This year, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, falls on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th September. On Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to eat sweet foods which symbolise the hope for a sweet and happy year ahead. As a result, the traditional Rosh Hashanah meal is full of delicious, sweet Jewish & Israeli cuisine, including staple dishes, such as Apple & Honey, Pomegranate and Honey Glazed Chicken and Honey Cake.
Ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Israel Tourism Board has released the perfect wine guide to help you celebrate the New Year in style. With the expertise of 32°-34° Wines, a traditional Rosh Hashanah meal has been paired with the perfect wine to accompany each stage of the feast so that observers can enjoy the Jewish New Year in its full capacity.
Starter:
Round Raisin Challah Bread – Raisins are eaten as a symbolic food on Rosh Hashanah for good fortune for the year ahead. By eating the food, there is a hope that one will have a ‘raise in’ salary and good fortune throughout the year. This is why many people add raisins to the traditional Challah bread which is eaten on the Sabbath and Festivals.
Apple and Honey – The dipping of the apple in the honey is one of the most recognisable traditions associated with Rosh Hashanah. The honey symbolises the excitement for a sweet New Year ahead.
WINE PAIRING…
32°-34° Wines says: “Why not start the meal with a crisp Sauvignon from Bar Maor, its subtle flavours and minerality working beautifully with the sweetness of the apple and honey.”
BAR MAOR SAUVIGNON BLANC 2017:
Region: Hanadiv Valley
Winemaker: Rami Bar-Maor
Vegan
This wine is 100% Sauvignon – zesty lemon and wild green apple with an enriched flowery white peach and plenty of minerality that will cut beautifully through the brioche richness of the Challah and honey, and complement the sharpness of the apple.
Bar-Maor’s core values have a minimalist approach which expresses and captures wine that tells a story; these practices have confounded the doubters. The roots of the vines having instinctively deepened further into the sub-soil locating water and natural nutrients highly beneficial to the creation of a vine with true expression and personality of the year of harvest and site specific. This brings high natural acidity, giving life and freshness so distinctive of Bar-Maor Winery. Bar-Maor’s core values have a minimalist approach which expresses and captures wine that tells a story, a story pure and seductive of a place in time, honouring the balance created by nature. Vines are planted on Rendzina white chalk soils an ancient reminder from the sea of Thetis.
Sweet and Sour Fish – Fish is another symbolic food connected to the Jewish New Year. Just as fish multiply quickly and in quantity, on Rosh Hashanah, fish are eaten in the hope that the coming year will be one of plenty. In some communities, there is significance associated with the fish heads which are traditionally placed on the Rosh Hashanah table, with a special prayer recited over them: “May it be your will, God, that we be like the head and not like the tail.”
WINE PAIRING…
32°-34° Wines says:: “With the tangy sweet and sour flavours of this dish, a great pairing would be a wine from the legendary winemaker Doron Rav Hon, a white wine specialist and probably the best producer of whites in the Israel.”
SPHERA FIRST PAGE 2017:
Region: Judean Hills
Winemaker: Doron Rav Hon
50% Pinot Gris, 40% Riesling, 10% Semillon
50% aged in French oak, 50% in stainless steel. No malolactic fermentation.
This complex wine has flavours of fennel, lemon peel and anise aromas with dried floral tones. Crisp palate, bright and lively with vivacious acidity. Lovely and fresh. Doron Rav Hon, studied viticulture in the Bourgogne graduating at Domaine Jacques Prieur. Minimal intervention in the winemaking process along with the use of only free run juice create elegant whites with pleasant acidity and minerality.
Main Course:
Pomegranate and Honey Glazed Chicken – While honey is famously associated with Rosh Hashanah due to its connection to a sweet New year, pomegranates also hold symbolic value. As the fruit contains an abundance of seeds, it serves as a symbol of righteousness and fruitfulness as expressed in the Rosh Hashanah expression, “May we be full of merits like the pomegranate (is full of seeds).” For this reason, pomegranate is central to the Rosh Hashanah meal.
WINE PAIRING…
32°-34° Wines says: “Gaby Sadan, the rising star of the Israeli wine producers has created a Rhone style blend “Shvo Adom” which would complement the sharp fruit acidity of the pomegranate and the richness of the honey.”
SHVO ADOM 2016:
Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Barbera Aged in French Oak
Region: Upper Galilee
Winemaker: Gaby Sedan
A complex yet very well-balanced wine, with fruity notes of red plum and currant. Medium weight, with subtle tannins. Pronounced taste of Shiraz, with a background of cosy herbs note. The wood note is very delicate and not overpowering due to the old barrels.
Shvo Vineyards is an estate winery located in Jish (Gush Halav) in the Upper Galilee region in the north of Israel. The soil, exceptional for the region, is a gravelly flint (silex) clay, reminiscent of some of the most exciting soils in the Loire Valley. The vineyard is cultivated using Sustainable Viticulture practices: no chemical herbicides are applied, advanced biological pest management techniques are used, and spraying is reduced to a minimum. Grenache and Mourvedre are trained to “Gobelet”, just like their kin in France and Spain. Many believe Gaby is currently one of the most exciting winemakers in Israel. Once you taste this exceptional wine, you understand why!
Pomegranate Brisket with Cranberry Sauce – Brisket is a staple of any Jewish meal – pair it with a pomegranate and cranberry twist to get the full Rosh Hashanah flavour
WINE PAIRING…
32°-34° Wines says:: “With the Brisket, a great pairing would be the sophisticated and well-rounded signature-red from Tzora, one of Israel’s most well-known and respected boutique wineries.”
TZORA JUDEAN HILLS RED 2018:
Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petit Verdot and Merlot.
Region: Judean Hills
Winemaker: Eran Pick MW
Consultant: Jean-Claud Berrouet
Kosher
Aged for 12 months in French barriques. Excellent balanced red blend. Black and red fruits on the nose and palate with elegant acidity and wood characters. Tzora vineyards are located in one of the most spectacular parts of the Judean Hills and the winery stresses at its best the concept of terroir. Eran Pick, the winemaker, is the only Israeli Master of Wine, and starting from 2010, Jean-Claude Berrouet, the former Technical Director of Chateau Pétrus, joined the winery as a consultant. The wine shows excellent complexity and elegance and have earned high scores among international wine critics. This wine has been recently nominated for the 2020 Decanter red wine of the year.
Desert:
Honey Cake – Finish the meal with a slice of Honey Cake, a food that is synonymous with the Jewish New Year.
WINE PAIRING…
32°-34° Wines says:: “To finish the meal, a fantastic Riesling that has developed beautifully in the bottle and will work well with the sweet stickiness of the honey cake. This wine makes a great digestif, but also works well as an aperitif, perhaps with some green olives and almonds.”
SAVANT RIESLING 2017:
100% Riesling
Region: Western Galilee
Winemaker: Richard Davies
Kosher
Use of free run juice only, very low residual sugar and only 10% alcohol. Yellow straw colour, intense floral aroma, citrus and mineral flavours. Long finish, sweet mineral flavours and crisp acidity.
Kishor is a great example of a winery that strives for sustainability. The winery is the heart of a residential community where people with special needs work in all aspects of wine production, developing and realizing their potential through the craft of wine making.
All wines are available to buy from 32°-34° Wines, subject to availability in the UK.
For traveller’s keen to experience Wine Tourism, Israel is the perfect place to visit. Due to a combination of Israelis’ passion for wine, the Mediterranean climate and Israel’s pioneering work in the field of agricultural science, Israeli wine has seen tremendous development over the past 20 years and now contains a network of world-class wineries spanning across the country.
In the 1980’s, Israel had just a handful of wineries in the country, but fast forward only 40 years, and there now exists over 400 wine producers, a number of which are small boutique wineries, famous for their innovative ideas and authentic Israeli taste.
There are five main wine regions in the country, with the Galilee in Northern Israel and the wineries in the Judean Hills considered to be the country’s finest growing regions. Another leading wine region is the Negev Desert. Most impressively, Israel has managed to transform the barren desert into a landscape that produces some of Israel’s most delicious and celebrated wines.
There are numerous other ways to explore Israel’s blossoming wine scene. Most Israeli wineries are open to visitors in one way or another, offering a range of personal or guide-led tours, for groups of varying sizes. Whether it be a tour of one of Israel’s larger wineries, or a visit to the makers home in a boutique winery, wine tours are an excellent way of developing an understanding for Israeli wine.
For example, the Israel Wine Tour offers visitors the chance to explore all the major wine regions across the country. Alternatively, led by an expert guide, wine tours like the Caesarea, Wine Country, and Kibbutz Experience Tour are a great way to develop an understanding of the Israeli wine scene.
For those located in Tel Aviv, experience the Wine Tasting by Night in Old Jaffa Tour. The tour will take you on a journey through the streets of Jaffa, one of Tel Aviv’s most authentic areas. Throughout the tour, you will sample local Israeli wine, as you make your way from the German Colony to the Jaffa Flea Market, the most vibrant part of Jaffa.
For a taste of Israeli wine here in the UK, Kedem offers a wide selection of kosher wines imported from Israel. Likewise, 32°-34° Wines brings a selection of the best wines from boutique wineries in Israel to the UK.
For more information, visit: https://en.citiesbreak.com
