Toto, I don't think we're in Napa anymore

Last night was the Jerusalem Wine Festival, held in the gardens of the Israel Museum, which is a gorgeous space – a gravel and marble garden, incredible artwork, a phenomenal view. I would say most of my cohort was there, and everyone seemed to have a great time. How could you now? For 55 NIS (about $16) you got a glass and all you can drink from over 50 Israeli wineries.

Now, let me set part of the record straight. Israeli wine is not the same thing as Manaschewitz. That’s American kosher sweet wine, if you can even call it “wine.” Israel, as part of the five wine-growing regions in the world (California, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and the Mediterranean), has a budding wine industry in the Galilee. It’s a terrain very much like the California coast and hence suitable for growing real wine grapes. Over the past decades the Israeli wine industry has blossomed and is starting to gain real international recognition.

At the same time, it ain’t nothing to write home about. I think part of it is, yes, I’m from California (Sonoma county, no less) and so a little spoiled. But Israeli wineries haven’t really gotten the idea of a “palate” yet. I think that may be due to the taste of the soil – it’s very woody and acidic and minerally, especially after decades the pioneers breathing life into it. All of the wines tasted the same. There was very little that distinguished one winery’s Cabernet from another’s. The popular (or growable) grapes were Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet, Shiraz, and Gewurztraminer. And they all tasted very similar, which they don’t in California. What can you do?

Despite the tepid nature of the wines themselves, it was a great evening. As I said most of the cohort was there, so there was a lot of schmoozing in a very Israeli environment. There were Americans, but they were Americans like us: either non-tourists or olim. It was a very authentically Israeli evening. There was a lot of Hebrew spoken, and as the evening wore on, and we tasted more and more wine, I used my Hebrew more and more. It was a really great night.

Yesterday also marked my one-week anniversary of being in Israel, although it feels like so much longer. Right now I’m moving out of the studio I’ve been subletting and into an apartment of a classmate, who has an extra room for the next two weeks. After that point, the apartment I’ve been trying to sign (hopefully this afternoon!) will be available. Tonight is Shabbat, my second, and it’s the Shabbat of orientation, so there are services-related programs tonight and tomorrow morning for us. And the Sunday morning, we start ulpan!