Eli Gilbert Ben-Zaken, the founder of the Domaine du Castel winery, poses in next to this barrels...

The wines produced at Domaine Du Castel near Jerusalem have turned the world of Kosher wine on its head, winning accolades from around the world, and now this small, family-owned winery, founded by Eli Ben-Zaken in 1992, has set its sites on the broader market.
The winery and the vineyards are located 17 km (10 miles) west of Jerusalem in Ramat Raziel in the Judean Hills at an altitude of 700 m (2300 feet) in one of Israel’s best wine regions and where wines were grown and made in biblical times.

Although tradition of winemaking here goes back millennia, it is only relatively recently that the Judaean Hills have won international recognition. Since the mid 90s, the Judaean Hills have carved out their own niche in the international wine market, with Castel now recognised as one of the 365 best vintages in the world, according to France's prestigious Bettane & Desseauve guide.

Eli Ben-Zaken is a self-taught vinegrower who set up his first press inside an old stable, who fell into the profession completely by chance. After being born in cosmopolitan Alexandria and educated in England, Italy and Switzerland, Eli moved to Israel, first working in agriculture and then later in the restaurant business, before deciding to establish a vineyard in 1988. The first vintage was made in 1992, in one of the chicken sheds, and consisted of just two barrels.
In 1995, some seven years after planting his first vines, Ben Zaken proudly bottled his first batch -- around 600 bottles made from Cabernet and Merlot grapes -- "made mostly for friends," he says.

Not long after, one of the bottles fell into the hands of British expert Serena Sutcliffe, Master of Wine at Sotheby's in London, who described it as "absolutely terrific ... a real tour de force, brilliantly made."
"I had tears in my eyes," recalls Ben Zaken. "Over the next few days, I went everywhere with that fax in my pocket."
Since then more vines have been planted, with the winery relying entirely on locally grown grapes, most of them from its own vineyards, while others are grown up the road on Tzuba.
Israeli wines tend to be New World wines, but Castel is one of the few wineries to use an Old World approach. And it is also the first one to have adopted the French techniques of viticulture and wine-making.
This small winery managed by a family is now producing around 100,000 bottles a year -- its flagship Bordeaux-style red, the Grand Vin Castel, and its second label, Petit Castel, as well as a white Burgundy-style Chardonnay, the "C" Blanc du Castel.
Since 2003, all Castel wines have been designated as kosher -- with the entire process, from the pressing of the grapes to the bottling of the wine, strictly supervised by religiously observant Jews.
Going kosher was strictly a business decision: it has allowed Castel to target the global kosher wine market and increase exports.
The average price per bottle -- around 160 shekels (42 dollars, 32 euros) -- is high, admits Ben Zaken: "But it's still a lot cheaper than French wines of the same quality."
During an official visit to Israel by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in March 2008, a Grand Castel was served up during dinner with then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
The chancellor was so impressed she promptly ordered 240 bottles to be sent home to Berlin.

Until relatively recently, kosher wines have been predominantly sweet, dessert-style wines -- now Ben Zaken is hoping that his award-winning kosher labels will buck the trend and get Jewish people drinking once again.

"We have to focus on our niche but we want to show the world that there is another side to wine from the Holy Land," Ben Zaken says, "To show them that it is tasty, well made and influenced by the sun and by spices which are unique to the Israeli landscape."- CF

Published 30.08.2010