ISRAEL THE NEW FRONTIER FOR QUALITY WINE? RICCARDO COTARELLLA, ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ENOLOGISTS IN WORLD, IS BETTING ON PLANTING ITALIAN GRAPE VARIETIES IN THE REGIONS OF GILBOA

The enologist Riccardo Cotarella, together with David Suissa, producer of grand kosher wines in Bordeaux, and Danny Attar, the mayor and president of the regional council of the area between the cities of Nazareth, Affila, and Beit Shean in Israel, appear to have the right elements to produce great wines, and it is possible that the first wines to come from Israel will have an Italian heart. And possibly even something more.
Attempting this “mission impossible”, after the successes obtained in almost every other part of the world, is once again, Riccardo Cotarella, the internationally famed winemaker who seems to have come to enjoy being the top trendsetter and surpassing the already known frontiers of wine. So much so, in fact, that the first stone has already and eagerly been placed in this new endeavor with a meeting in Gilboa, a region to the north of Israel where, along with the Italian enologist, producer David Suissa and leader Danny Attar were also present.

“I never imagined” - explained Cotarella to WineNews - “that the trip to Israel could be so stimulating from an enological point of view, nor to return home with such a concrete and serious project for the future. The fact is that I met splendid people, very motivated and decisive in doing large projects. And then there was Gilboa that, as well as having a splendid landscape, also seems to be an area that definitely seems interesting for the cultivation of vineyards and the production of wine. The characteristics are almost European: the rains are more abundant in respect to the dry areas in the south, the climate is cooler, not mention the chemical-physical structure of the terrain and its pedoclimatic factors. All of these indications are what have convinced me to aim, prevalently, towards traditional Italian grape varieties like Greco and Grillo for whites, and Montepulciano and Nero di Troia for reds. There is much talk of the internationalization of grapes, especially French ones, but in this case it will be a true Italianization”.

And the project is concrete in numbers as well. The new organization, that will also include the construction of a modern winery and luxury hotel, will span over 50 hectares of vineyards that are set to become the starting point for a new territorial wine denomination, thus becoming a key addition the touristic development of the region. This project is so convincing, in fact, that apart from numerous private individuals of Jewish origin from all over the world, the initiative will also be sponsored by numerous public institutions.
”The government of Israel really believes in this” - continued Cotarella - “so much so that I have already had the pleasure of meeting the Defense Minister Peretz and the Minister of Tourism Herzog. And even for me, I must say, it is an enthusiastic experience. It’s one thing to do wine in Italy, in Bordeaux, or even California - areas where things are already definitely established - it is another thing to start from scratch in this country”.
And, finally, enologist Cotarella will be aided in this important adventure by his assistant of Algerian origin, Mourad Ouada. As if it wasn’t challenging enough already…

Antonio Boco