cool,
it's very good it was a verygood, so was a good year 2020
very good one last question Ihave for you is how did the war,
(49:47):
how has the war impacted you?
well, it impacted a lot.
I mean first, mentally, it wasthe hand of harvest.
Um, we had almost 50 percent ofthe personnel were uh in
reserve, including me and my uhphilly culturist um and some of
(50:15):
my walkers are still doing a lotof reserve and but it was at
the end of harvest so it wasokay for us and you can't
complain when the country is inwar.
Specifically, in the vineyards.
(50:35):
We didn't harvest one of ourvineyards in the Galil, very
high and mellow Morgaliot, whichis also on the border with
Lebanon.
We thought we couldn't harvestthe Malkia, the Caban Sauvignon,
but at the end they did it.
But we almost couldn't get tothe vineyard.
(50:57):
So one of the grower personnel,he went there, he gave us, he
took the samples and he met oneof our guys not on the border a
bit and this is how we tasted,this is how we checked for the
right ripening.
(51:18):
So it wasn't easy but it couldbe much worse.
We have one vineyard that got adirect hit.
It was in the Golan, actually,it was a Tanat.
So we lost a few vines, maybelike 40 or 50 vines.
(51:39):
So we lost a few vines, maybelike 40 or 50 vines.
S. Simon Jacob (51:44):
The open fields in the Golan are all vineyards.
It's crazy.
You know this is Shetak Batur,another vineyard.
Or Nidbach (51:57):
It's amazing because the quality is good and we also
had a problem with thepersonnel doing some end harvest
, end pick.
Some of our end pick vineyardswere picked by machines because
we didn't have a choice.
But I think overall we don'thave a lot to complain.
(52:20):
I mean we did fine, maybe alittle bit less on the personnel
, but again the country is inwar.
We did a lot.
We helped some other wineriesthat needed help from the
borders and we did what we could.
(52:40):
I mean we donated a lot ofwines to soldiers and to
reserves and we did what wecould.
I mean we donate a lot of winesto soldiers and to reserves and
yep, but generally the winesare still good, no problems
during the harvest and I expectthem to be on the best quality
(53:01):
still because it was a goodharvest.
Overall Poor.
S. Simon Jacob (53:05):
Toda Todaraba for being on the Kochi Terwa and
for giving me the time.
Thank you, no, thank you.
It's great, it's great.
Or Nidbach (53:14):
Thank you for coming .
It's a pleasure, always nicetalking about wines.
Yeah, the Sauvignon also openedup Then.
More romantic now.
S. Simon Jacob (53:33):
This is Simon Jacob, again your host of
today's episode of the KosherTerroir.
I have a personal request nomatter where you are or where
you live, please take a momentto pray for our soldiers' safety
and the safe and rapid returnof our hostages.
Please subscribe via yourpodcast provider to be informed
(53:56):
of our new episodes as they arereleased.
If you're new to the KosherTerwa, please check out our many
past episodes.
Welcome to The Kosher Terroir.
I'm Simon Jacob, your host forthis episode from Jerusalem.
Before we get started, I askthat, wherever you are, please
take a moment and pray for thesafety of our soldiers and the
safe return of all of ourhostages.
Welcome back to another episodeof The Kosher Terroir, where we
(00:31):
uncork the stories behind thewines, the winemakers and the
magic of kosher winemaking fromaround the globe.
Today, we're thrilled to bringyou an exclusive conversation
with Or Nidbach Bach, the headwinemaker of renowned Tabor
Winery, crafting wines fromacross Israel's varied terroir
(00:54):
to launching the premiumartisanal wine brand.
Orr's vision is reshaping thelandscape of Israeli wine.
One vintage at a time ofIsraeli wine, one vintage at a
time.
We'll dive into his journeyfrom vineyard to barrel and get
an inside scoop on new,yet-to-be-revealed wines that
promise to push the boundariesof winemaking excellence.
(01:15):
But that's not all.
If you're a loyal listener, nowis the perfect time to revisit
our treasure trove of episodeswhere we've been telling the
stories that shape the world ofkosher wine, and there's so much
more to explore.
So if you're driving in yourcar, please focus on the road
ahead.
(01:35):
If you're at home relaxing,please pour yourself a wonderful
glass of kosher wine, settleback and get ready to savor this
rich, flavorful episode with OrNidbach, right here on The
Kosher Terroir.
Let's raise a glass todiscovering what's next in the
(01:55):
world of wine Cheers.
So welcome to The KosherTerroir.
First of all, I have a fewquestions.
Can you share your journey intowinemaking and what led you
here to Tabor?
Or Nidbach (02:09):
All right, my journey in wines started maybe
something like 20, 21 years ago.
I was finishing after the army.
I went traveling all over theworld not concerned about wine.
Yet when I got back to Israel Istarted to think about my
future, what I'm going to do,and I started walking as a
(02:33):
bartender.
And in this specific restaurantthe owner was a wine lover and
he brought a lot of winemakersfrom all over Israel to explain
about the wines for the waitersand bartenders.
And when I started hearing aboutwhat's going on about wine, the
(02:53):
vineyards, the passion, I gotinto it.
I got the bug and then Istarted to find out what I need
to do in order to do wineprofessionally or to be in this
kind of business, the businessof wine.
And most people told me thewinemakers that I met.
(03:15):
They told me you should go toUC Davis and learn about wine.
And then I started my journeyabout wine.
And then I started my journey.
I did my bachelor degree inisrael, in uh, in the hebrew
university, in agriculture, um,and then my uh.
And then, when I graduated frommy bachelor I I asked myself um
(03:40):
, maybe I need to walk a littlebit with wine, because I never
walk with wine to understand ifthis is what I want to do
practically.
So I started looking for winejobs and I found one here.
Apparently, the assistantwinemaker was walking here.
(04:01):
He went to study abroad andthey looked for someone to take
care of the of the lad and stufflike that so I can came along.
Um, it was 2010 and I startedwalking here.
I did it for two years, twovintages and um, and I found out
that I like it.
(04:22):
You caught the bug.
Yeah, I caught the bug Bingtime and then I started.
I applied to UC Davis and Iwent there for doing my master
to use and I took my wife I wasmarried at the time already and
(04:44):
I actually was planning to stayin Napa.
I mean, I wanted to work for awhile at least in Napa, but then
they called me from here.
They told me there's awinemaker job for you if you
want it, and it's not easy tofind a job in Israel a winemaker
(05:04):
job because there's not so manylarge wineries that are looking
for professional winemakers.
So I did it.
I came back and since 2014, I'ma winemaker here and last year
I got the job to be the headwinemaker in Intable.
S. Simon Jacob (05:25):
Who was the one who was here before?
Who be the head winemaker inIntable?
Who was the one who was herebefore?
Who was the head winemaker?
Or Nidbach (05:28):
Aryan Escher was the head winemaker and he's still
here he's advising.
He actually established thewinery along with the Sela
family 25 years ago, 26 yearsago, so he's got a lot of I mean
(05:49):
, he did everything here.
S. Simon Jacob (05:51):
That's awesome.
The winery just recentlylaunched this artisanal premium
wines brand.
What inspired this and what canconsumers expect of these wines
in the future?
Or Nidbach (06:08):
So, along with me getting the Edwine hijab, we
wanted to change some of thewines.
Give me to put my philosophyinto the new wines.
So your fingerprint.
S. Simon Jacob (06:28):
My fingerprint, which is actually on the logo,
which is amazing.
Or Nidbach (06:30):
It's very cool, it is.
So we did the new artisanalseries.
That's my wines.
So I didn't change all thewines or at least didn't break
it and rebuild it, I just lookedfor, you know, some places I
(06:55):
need only a little touch andsome wines are new completely
and some wine we change, I think, drastically in order to to me
believing completely, and somewine we change, I think,
drastically in order to to mebelieving in the wines, in the
new wines, and I encouragepeople to taste because I think
(07:16):
we did a lot of nice things,different things.
It also it's a change, but itwill take a few years.
I mean it's wine, the change inthe vineyards and new plantings
and everything.
It will take at least fiveyears to completely be my
philosophy and change.
S. Simon Jacob (07:37):
What are some of the things about the changes in
your philosophy, specificallyyour philosophy?
Or Nidbach (07:44):
I believe in very drinkable wines, very elegant,
you know, not so powerful likeyou will get usually in the
Israeli market.
Very powerful wines because weare a warm climate region and
people tend to take the ripeningto very high degrees of sugar.
(08:05):
And it's not easy not to do itbecause you want the specific
ripening and it's hard becauseit's so warm.
You get sugar very high, acidvery low and the phenolic, the
taste, the flavors, is goingslowly, slowly.
So sometimes you'll get it uh,not uh, together, not parallel,
(08:28):
as as you wish.
Um, so we need to changesometimes the, the varieties.
Um, I prefer not to doeverything.
Uh, with cabernet sauvignon, Iprefer going into, I I think,
more Mediterranean varietieslike Syrah or Durif, or even a
(08:48):
Grenache that we don't have yet,or Marcellin, which is
beautiful Mediterranean varietythat you can bring your wines to
be more soft and elegant andmore easy to drink.
Not all wines should be.
You should wait 10 years inorder to drink them.
So that's in a nutshell, myphilosophy.
S. Simon Jacob (09:12):
Cool, you have these categories element
creation, desire series, thedifferent series Is there?
What's different in terms ofeach of those styles and what's
the target audience for each one?
Or Nidbach (09:27):
So Elements is the enterer series to the premium.
That's how I see it.
So all the wines are varietals.
We want people to understandthe different varietals, give
them the specific characters foreach variety.
So in the whites, for example,we have the Sauvignon Blanc and
(09:50):
we have Chardonnay andGewurztraminer and Chenin Blanc
and Roussan and also our Rosé,and the wines are very, very
accessible.
All the whites accept from very, very small amounts of oak
chardonnay in the chardonnay,but it's small percentage.
All the whites are un-oakedcompletely.
(10:13):
So you should get the messageof the character of the of the
varietal.
Yes, and the reds are oaked for12 months and they are what we
call the mid-premium.
So you know the people whenthey're getting into wines
usually they're starting withthe un-oaked wine reds maybe for
(10:38):
I don't know 30 shekels on theshelf.
So this is a step up.
Here you get some morecomplexity.
Still, the wines shouldn't beso aggressive and powerful, but
more complexity, a little bit ofoak spice, but still varietals.
(10:58):
That's the element.
Creation is a step up.
The wines also, most of themvarietals, but we also have two
blends.
Most of the wine here aresingle vineyards, so this is our
best vineyards all over Israel.
So we have the Chardonnay fromthe Golan Heights and the Atanat
(11:21):
from the Golan Heights andAvionier.
That's interesting.
S. Simon Jacob (11:27):
How is that doing?
Or Nidbach (11:31):
Tannanat is very interesting.
Yeah, because it's a veryunique variety.
You guys are the only ones, orone of the only ones, who are
making a Tannanat at the moment,so we were the first.
And still I agree.
I agree, I know some peopledo; they deployed and do have it
.
don't know of so many that dida varietal Tannant.
(12:00):
It's a very unique varietybecause it's very strong, it can
grow like a beast, groweverywhere, give you high yields
and also, because of the verythick skin of the berries, it
doesn't get any diseases orsunburn and stuff like that.
(12:22):
On the other hand, if you wantto take it to premium, you need
to do a lot of thinningthroughout the year because it
can give you high yields, like3-tons per dunam and something
like that.
So we do a lot of thinning.
And also in the winery, becauseof the thick skin, you get a
(12:48):
lot of thinning.
Um, and also in the in the inthe winery, um, because of the
thick skin, you get a lot ofextraction, a lot of phenolics,
a lot of tannins.
Uh, sometimes too much.
So in order to control it, wetaste it throughout the
fermentation, the alcoholicfermentation, uh, very often I
mean sometimes three times a dayin order to get a specific
points, that it's not too muchextraction, and if it is, we
(13:11):
separate the skins right away inorder to get the tannate
character.
But drinkable, yeah, which isnot easy, because if you taste
the Mad maduran, the frenchthanat, sometimes it's it's in
ebos 10 to 20 years in order to,uh, you know, be drinkable, uh.
(13:31):
So, yeah, it's a veryinteresting, uh, variety.
S. Simon Jacob (13:34):
it's not easy, but it's, it's that, that's the
fun of it, especially whenyou're making it as a single
varietal rather than as a blend,because it really doesn't leave
you much room to play it's asingle varietal and it's a
single vineyard also.
Or Nidbach (13:50):
So, yeah, it doesn't let you a lot of room to play.
That's us need to be very, veryhands-on in the vineyards, and
we have a very goodviticulturist, Barak, and we
have a very good viticulturistBarak which is every week in
(14:10):
every vineyard all over Israel,and we have a lot of vineyards
all over the country and hegives specific instructions to
the growers what to do, how toirrigate, when to thin, when to
like.
Now we are doing all thepruning and it's very important
if you want it to be, you know,high-end single vineyard.
(14:32):
So, yeah, thanat is very, veryinteresting and we are still
learning.
S. Simon Jacob (14:39):
We're tasting some more as well this morning.
So thank you, Sure Amazing.
So yeah, Tell me a little bitabout this.
Or Nidbach (14:46):
So this is our Sauvignon Blanc.
On the elements level, it's oneof our best known wines.
It's actually a blend ofSauvignon Blanc from the Golan
Heights and from Searing andKvartavo here, so also Vion
(15:09):
Blanc.
What I'm aiming here is to giveyou a very aromatic wine, as it
should, on the other hand, butnot too much.
I don't like the New Zealandstyle when it's on steroids.
It's too much, it's too juicyfor it.
Yes, so I like to be on mute ita little bit, but it's still
(15:32):
aromatic, very crispy andmineral, like Sauvignon Blanc
should be.
And this is the 24 vintage andI think it is a very good year,
one of the best Spada.
S. Simon Jacob (15:50):
It's got beautiful citrus aromas, it's
got great citrus flavors andit's got acid.
Or Nidbach (16:01):
It's just nicely balanced, yeah.
So, like I said, even thoughit's on the elements level, I
think of it as one of ourflagship wines, because we are
very known for Sauvignon Blancand I feel that I need to
deliver every year one of thebest in the country.
So this is what we're trying todo.
(16:23):
Very interesting.
S. Simon Jacob (16:23):
Very good, thank you.
Continue on the scale.
What's after creation?
Or Nidbach (16:29):
So yeah, creation is single vineyards all over the
country and the whites overthere.
Most of them no, all of themare oaked, fermented in oak.
We do a lot of souli andbetonage oak, fermented in oak
we do a lot of souli andbetonage.
We have a specific barrel roomonly for whites in the winery
(16:50):
Because of temperature.
S. Simon Jacob (16:51):
Yes.
Or Nidbach (16:52):
Because, unlike the reds, most of the whites are
fermented alcoholic fermentationin the barrels.
When you get a lot of heatgenerated inside, you need to
control it, so we have specificrooms only for whites in order
to control the temperature offermentation.
Are those the huge barrels?
(17:14):
At the moment we're using 225,like the regular, the break, 300
and 500 liters for the whites,not more than that, even though
I would like to try uh, higher,bigger formats of barrels for
whites.
We believe a lot in whites inthe winery we invest a lot in
(17:36):
technology and in the vineyardswe actually produce more whites
and red.
At moment we are 55% white inthe winery, so we are very we
believe in whites.
I think the people in Israelshould drink more whites.
S. Simon Jacob (17:52):
It's a warm climate, yeah, it's.
Drinking something like thisSauvignon Blanc is just perfect.
Or Nidbach (18:00):
I agree, I agree.
So creation, so after creation,we have the desire series.
At the moment we have only onewine, but a few will come in the
future.
It's a single vineyard, asingle variety of wines.
At the moment, the only one wehave is Cabernet Sauvignon, a
(18:24):
single vineyard from theMelchior mountain, which is just
amazing.
So the wines in desire should bevery high-end wines, all of
them, and in order to get there,you need them to.
(18:44):
I mean, you don't, you don'tjust select your best vineyard,
you need to be, you know, spoton, because, uh, the competition
is is very good.
Other other wineries does very,very good job and we need to be
on the same level at least.
So, uh, in desire, we should,we should have more varieties,
(19:05):
probably in the next two orthree years.
What type of varieties are youlooking for?
So I believe in Syrah.
Syrah should be there, cabernetFranc should be there.
Those varieties, I think, cangive you complexity but also are
better for this climate,because Cabernet Franc you can
(19:27):
get to the right ripening prettyearly, not like Cabernet
Sauvignon, that usually you needto take it to ripening in high
bricks.
In Cabernet Franc, you can doit probably a bit earlier and
that's very good, I think, formy philosophy in wine.
So yeah, syrah, petit Syrah.
(19:48):
Maybe in the future flagshipwine will be a blend, but in
desire at the moment those arethe varieties that I'm aiming
for.
S. Simon Jacob (20:04):
Sustainability is a key focus in many wineries
being ecological and sustainable.
What's the commitment here?
Uh, I'm gonna say it to boarwinery.
I know you branded thisartisanal, but you're changing
the name of the winery.
No, okay, so it's just.
(20:24):
It's the Okay, so it's just abrand.
Or Nidbach (20:26):
It's just a brand.
S. Simon Jacob (20:26):
Yes.
Or Nidbach (20:27):
What we did actually in the rebranding is separating
the premium wines from theregular wines.
So the regular wines are calledTavor, yeah, and the premium
are called Artisana.
So it's a house of two brands,but the the winery is tabor.
(20:48):
Okay, this doesn't change.
We are very proud.
You know, winery there.
Um, we are not changing thename.
Um, so sustainability.
So, uh, as you know, or maybenot, the former brand was
actually everything aboutsustainability.
It was the howl, the barn owl,which is one of the best
(21:12):
ecological predators, and we dida revolution.
It was almost 15 years ago thatwe changed all of vineyards
into sustainable, ecologicalvineyards, all our vineyards
into sustainable, ecologicalvineyards.
Not spraying, removing fences,let animals go and go out to the
vineyards, growing cover cropsall over, and everything was
(21:37):
aiming to do less spraying, lesstractors goes in and out,
because we believe this is theway to give our vineyards longer
years, because in Israelusually we are replacing
vineyards after 20 years, whichis very young vineyards, young
(22:02):
vineyards.
So if you wanted to go to oldervineyards that can give you
more complexity, we thought theway is to do to go to
sustainable, let the vineyards,let nature help the vineyards
protect itself and you don'tneed to spray all the time and
(22:23):
stuff like that.
So, yeah, we invest a lot insustainability still.
S. Simon Jacob (22:30):
You talked a little bit about it, but the
artisanal brand emphasizes thewinemaker's fingerprint.
How do you balance thetraditional winemaking
techniques with moderninnovations and still leave your
mark on the wine?
Or Nidbach (22:48):
Well, I think it's easy.
I mean I have my philosophy,which I'm still learning.
I hope to learn, I mean all thekind and not stop.
And every year I'm going atleast to one different region in
(23:10):
the world wine region and everywinery I get to I learn
something, even if it's thesmallest winery or the biggest,
you learn something and changeyour uh, it's not changing your
philosophy or what you believe,but it changed the way you get
to the specific wine that youare aiming for.
And wine, the wine industry, isnot a high tech.
(23:33):
So, yeah, there are some moderntechnologies, we'll call it,
but basically they're doing thesame things that people done
like 100 years ago, butautomatically and not by hand.
So, um, I I don't change.
I still believe in the in thetraditional style, but where
(23:57):
it's helping us to extract moreor to get better wines from the
specific vineyards withtechnology, yeah, we'll go for
it for sure.
I mean, I believe in that and Ihave an open mind for
technology in wine.
S. Simon Jacob (24:16):
You brought up that you look around at the
different wineries all over theworld, but even within Israel.
Your vineyards span from theGolan Heights down to Mitzpah
Ramon.
All of these are differentterroirs within Israel.
How did the diverse terroirsacross Israel influence the
characteristics of your vines?
Or Nidbach (24:38):
That's a very good question.
So, first of all, we plantedall over Israel because we
wanted to be at the best regions.
Because it's a warm climate,you need to go high to the
mountains and we wanted to go tothe best regions.
So we have the Galil and theGolan and we have the Gush
(24:59):
Etzion area and the Shomron andit's Peramon, which is also it's
a desert, but it's 800 metersabove sea level.
And when we got there, wechecked for the soil, we did a
soil test in order to put theright variety, the right clone
and the right rootstock on thespecific soil and climate and
(25:24):
varieties.
We thought a lot about it and wedid some mistakes, but this is
how we learned and we changed onthe way and we learned, let's
say, for Ritz-Paramon, which notevery variety will go because
of the high radiation, it's noteasy to grow all the varieties.
(25:45):
So at the moment we have CheninBlanc and Malbec that we think
are very suitable for thespecific terroir.
But we are still learning andtasting and I'm going to
different wineries in Israel inorder to taste the specific
vineyards all over the country.
(26:07):
Yeah, we get different terroirand it's amazing.
It's amazing to taste after theharvest to taste all, let's say
, cabernet, sauvignon from theGalil, golan and we have in Gush
Etzion and the Chomron, totaste the different styles and
terroir that you get from eachregion.
S. Simon Jacob (26:28):
There's definitely a distinction between
each of them.
Or Nidbach (26:30):
Yes, definitely, and it depends on the variety also,
because some varieties are veryinfluential by clone different
clones, let's say Syrah Syrahcan be very different.
Terroir will impact, but theclone is very impactful also.
So, cabernet Sauvignon usuallyit's less on the clone and more
(26:51):
on the terroir.
So it depends on the varietyand this is how we learned what
we think is the best locationfor specific vineyards or
specific varieties, because wehave a beautiful single vineyard
, cabernet Sauvignon fromGouchetion, and we have a
specific and beautiful CabernetSauvignon from Malchia, very
(27:13):
different style, but both ofthem are.
S. Simon Jacob (27:17):
That's from the vineyard or it's from the
winemaking.
Or Nidbach (27:20):
It's from the vineyard because the winemakers
stay the same.
Pretty much it's from thevineyard.
Or it's from the winemaking.
It's from the vineyard becausethe winemakers stay the same
pretty much.
It's from the vineyard becauseit's amazing to taste it.
You'll get different styles ofCabernet Sauvignon and this is
something that every year youknow.
It's to understand how much isin the soil and how much is in
(27:43):
the vineyard, and this issomething we are still learning
and it's not easy to understand.
Sometimes you get problems inthe vineyard that you don't
understand why, and we're doinga lot of tests for the soil.
But this is what's interestingand wine, I think, the diversity
(28:06):
.
S. Simon Jacob (28:07):
Talk to me about what, in the terroir,
distinctly shapes the profile ofthe wine.
You talked about the twoCabernets.
What's different about them?
In the taste and the approach?
Or Nidbach (28:26):
For a specific Cabernet, let's say the Malchia
or the Galil, will give youusually very lush and very
powerful wines foot forward,usually very powerful, and from
the Gouchetion usually we getthinner, more elegant wines,
richer with pyrazines, which isa character of Cabernet
(28:47):
Sauvignon, but you feel it verydistinct in Gouchet Zion and you
actually get it also fromMerlot in Gouchet Zion, which is
amazing, and so it's thinner,more elegant, with more
pyrazines, but still has verynice complexity.
So for my style of wine Iusually prefer the Cabernet
(29:10):
Sauvignon coming from thatregion, from Lusitania, yes,
what about the?
S. Simon Jacob (29:15):
I know Shirazes can be so different.
Yeah, can be so different.
Yeah, they can be very spicyand very heavy and I've even
seen almost like um, very light.
Or Nidbach (29:29):
Uh, shiraz's that are not like rosé light but
close yes, sirah is uh, like Isaid before, it's it's very um
depends the clones.
You have different clones thatsome of them will give you the
take it to more earthy, moreanimalistic, like leather and
(29:54):
meat and stuff like that, andothers will give you more floral
style and foot forward wines,and it's amazing.
But that's not enough.
What you do in the vineyardswill change it drastically.
I mean the way you treat it onthe vineyards.
When you prune, how you prune,what's the yield?
(30:19):
What's the yield?
Usually Syrah is very, veryspoiled, with water also, which
is a problem in Israel.
You need to irrigate, so youneed our viticulturist.
This is what he does.
Syrah will look very happy, butif you don't give enough water
(30:40):
in one day it can fall apart andand fall down.
So, um, to be hands-on, thevineyards in syriza, very
important cabinet, so we only goanywhere.
It doesn't matter.
Syriza is a spoiled uh writerum, and the style is very
different with clone and terror.
(31:01):
So, let's say, our sy in theGalil usually will be very, very
fruitful, but the Syrah we'llget from Gush Etzion, let's say,
are like more the style ofleather and animal and earthy,
which is very nice.
S. Simon Jacob (31:18):
The Desired series features a Cabernet
Sauvignon produced only inexceptional years.
What are the criteria todetermine such a release and how
do you ensure itsdistinctiveness?
Or Nidbach (31:29):
So, like I said, we have a lot of, let's say,
cabernet Sauvignon.
Every varietal usually got alot of different vineyards of
the specific varietal.
So what we do usually duringharvest, in the tasting, we are
giving grades to the specificvineyards and after monolactic
(31:52):
fermentation, when we're donewith the first stage of the
wines, the fermentation, wetaste all the wines and also we
give them scores and we'll seethe best of the wines.
The fermentation we taste allthe wines and also we are giving
them scores and we'll see thebest Cabernet Sauvignon and then
we treat it as we should inpremium, we give it the specific
(32:13):
barrels and how long and therotations, and after giving
scores and we'll see which oneis the best, we'll put it in
barrels and usually it will be24 months, and after that we'll
taste it and then we'll decideif we think it's good enough to
be in desire.
Sometimes and we do it a lot wedo also blind tasting with the
(32:39):
competition in the market.
So we'll bring the high-endwines and do a blind tasting and
we'll see where we are.
And if I'm not in the firstthree, usually I'll not put it
in the market.
So it's a hard decision.
Usually the tasting will giveto professionals.
(33:01):
So it's a hard decision.
Usually the tasting will giveto professionals, so it's not
just me In the black tasting.
We'll bring people from theoutside, sometimes winemakers.
I don't tell them even what itis, just taste and give scores,
like in competitions.
So this is the way we challengethe desire.
We need it to be the high-endwine 2024, how's it looking?
(33:23):
Looking very good.
The whites are very, very good.
It was a warm winter year so wethought we were going to have
some problems and we had someproblems with the yield, but
quality-wise it looks very, verygood.
The whites some of them wealready released so we can taste
and see.
(33:43):
This is, I think, one of thebest here in the last decade of
our Sauvignon Blanc.
And the reds are in bells.
I tasted them a month ago.
It looks very good.
But again, in Israel you don'thave a lot of changes through
(34:03):
the vintages because usually theweather is very stable.
It's not like in Europe, inFrance, that you'll get storms
and rain during the harvest andvery, very diverse weather.
Here it's pretty stable.
S. Simon Jacob (34:19):
So usually the differences between vintages are
not there as a head winemaker,how do you envision the future
of Israeli wines on the globalstage, and what role does the
boar play?
Or Nidbach (34:33):
I think Israeli wines should be more recognized
in the global wine market and Ithink we should do like what
Greece did like 10 years ago,when they all got together, the
wine industry of Greece, andthey labeled them as the wine of
(34:58):
Greece and you saw all kind oftasting all over the world.
I saw in New York City, greecewine for tasting and it labeled
them very high in the winemarket.
And I think we should do thesame, because at the moment each
winery is for itself prettymuch, so it will give us more
(35:22):
power and the wines are verygood.
Everyone who tasted Israeliwines will tell you that.
You see the evolution of thewines.
They are getting better andbetter and there is no reason
why we shouldn't be on the youknow the big the stage with the
big ones, the big wines ofEurope and the new world.
(35:48):
And so first we need to cometogether.
All the wineries should cometogether and build, probably
with the help of the government,to build a label Israeli wines
and not kosher wines that nowyou see on the shelf kosher
wines and people thinknon-Jewish, people think kosher
(36:10):
wines ah, it's cheap, sweetwines.
No, it's very high-end winesfrom Israel and should respect
the history of Israel, whichproduced wine 3,000 years ago,
and that we are like a mix maybeGreece as well like a mix
(36:32):
between the old world and thenew world, because we had a lot
of transition in the wineindustry in Israel from 3,000
years ago to Rothschild and nowthe new age of wines in the last
40 years.
It's blossomed.
S. Simon Jacob (36:49):
It's amazing.
It's absolutely amazing yeah.
Or Nidbach (36:52):
So, and what's Tabor should?
I mean?
I would like, of course, ourwines to be.
I always like to lead thetrends and be in the front, so
of course I'll do my best to dothe best wines.
You know, they're not onlyTabor, also the wine.
(37:12):
The Israeli wine should getrecognized on the global stage.
But Israeli wines are amazing.
I think we have very, very goodwinemakers here and we have the
.
I mean this is what you shoulddo right now Take the wines and,
you know, take them out to theworld, because we are good
(37:36):
enough, that's for sure.
S. Simon Jacob (37:39):
It's amazing.
I was really impressed when Isaw the artisanal brand come out
.
Um, the whole branding of it isbeautiful and it really is
appropriate because the winesare special not only internally
within israel, but externally.
I think they can stand up toany other ones that are there,
(37:59):
so so I think it's amazing.
I really look forward to it.
Can you discuss any upcomingprojects or wines in development
with Tabor that enthusiastsshould look?
Or Nidbach (38:12):
forward to.
I don't want to put names, butwe have very new varietals that
are not existent in Israel still.
Really Well, we'll come,probably in the next two to
three years because we justplanted them a year ago.
So some new varietals, new tothe country, not only for Tabo.
(38:33):
Also, we are going to plantsome new varietals for Tabo that
we don't have at the moment,like Grenache, grenache Noir and
Grenache Blanc.
Both of them we also will put,I hope so they should get the
(38:55):
right quality.
But again, I believe a lot inSyrah in Israel, so I would like
to put a Syrah in the, you know, ian portfolio, so in the
creation, at least serious, anda lot of new plantings that
should be in there.
But you know it's wine, so youplant a vineyard.
(39:18):
If it's a premium wine, it willbe on the market in seven years
.
So it will be on the market inseven years.
So it will take a while.
S. Simon Jacob (39:25):
It takes a while .
How did the new ventures alignwith Tabor's philosophy and
commitment to quality?
Or Nidbach (39:31):
So again, I believe in very drinkable wines.
Usually the plantings, the newplantings I do is for varietals
that fit my philosophy andtogether with terroir and the
climate here in Israel, becauseI love Pinot Noir, I love it.
S. Simon Jacob (39:47):
This is maybe the most amazing, most
winemakers love Pinot Noir andthe trouble is they're just
trying to get it here and it'svery, very difficult.
Or Nidbach (39:57):
So yeah, I'm not even tried.
S. Simon Jacob (39:59):
I would ask you whether or not you were going to
look for a Pinot Noir varietal.
Or Nidbach (40:04):
I've tasted a lot of Israeli Pinot Noir.
I mean I think most of themit's not good enough.
They don't make it to PinotNoir, right, it's not good
enough.
And I know Pinot Noir, I usedto.
When I walked in Napa I walkedwith Pinot Noir of the highest
(40:24):
ranking in California and it wasbeautiful Pinot Noir and you
can't get it here.
I mean, this is so differentclimate and Pinot Noir is very
spoiled.
You need cool weather and Iwill be very surprised to taste
Pinot Noir with a verydistinctive style and quality in
(40:45):
Israel.
But so at the moment it's noton my, I'm not planning to.
So I will plant varieties likeGrenache Blanc and Grenache Noir
that I think are very suitableto the weather, that I think
(41:05):
very suitable to the weather, um, and also syrah and the reef
and uh and and maybe moresauvignon blanc, which also does
very, very good in israel.
Um, I don't know if you know,but to.
At this moment we are planting,uh, the, the.
The plantings we'll get is fromsouth africa.
It's not long, it's not longerfrom from europe.
So it's also different clonesand different the variety.
(41:28):
The same varieties, butdifferent clones coming from
south africa, which is somethingwe need to attest and see if
it's uh.
At the moment it looks prettygood.
Uh, the last two years thatpeople getting getting fruit and
wines from that I spoke to NoaMaoz.
S. Simon Jacob (41:45):
She's amazing.
So, yeah, I know about it andit's.
Yeah, that is a big change.
Or Nidbach (41:54):
It's a big change and so far it looks very good
the quality but it's somethingwe should taste for many years,
because I'm pretty sure we'llnot get the same style of wine
for for all wines.
Some of them may be better,some of them probably less, but
(42:14):
um but we don't have a choice.
We need to take care of ourvineyards in order to leave
something for the nextgeneration and not diseases.
S. Simon Jacob (42:24):
For listeners who are new to the boar.
Which wines would you recommend?
They start with the bestunderstanding of your portfolio
and winemaking style.
Where should they start?
How should they proceed through?
Or Nidbach (42:37):
I think, on the elements level, you should try
our Chenin Blanc and SauvignonBlanc and Syrah the Syrah, it's
called Syrah On the creation.
The Malbec and the Viognier, Ithink pretty much stand for my
style in wines which are elegantand easy and nice to drink and
(43:00):
complex but easy to drink at thesame time.
Yeah, pretty much this is it.
This is the wine I usuallyrecommend.
S. Simon Jacob (43:10):
Very cool.
Can we try some more Wines?
Sure, I'd love to try it.
You brought up the comparisonbetween the terroirs.
Or Nidbach (43:20):
In wines I can can.
If you want to compare, let mesee.
But and now we'll do acomparison of the cabernet
sauvignon from the galil andfrom the gushet.
So this is from the galil, butthis is just opened so usually
(43:40):
it takes a while to open.
The Galil is the desire.
It's from the Malkia vineyardand usually very fruit-forward.
Again, it's my stylespecifically.
I prefer it fruit-forward still, but elegant, not fruit bomb,
(44:01):
and a lot of oak.
But it's black fruit, verycomplex.
So in the Gush Etzion you getmore pyrazines.
S. Simon Jacob (44:10):
Yeah.
Or Nidbach (44:11):
It's very notable, which I like because this is the
character of the variety.
So it's notable.
But with age also, I mean, atthe beginning you'll get it very
green style of Pyrazine.
Some people doesn't like it,but when it ages in the bottle
(44:33):
it softens and it's getting morecomplexity in the wine and I
think it's giving it somecoolness.
You know, like mint style anduh, and which I like because
cabernet it's, it's a coolvariety.
See, why is a warm variety?
No, it's slush, it's uh, spicy,and cabernet it's cool, it's
(44:54):
the spirosines and it's it eventhough this was just so, it's
still really approachable.
S. Simon Jacob (45:00):
It's still real level yeah, thank you.
Or Nidbach (45:03):
It will open up in the next two hours and get more
complexity, but again, this isthe, the, the malchia, the, the
galil cabinet from, uh, it's thedesire level and this and the
reason why it's in desirebecause it's it's it's complex,
it's very complex on the mouthand it's in desire because it's
complex, it's very complex onthe mouth and it's got a very
long finish which, at the end, Imean I think those wines may be
(45:31):
pretty much on the same level,with a bit of a few points more
for the Galip.
This is why it's in desire.
But specifically, I think it'sone of the best Cabernet, the
Gouche Etion.
It's called the JudaicaVineyard, it's a single vineyard
.
It's also won last year in agold medal in the Schkola
(45:55):
Zahaber In the Cabernet, over100 shekels, which is it stands
up.
It's a very, very good CabernetSauvignon.
Yeah, but I love comparisons.
I can all day do comparisons.
S. Simon Jacob (46:13):
You know, some people have exceptional memories
, like Gabe Geller had a memoryfor years of different tastes.
They don't have that.
Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
Or Nidbach (46:27):
I need to compare it .
It's very hard to do, also toremember yeah remember smells.
You know our nose can, candetect differences uh, in 10,000
different smells.
But to remember them and saythis smell is like pure seeds,
like green, this one is likechocolate, this one is like
(46:49):
caramel, this is very hard forpeople to do and it's a lot of
experience, it's a lot ofpractice, practice yeah, I like
both of them very much.
They're very good ones.
S. Simon Jacob (47:04):
I can see drinking the Gush Etzion one
more regularly, and I can seedrinking it with more food
actually, because it's a littlelighter, and this is like I can
see drinking it with, you know,heavy steak yeah, it's more
(47:25):
heavy, it's got more body intoit.
Or Nidbach (47:28):
The Gush Etzion is a bit thinner, yeah, but it's
still complex, it is.
S. Simon Jacob (47:34):
Love it.
The Melchia is like almost it'sthe same vintage.
It's actually the same vintage.
Yes, 20th of May, so it'sactually deeper in color.
Or Nidbach (47:48):
Yeah, the Malchia vineyard is a very unique
vineyard.
You come to the vineyard, youlook at it.
You see, yeah, it's a TerraRosa.
This is what you get usually inthe Galil.
But if you dig under you getmaybe 20 centimeters of soil and
underneath no soil, it's onlyrock.
(48:14):
It's limestone rock up here yeah, it's in the, it's right on the
border with Lebanon You'll geta lot of rock, only rock.
So the roots of the vines needto dig very, very hard into the
rock to get into water and theystruggle.
(48:35):
They struggle a lot and whenthey struggle we get good wines
because, you see it on the vines, very small berries, very dense
and very concentrated berriesand you get very.
You look at the cluster, itlooks different than regular
(48:58):
Cabernet Sauvignon because it'sa bit smaller and very small
berries, and concentration isthe word.
I mean you get veryconcentrated grapes.
Without doing so, this vineyard,we don't do anything.
I mean you don't need to thin,it's all happened naturally
because, because the vines arestruggling, which is very good,
(49:22):
and this is the perfect vineyard, you don't need to do anything,
just let it grow, just pick onthe right time and very cool,
it's very good it was a verygood, so was a good year 2020
very good one last question Ihave for you is how did the war,
(49:47):
how has the war impacted you?
well, it impacted a lot.
I mean first, mentally, it wasthe hand of harvest.
Um, we had almost 50 percent ofthe personnel were uh in
reserve, including me and my uhphilly culturist um and some of
(50:15):
my walkers are still doing a lotof reserve and but it was at
the end of harvest so it wasokay for us and you can't
complain when the country is inwar.
Specifically, in the vineyards.
(50:35):
We didn't harvest one of ourvineyards in the Galil, very
high and mellow Morgaliot, whichis also on the border with
Lebanon.
We thought we couldn't harvestthe Malkia, the Caban Sauvignon,
but at the end they did it.
But we almost couldn't get tothe vineyard.
(50:57):
So one of the grower personnel,he went there, he gave us, he
took the samples and he met oneof our guys not on the border a
bit and this is how we tasted,this is how we checked for the
right ripening.
(51:18):
So it wasn't easy but it couldbe much worse.
We have one vineyard that got adirect hit.
It was in the Golan, actually,it was a Tanat.
So we lost a few vines, maybelike 40 or 50 vines.
(51:39):
So we lost a few vines, maybelike 40 or 50 vines.
S. Simon Jacob (51:44):
The open fields in the Golan are all vineyards.
It's crazy.
You know this is Shetak Batur,another vineyard.
Or Nidbach (51:57):
It's amazing because the quality is good and we also
had a problem with thepersonnel doing some end harvest
, end pick.
Some of our end pick vineyardswere picked by machines because
we didn't have a choice.
But I think overall we don'thave a lot to complain.
(52:20):
I mean we did fine, maybe alittle bit less on the personnel
, but again the country is inwar.
We did a lot.
We helped some other wineriesthat needed help from the
borders and we did what we could.
(52:40):
I mean we donated a lot ofwines to soldiers and to
reserves and we did what wecould.
I mean we donate a lot of winesto soldiers and to reserves and
yep, but generally the winesare still good, no problems
during the harvest and I expectthem to be on the best quality
(53:01):
still because it was a goodharvest.
Overall Poor.
S. Simon Jacob (53:05):
Toda Todaraba for being on the Kochi Terwa and
for giving me the time.
Thank you, no, thank you.
It's great, it's great.
Or Nidbach (53:14):
Thank you for coming .
It's a pleasure, always nicetalking about wines.
Yeah, the Sauvignon also openedup Then.
More romantic now.
S. Simon Jacob (53:33):
This is Simon Jacob, again your host of
today's episode of the KosherTerroir.
I have a personal request nomatter where you are or where
you live, please take a momentto pray for our soldiers' safety
and the safe and rapid returnof our hostages.
Please subscribe via yourpodcast provider to be informed
(53:56):
of our new episodes as they arereleased.
If you're new to the KosherTerwa, please check out our many
past episodes.
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