Jerusalem Wine Festival 2013 – Celebrating 10 Years

July 28th 2013

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 10^th 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 19^th and 20^th 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.