Upper Galilee Wine Tour
The Upper Galilee, or as I like to call it:
“The Tuscany of Israel”
Full of evergreen mountains, hills, creeks and streams,
this romantic area is the perfect region for high quality wine growing.
Thanks to our Mediterranean climate, as well as the sea breeze from the nearby Mediterranean coast and high-altitude vineyards, the wines produced in this region are high-quality and impressive.
Many of the best Israeli wineries from all over the country own vineyards in the Upper Galilee, or they fight
to buy grapes from selected vineyards in this region.
The Upper Galilee is divided into two sub-regions,
Western and Eastern, with Meron Mountain, one of the highest in Israel,
serving as the imaginary border between the two.
Since biblical times this region has been known for its wine industry and still today,
one can easily find ancient wineries sites all around the area.
Today, thanks to the quality revolution that began in the mid 80’s, it is the home for several boutique wineries… small, smart, dynamic & authentic family-run wineries, most of them practicing sustainable and organic viticulture.
Join me to experience private tastings with up and coming winemakers themselves, and the opportunity for exclusive tastings from their vats and barrels.
The Tour's itinerary usually starts at 9:30 AM, when I pick you up from your location.
The day will include 3 winery visits and 2 special lookout stops.
The wineries we are likely to visit include:
Galil Mountain Winery
In Kibbutz Yiron, only meters from the Lebanese border, is where this impressive winery is located. Although relatively large, producing 1 million bottles a year, it operates as an organic and sustainable winery. Galil Mountain Winery uses grapes that only come from their glorious organic vineyard sites in the Eastern Upper Galilee. Their winemaker, Micha Veadia, educated in California, is one the pillars of the growing Israeli wine making industry. We will taste their premium labels, such as the Yiron, a Bordeaux-style red which is considered by many to be one of the best wines in the history of Israeli wines,
vintage after vintage.
Abaya Winery
Yossi Yodfat, who is thought of as a genius and controversial winemaker, founded the first and practically the only Biodynamic winery in Israel, which means among other things, minimum interventions in the winemaking process. His wines are pure, expressive, rustic and unique, with tons of character. Fermenting naturally, they are not fine or filtered, and contain very low amounts of sulfites; some are even bottled without them. Yossi is focusing on single vineyard Carignan for the reds and Colombard for the white and orange wines. It's not easy to arrange a visit to Abaya,
but I will take you there!
Harashim Winery
Their story begins in 1987 with the planting of the vineyard in Harashim on Mount Shazor, in one of Israel’s rainiest locations at an altitude of 860 meters.
The owners and winemakers are Gadi and Yuval, two childhood friends. As natives of this mountain, raised in the wild nature of Harashim, their highest value is land conservation. They acts to preserve and enliven the biodiversity in the vineyard and in its surroundings. Their actions are dictated by biodynamic methods
of agriculture and winemaking.
The winemaking at Harashim Winery strives to be as natural, precise and gentle as possible. This allows for full expression of each varietal and their growing environment. This ambition is achieved through manual harvesting, gentle separation, and wild fermentations in small tanks and at low temperatures.
Pressing is performed in a basket press.
With the ever growing demand and interest in natural wines, this winery is a must on our list!
At around 4:00 PM we will finish the visits and make our way back to
your desired drop-off location.
While I’ve provided this suggested itinerary, please note that the day can be customized as you wish, so please don’t hesitate to share your specific interests with me.
*Our vehicles for the tours are a comfortable SUV, or a luxury minibus for larger groups.