Jules Polonetsky
Around the world, the finest wine regions are often protected and promoted by legal designation as an appellation, creating a brand for the grapes and wineries in that area.
Wines from Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy, Rioja, Priorat, Napa, Sonoma and other prestigious zones have legal protections under local laws that restrict the uses of names to wines from the region, subject to the regional rules about what grapes can be planted, whether irrigation is permitted, aging requirements and more.
In 2020, Israel joined the club of countries with formal appellations with the recent designation of the Appellation of Origin: Judea.
Wineries in this area, home to about 40 wineries and 27% of the country’s vineyards, are generally between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and are influenced by the Mediterranean breezes and the Jerusalem Mountains. Two sub-appellations have been created — Judean Hills for terroir above 400 meters and Judean Foothills for areas under 400 meters. Some of Israel’s finest wineries are in this region and include well-known names such as Castel, Flam, Tzora and Mony. The Mate Yehuda Regional Council will coordinate the rules for the region, for example, requiring that at least 85% of the grapes in a bottle are grown in the region and the wine is produced in the area.
One of the top wineries in the new AO is Agur, established in 1999 by Shuki Yashuv, a pioneer of the Judean Hills region and led today by partners Elad Katz and Eyal Drory. Katz, a resident of nearby Ellah Valley, is a former CEO of Israel’s famed Domaine du Castel, and winemaker Drory studied wines in Piedmont, Crete and Israel.
According to Israeli wine expert Adam Montefiore, “All Agur’s wines are vibrant and fresh, with a mineral core and linear texture that runs through from start to finish. They show great drinkability. The whites were outstanding, the rosé still a pioneer and the Layam was my favorite red. They are medium-bodied, sinewy and complex. The wines are a beautiful expression of founder Shuki Yashuv’s dream, and winemaker Eyal Drory’s extraordinary talent.”
I recently visited Agur and spent some time with Drory, who told me that the winery produces 70,000-75,000 bottles a year, but only 10% of sales are outside Israel. All the wines are blends, intended to reflect the terroir of each of Agur’s vineyards in Mata, Givat Yeshayahu and Ein Kerem. (The AO administrator might be well advised to consider a third sub-appellation called Judean Valley for areas like Givat Yeshayahu, which is markedly cooler due to cool air from the nearby mountains and ridges blocking hot breezes.)
The Agur wines, reds and whites, are all blends and blending is a key part of the winery’s philosophy. Kessem 2022 is a cabernet, Syrah, merlot (note the play on the name of the wine) plus cabernet franc, carignan and garnacha tintorera, while the Special Reserve, aged 24 months in new and old French oak, is a blend of cabernet savignon, Syrah, merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot.
Agur also makes what Drory calls a “serious” rosé by which he means a Bandol-style rosé, referring to the respected appellation famed for rosés that are typically fuller and more substantial than typical Provencal rosés.
I recently hosted a wine tasting in Jerusalem with a few leading Israeli experts, sampling some of the highest-scored Israeli wines and some top California wines. Yechiel Chovav, a member of the winemaking team at Agur, brought along an Agur sauvignon blanc blend, which was the clear favorite of the tasting. I very much enjoy the Agur reds and rose, but it is the whites that I think may be among the most enjoyable Israeli white wines I have tasted.
A visit to the winery if you are in Israel is highly recommended, as it is an easy drive from Jerusalem, and the winery has a lovely tasting facility. Poignantly, a chair is reserved for Dror Or, cheesemaker at Beeri Dairy who was murdered along with his wife during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Or made a wine-edged cheese with Agur wine, a tradition now carried on by Beeri Dairy and served at the winery.
Agur is distributed online in the U.S. via Israeliwinedirect.com and in select
retail stores.
Jules Polonetsky is a Wine and Spirits Education Trust Level 3 Certified wine expert and CEO of a tech policy think tank. He is a former consumer affairs commissioner of the City of New York.