MIDDLE EAST: Fruit of the poisoned vine? Jewish settlers relish their West Bank wine

Record ID: 588939

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Fruit of the poisoned vine? Jewish settlers relish their West Bank wine
  • Date: 10th August 2009
  • Summary: RACHELIM, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) OWNER OF 'TURA' WINERY', JEWISH SETTLER EREZ BEN SAADON TASTING WINE FROM BARREL AT BOUTIQUE WINERY VIEW OF ARWARDS ON WALL GVS OF AREA SURROUNDING SHILOH SETTLEMENT VARIOUS VIEWS OF VINEYARDS CLOSE OF GRAPE VINE SHILOH, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) WIDE OF SETTLEMENT VIEW OF SIGN REAIDNG 'JUDEA AND SEMARIA, THE STORY OF EVERY JEW' (WEST BANK) RACHELIM, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) SAADON TASTING WINE CLOSE OF TURA WINE BOTTLE (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) OWNER OF 'TURA' WINERY', JEWISH SETTLER EREZ BEN SAADON, SAYING: "We can find hints of tabacco, of apricot, of black pepper" CLOSE OF SAADON SMELLING WINE (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) OWNER OF 'TURA' WINERY', JEWISH SETTLER EREZ BEN SAADON, SAYING: "We are reviving history here, we are carrying out a serious renaissance of a glorified history of wine, of quality wine" CLOSE VIEW OF WINE BOTTLES (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) OWNER OF 'TURA' WINERY', JEWISH SETTLER EREZ BEN SAADON, SAYING: "We believe that after two thousand years in exile we returned to the place where we were supposed to be, the place where we used to be and should be in the future. CLOSE OF WINE GLASS SAADON SAYING: 'LIHAIM' (CHEERS) AND BLESSING ON THE WINE BEFORE DRINKING SHILOH, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) CLOSE OF GRAPES ALIZA HERBST, SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE YESHA COUNCIL, THE MAIN SETTLER UMBRELLA GROUP, LOOKING AT VINEYARD (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALIZA HERBST, SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE YESHA COUNCIL, SAYING: "It's more of a manifestation of their belief and their love of the land and you know, this land of ours has been an area of controversy for so long and thousands of years in fact and certainly all of our lifetime for those of us that live here and things come and go, presidents come and go, special envoys come and go and in the end, at least for the past 30-some odd years, we remained and so we live our ways in that way". VIEW OF SAADON AND HIS WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD VARIOUS OF WORKERS SORTIUNG LEAVES SHILOH, WEST BANK (RECENT) (REUTERS) AMICHAI LOURIE, WINE MAKER AT SHILOH WINERY CLOSE VIEW OF LOURIE SMELLING WINE (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMICHAI LOURIE, WINE MAKER AT SHILOH WINERY SAYING: "I have a connection here that is hard to explain but where you grow up and where you live this is where you want to stay and this is where you belive it's best for you and I believe I'll still be here for a long time". VIEW OF MAN PUSHING CART OF PACKAGED SHILOH WINES CLOSE OF LABEL ON BOX READING: 'SHILOH WINERY, MADE IN ISRAEL' (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMICHAI LOURIE, WINE MAKER AT SHILOH WINERY SAYING: "Merlot grape grows very unique in the Shiloh region and it's very very dominant and very strong and the Shiraz is a very very fruity grape and together they go perfectly together". CLOSE OF KWINE GLASS (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMICHAI LOURIE, WINE MAKER AT SHILOH WINERY SAYING: "It's a very powerful strong wine, fills your mouth completely with a gentle oak taste on the pallet". TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (AUGUST 4, 2009) (REUTERS) DANIEL ROGOV, A LEADING ISRAELI WINE EXPERT, LOOKING AT BOTTLES IN WINE STORE 'DERECH HAYAYIN' (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANIEL ROGOV, A LEADING ISRAELI WINE EXPERT, SAYING: "In much of the occupied territories they do have great soil conditions, great climate conditions in what we call 'terroir' and they have some good places to grow grapes and to make wine. But saying it's very special is simply not true". WIDE OF ROGOV (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANIEL ROGOV, A LEADING ISRAELI WINE EXPERT, SAYING: "Could we live without the wine from the West Bank? The wine industry can survive very nicely". ROGOV SIPPING WINE VARIOUS OF MAN IN STORE CLOSE OF WINE BOTTLE WIDE OF WINE STORE
  • Embargoed: 25th August 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAAEVKYNZF3QL6AC2YQB1C77QB0
  • Story Text: Jewish settlers find new way to expand presence on occupied West Bank land - wine.
    Erez Ben Saadon has a passion for wine-making but his love for the land on which his vineyards grow is what makes his job more than merely a source for income.
    The 35-year-old Israeli planted vines and founded a boutique winery in the hilltop settlement of Rahelim in the occupied West Bank.
    But Saadon claims a biblical right to the land, where he and other settlers have found ancient wine presses. Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
    "We are reviving history here, we are carrying out a serious renaissance of a glorified history of wine," Saadon said in a small shack used to produce Kosher wine at the entrance to the settlement, which is guarded by soldiers and surrounded by barbed wire.
    The sound of an Arab call to prayer echoes in the valley of Saadon's plantation.
    Founded in 2003, Saadon's Tura winery is one of about two dozen wineries, the vast majority of which are boutique wineries, across the West Bank. The hilly territory's climate and altitude appear just right to grow grapes.
    His claim to fame is the 2005 red wine series, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet-Merlot blend.
    The series took gold, silver and bronze awards in one of Israel's prestigious 2008 wine competitions, "Eshkol Hazahav" and two gold medals in the international Terravino competition.
    Saadon's Tura Merlot 2005 has a fruity smell of apricot blended with a hint of pepper in the nose. He lets the wine mature for 21 months in barrels and one year in bottles.
    The price of his wines, of which about 11,000 bottles are produced every year, averages at about 49 U.S. dollars a bottle. Half of his annual collection is exported to the United States and he is preparing to start shipping to Europe.
    Like his fellow vintners, Saadon has plans to expand his plantation and is considering building holiday homes.
    "We believe that after two thousand years in exile we returned to the place where we were supposed to be and where we plan to be in the future. We are continuing ahead and are planting more," Saadon said as he supervised his vineyard workers.
    Just a few kilometres down the winding road dotted with Arab villages, Amichai Lourie tastes one of his red wines out of wooden barrels in his makeshift winery in the industrial park of the Jewish settlement of Shiloh.
    Lourie, a wine-maker who manages the Shiloh winery for its Mexican owner, is sure the uniqueness of the wine has to do with the quality of grapes in the West Bank.
    "The Merlot grape grows very unique in the Shiloh region and it's very dominant, and the Shiraz is a very fruity grape and they go perfectly together," said Lourie, 43, as he tasted the 2006 Merlot blend with Shiraz collection.
    "It's a very powerful strong wine, fills your mouth completely with a gentle oak taste on the pallet".
    Lourie takes particular pride in Shiloh's Chardonnay 2007 and French style Rose, which in itself is rarely produced in Israel. An average of 60,000 botttles are produced every year, half of which are exported to the United States, South America and Europe.
    Like his fellow vintners, Lourie has plans for the future in an area where the future of settlements, deemed illegal by the World Court and seen by Palestinians as a land grab, is unclear in an Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has defied resolution.
    "If the occupied territories are returned, those wineries have no future," said Daniel Rogov, a leading Israeli wine expert.
    Lourie said that he plans to plant more vineyards and to build a more permanent structure in the Shiloh settlement.
    "I have a connection here that is hard to explain," he said.
    Palestinians have long urged consumers to boycott products produced in Jewish settlements, but some of the goods, including wine made by Lourie, are labelled "Made in Israel", obscuring their settlement origin.
    "I think it's a lie -- 'Made in Israel', it's not," said Rogov.
    Some 500,000 Jewish settlers live among 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
    Palestinians say they fear settlements, which U.S. President Barack Obama -- in a rift with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- has said must be frozen, could deny them a viable and contiguous state.
    "Presidents come and go, special envoys come and go and in the end, at least for the past 30-some odd years, we remained," said Aliza Herbst, spokeswoman for the YESHA Council, the main settler umbrella group.
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