Jerusalem Wine Festival 2013 – Celebrating 10 Years

July 28th 2013

Jerusalem's New City - Israel Museum & Dead Sea Scrolls

The annual Jerusalem Wine Festival, held every summer at the Israel Museum in Givat Ram, is a highlight of Israel’s event calendar. The combination of live jazz, local wine, the Jerusalem night air and the sculpture garden can’t be beat. Always a relaxed and tasteful event, the Jerusalem Wine Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2013. In exchange for your entrance fee, you’ll get a complimentary wine glass to carry from booth to booth. Taste as many amazing Israeli wines as your palate can handle, one generous splash at a time.

Castel Winery

Scheduled for four consecutive evenings, August 5 through August 8, this year’s festival features dozens of Israel’s leading wineries, including Golan Heights Winery, Tzora Winery, Ella Valley Vineyards, Domaine Du Castel, Carmel Winery, Binyamina Winery, Clos de Gat, Tavor Winery and many others. Since each winery brings their various sub-labels, special series, varietals and blends, festival goers have hundreds of bottles to sample. It might take attending the festival on all four nights to try them all.

Galil Mountain Winery

Speak to the vintners who are staffing each table and pouring samples for the wine-loving crowd. You’ll certainly learn a lot about wine making and about the state of the wine-making industry in Israel. To enhance the experience, an array of kosher breads and platters of kosher cheeses are available for sale.

Hevron Heights Winery

Additionally, the background sounds of live jazz will be substituted for a wider palate of musical performances at this year’s event. From La Basta Band’s rhythmic Gypsy music to the soulful reggae of Benei Adam, event goers will experience a more reinvigorated musical lineup than in years past. Other featured artists include Countryside Beatles, the Sawyer Band, the Tzanchany Brothers, and more. Performances are scheduled to begin at 8pm and 10pm each night of the Jerusalem Wine Festival.

 

What the experts are saying about the Jerusalem Wine Festival…

“Israeli wine is seen at its best at the Jerusalem Festival. Certainly recommended for a visit. Come and celebrate the quality and variety of Israeli wine along with the rest of us.” – Adam Montefiore, Wine Development Director, Carmel Winery and wine writer for the Jerusalem Post

“The best way to know which wines you like is to taste them. The Jerusalem wine festival represents a tremendous opportunity for Jerusalem-area residents to try hundreds of great Israeli wines. The Israeli wine industry is changing so rapidly that the only way to keep up is to keep tasting. The Jerusalem Wine Festival is one of the most important cultural events in the city and continues to be a great, accessible way to try great wine” – Avi Hein, editor-in-chief of HaKerem: The Israeli Wine Blog

“The annual wine festival is one of the most fun ways to celebrate Israel’s incredible synthesis of the ancient and the modern worlds. It seems like the entire city of Jerusalem is on a happy high the entire week of the wine festival.” – Zev Stub, Founder and CEO of Janglo.net

 

The Israel Museum’s architecture is magnificent at night, and all of the museum’s exhibits and attractions will be open during the festival. Visitors are especially encouraged to catch the museum’s acclaimed temporary exhibition on Herod the Great for no extra charge, each evening beginning at 5:30pm. The wine festival itself takes place in the Billy Rose Art Garden of the Israel Museum. Meandering through the graveled paths of the Art Garden is an ideal way to appreciate some of the greatest sculptors and artists of the late 19th and 20th centuries, displayed among a great assortment of stones, gently lapping water fountains, local plants and trees.

True wine connoisseurs are recommended to come early, both to talk with the winemakers before it gets overly crowded and to enjoy the better grades of wine that are poured earlier in the evening.  Summer evenings in Jerusalem can be surprisingly chilly, so it’s recommended to bring along a warm layer.

Jerusalem Wine Festival 2013 Event Details
Venue:  The Israel Museum – Derech Ruppin, Jerusalem
Date:  August 5-8, 2013
Time:  7:00-11:00pm
Price:  85 NIS
Tickets on sale on the Israel Museum website and by phone at 02-625-9703


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