Israeli Fruit Wines & Liquors
 04.12.2009 

 By: Yonatan Sternberg

Although the terms wine and Vino are traditionally defined as beverages made solely from grapes, “Fruit wine” can be produced from any fruit with a high natural sugar content or by the addition of sugar or honey to the nectar.

There are currently several Israeli producers offering wines and liquors based on a variety of fruits, ranging from sabras (cactus fruit) through pomegranates and list goes on and on.

The Rimon winery is known as the first winery to produce wines based exclusively on pomegranates. All wines are made using traditional winemaking techniques; hence the liquid is fermented and then aged in oak barrels. Throughout history pomegranates have earned a reputation as one of the healthiest fruits. A sign of happiness and fertility, high in antioxidants, some even claim that it helps to prevent Alzheimer disease. While I am far from being a scientist or a doctor and don’t claim to know much about the health properties possessed by the wines, I highly recommend Rimon’s port style beverage which shows very distinctive pomegranate characteristics. Rimon currently offers three pomegranate wines of different styles: dry red, dessert and a port style wine.

“HaSheichar” – the Hebrew word for fruit based wines, was established in 2005 as a small family winery. When speaking to Menachem Derlich founder and CEO, he indicated that the winery’s mission “is to produce high quality wine by using deciduous fruits that offer similar characteristics to grapes”. Instead of using grapes to produce their wines, “HaSheichar” is currently distributing wines made from peaches, plums and cherries. My favorite was the dessert style cherry wine which offers generous aromas and flavors of ripe cherries. In my opinion, the wine will go well with potent cheeses, quality bitter chocolate or a platter of fresh fruits. By the way, the Gush Etzion winery, which usually focuses on grape based vinos also produces excellent ‘sour cherry’ based liquor.

Another winery producing fruit and herb based wines and liquors, is the Morad Winery. Founded in 1999 by Yacov Morad the winery is situated in the northern town of Yokne’am. Over the years, Morad has built a reputation as a winery which will produce wines/liquors from virtually anything. There offerings include: apple & honey liquor, mango 'wine', parsley 'wine', mint liquor, banana liquor and more. Next time you're in the area stop by Morad's visitors' center, where you can sample some of the beverages and hear informative explanations from Yacov or his wife Etty.

Enjoy!