Wine tour/ tasting in Israel?

amother

Olive

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 12:05 pm

I know there are many wineries. Have you been to one that you would recommend? We are traveling with our children (youngest age 9). I would love them to see the vineyards and also how wine is made and a tasting and nice meal as well. Any particular place you have been that fits the bill?

ally

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 12:21 pm

amother wrote:

Tishbi has an excellent restaurant and do wine chocolate tasting. It’s In the factory not near the vineyard though.
Flam is supposed to be excellent. They do wine and cheese
Also Psagot is beautiful. Not sure about food. I have only been for a wedding

DrMom

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 12:33 pm

I also recommend Tishbi. It is near Zichron, which is a quaint town with some small activities (Ramat HaNadiv, etc.)

Also, the Barkan Winery is nice. There is a lovely goat farm and restaurant nearby.

The Golan Heights Winery is in Katzrin, which has some restaurants, as well as Park Katzrin Talmudic Village.

Bnei Berak 10

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 12:50 pm

google the wineries, I am sure you will get results. Note: not all wineries are kosher I have been told. you need to check in advance.

amother

Olive

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 1:07 pm

Ty!

Yes, I know I can google. But I would like to hear first hand where people went and enjoyed and also that it's not just to sit and drink, but that my kids can actually see how grapes grow and how wine is made.

Teomima

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 1:41 pm

Years ago I went to visit my favorite winery, Dalton, with my in-laws and kids in tow. Right across the street is the pomegranate "winery" so it was fun getting to do both. The kids enjoyed it, we all learned a lot, and at the second place they even gave the kids pomegranate juice in a wine glass so that was fun.

doctorima

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 2:28 pm

PSA for those doing tastings: We once went to a reputable place (that's been mentioned above) for a tour and tasting. When they got up to the tasting, we found that none of the wines were mevushal, and the people running the tour were not frum, and many on the tour were not Jewish. We asked if we could open our own bottle and pour for ourselves, but they would not let us. They also refused to let us speak to the Mashgiach, who they claimed had authorized this arrangement.

Bnei Berak 10

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 3:15 pm

doctorima wrote:

Never assume or expect that the tour guides will be frum even if the winery has a good hechsher. Also there are wineries with mehadrin hechsherim but during shmitta years they change their hechsher to rabbanut Israel (which is heter mechira). So keep that in mind.

tichellady

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 3:56 pm

doctorima wrote:

What’s the issue if the people pouring the wine are jewish?

Bnei Berak 10

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 4:17 pm

tichellady wrote:

What’s the issue if the people pouring the wine are jewish?

A Jew who is not observant and he touches a bottle of opened wine which is not mevushal=yain nessech. and there are a lot of wines in Israel which are not mevushal.
I never drink wine even in a restaurant with a reliable mehadrin hechsher unless I am able to open the bottle myself.

tichellady

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 4:33 pm

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

There are probably lots of opinions on this because I always learned that It was fine if non-observant Jew but not fine for non Jew.

amother

Olive

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 7:03 pm

doctorima wrote:

Thanks for bringing that up. Never would have thought of it.

STMommy

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 9:46 pm

Please also contact the wineries directly through the contact page of their website or by e-mailing them about ensuring your whole family can go. When I tried to organize a winery tour for my family, a lot of places had strict age limits for their tours (I.e. age 11, 12 or 16 and up)

amother

Olive

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 11:45 pm

STMommy wrote:

Also very good to know. I didn't think in Israel they would be uptight about kids in wineries.

samantha87

Thu, Nov 09 2017, 11:57 pm

doctorima wrote:

In my very limited experience, the hechsherim purposely ignore the tasting rooms, some of which are open on Shabbat. But, there are many opinions about wine from non shomer Shabbat people.

OP: look at Yossie's Corkboard. He has lots of info on wineries and loves to make recommendations.

Bnei Berak 10

Fri, Nov 10 2017, 3:05 am

amother wrote:

Also very good to know. I didn't think in Israel they would be uptight about kids in wineries.

It's the law. No alcohol selling to anyone under 18 yrs old and no selling to anyone even abv 18 after 11 pm in supermarkets etc.

DrMom

Fri, Nov 10 2017, 3:17 am

samantha87 wrote:

That's odd. I am curious which kosher winery in Israel has a tasting room which is open on Shabbat. Where did you visit? No kosher winery I've ever been to in Israel is open on Shabbat. The hours for each are linked below:

Dalton Winery
Tishbi Winery
Bravdo Winery
Carmel Winery
Golan Winery
Adir Winery
Psagot Winery

Also, here is a site showing >80 kosher wineries in Israel:
Yossie's Corkboard

amother

Olive

Fri, Nov 10 2017, 9:40 am

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

It's the law. No alcohol selling to anyone under 18 yrs old and no selling to anyone even abv 18 after 11 pm in supermarkets etc.

Really? I remember being able to buy beer in Israel at 15 yrs old. But I guess that was a long time ago.

amother

Olive

Fri, Nov 10 2017, 9:40 am

DrMom wrote:

Thank you! This is very helpful.