From the Margalit Winery

Today there are close to 300 wineries in Israel. In 1989, when the Margalit Winery opened it was the first boutique winery in Israel focused on making premium wine. Most people mark 1989 as the beginning of the boutique winery revolution in Israel. Margalit started with only 3 barrels of wine or about 900 bottles and has since grown to produce 16,000 to 20,000 bottles of wine per year or about 1,600 cases. They could have grown much bigger, but one principle of boutique wines is to focus on quality over quantity. Dr. Yair Margalit, PhD., was previously the first winemaker at the Tishbi Winery which opened in 1985 and was the first winery stemming from a wine- grape grower to break away from the Carmel Winery collective. In contrast, since 1985 the Tishbi Winery is now making about 1 million bottles, although they have several reserve and single vineyard wines that embrace boutique practices.

Yair, “the Professor”, was a researcher at the University of California, Davis conducting studies about high pressure fermentation when he got bewitched by their local wine industry. He took some time off and started studying winemaking and wrote two winemaking books - Concepts in Wine Technology and Concepts in Wine Chemistry - which are in their third editions as of 2012. These books are used as textbooks internationally - from his alma mater, UC Davis, to Adelaide University in Australia. They have also been translated into Italian for aspiring Italian winemakers. I’ve seen these books on shelves in many winemakers’ offices and labs. Negotiations are underway for the books to be translated into German and even Macedonian. Yair likes to travel to wine regions and is still surprised when he tastes a world-class wine at a winery and the winemaker pulls out one of his books for Yair to sign.

Although Yair has influenced countless winemakers around the globe, the winemakers he may have influenced the most are possibly those closest to home. Yair’s son, Asaf, joined the winery in 1990 (one vintage after the first) and spent one vintage working in California before finally starting to take the helm of the winery during the 2000 vintage. Yet his father still plays an active role in the winery - and why not? Asaf is leading the winery for a new generation of Margalit drinkers and collectors, but it would be foolish not to involve one's father when he’s known as the (Wine) Professor. The transition has been relatively seamless as Margalit wines have been consistently well received by international critics including Mark Squires (who writes for Robert Parker’s "Wine Advocate" in the US) and Hugh Johnson of the UK, and Margalit wines are more often than not on everyone’s Top Ten Winery list for Israeli wineries, if not at the top of the top ten list.

Recently, I visited Margalit’s new digs in Binyamina, within walking distance of the Binyamina train station. It comprises a spacious workplace and showroom, in contrast with the more rustic digs they left this year which were centered in a citrus orchard in Emek Hefer.

The winery typically releases four wines every vintage, with other releases happening occasionally when some of their grapes are used for blending and reach exceptional standards in the vineyards and in barrels at the winery. The current releases are 2011 Margalit Cabernet Sauvignon (NIS 199) 93 points, 2011 Margalit Cabernet Franc (NIS 210) 94 points, 2011 Margalit Enigma (NIS 245) 94 points and their 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve (NIS 299) 95 points, and these four wines are offered every vintage. I recently tasted their 2011 Margalit Petit Verdot (92 points) that won’t be released to the public and is being kept as a private stash inside the winery.

Buying these wines is a good investment

The 2012 Petit Verdot is even better according to Asaf and more likely to be released. A 2012 Margalit Merlot might also be released. It was last released in 2007. With both those grapes doing so well individually one might imagine all their wines benefitting since those grapes play supporting roles in other wines. Even though these wines seem expensive, they’re quite reasonable compared to the reputation of and demand for them. Buying these wines upon their initial release is a good investment, as they increase in value as soon as the winery sells out, which they do every year. Finding older vintages at wine shops and restaurants in Israel is sometimes a mark of distinction for any wine list or shelf. Some finer Tel Aviv restaurants, for instance, sell 2005 Margalit Cabernet Sauvignon for about NIS 800 a bottle, and finding a 2002 for NIS 900 might be considered a steal by some connoisseurs. A bottle of 1993 Margalit Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve sold for NIS 4000 to a tourist specifically seeking out a rare bottle of Margalit.

Over the years, the Margalits have experimented with several varietals and have been trend setters. They were the first to premiere Cabernet Franc as a top tier single varietal as well as Old Vine Carignan, a grape previously used in Israel for cheaper bulk wines, grape juice and Kiddush wines. Dozens of wineries have followed suit since, but the Margalits kept the Cabernet Franc but not the Carignan in their line-up. They experimented with white wines in the past but fleetingly, yet their 2001 Margalit Chardonnay once sold for NIS 2400 to Tel Aviv diners. The Margalits also pioneered the use of Petite Sirah grapes to bolster the structure and longevity of single varietal Cabernet Sauvignon wines to age not just for years but for decades. (Wines with 85% or more of one grape are considered single varietal.) With this in mind, the Margalits are eyeing white wines again. With their more expansive facilities (a model setup for a beginning boutique winery) they’ll have the room to make more wines, including more white wines. They recently planted Chardonnay and White Riesling, so one can look forward to some white releases once the grapes are up to their lofty standards. Yair and Asaf travelled to Germany, considered to be one of the cradles of quality white wines in the world, to get some insiders’ tips on making premium white wines. 

One sign of master winemakers is that even the teachers believe they should never stop learning. It reminds me of a story a philosophy professor told me decades ago. When Socrates went to commune with the Oracle of Delphi, he asked: “What more do I need to know?” and the Oracle responded: “You know enough to keep on asking questions and that no matter how much you know you’ll never know all there is to know.” I’m paraphrasing a bit, but it applies to winemaking and to the Margalits.

Few, if any, know more about winemaking, yet they know enough to understand that they don’t know it all, and aren’t too afraid or too arrogant to keep on asking questions. We and their wine will surely benefit from their curiosity, humility, innovation and expertise for years, if not decades, to come. 

Wine Scoring Key

97-100    A+    Best of the Best, Best or One of the Best in Recent Memory  (5% of wines)

93-96      A      Extraordinary, Recommended as a Great Example of What Israel Does Right.

                      A Wine Worth Remembering and Drinking Again and Again  (1% or less of wines)

89-92      A-     Very Good, Highly Recommended as Interesting and Expressive  (2%)

85-88      B+    Good, Recommended as a Wine That Shows Some Merit  (5%)

81-84      B      Fair, But Not Recommended to Elevate a Meal or an Evening (Most wine)

80 or less        Not Recommended or Worth Commenting About 

David Rhodes writes weekly about Israeli wines and can be reached at Israeliwineguy@gmail.com.