Israeli Winery Goes from Good Wine to Good Food
Posted by Menachem Lubinsky on June 27, 2010 under Kosher Wine | 
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Zichron Yaakov…What does a winery do with an abundance of grapes? It already is Israel’s 5th largest winery and exports over 1 million bottles. If you are Oshra Tishbi, you expand into gourmet jams, honeys and even sauces. The Merlot wine jams, a favorite with the many tourists who visit the Visitors Center, is as good as well, good wine. The Tishbi Winery is no ordinary winery. It is a piece of history, says Oshra, referring to the founding of the vineyards in 1882 by the Chamiletski family who fled persecution in Russia to their new home in Palestine. It was the famed Jewish poet Nachman Bialik who renamed the family Tishbi and it was Baron Edmond de Rothschild who commissioned the family to develop the vineyards.
More than 100 years later Jonathan Tishbi used the family’s considerable expertise in growing grapes to take the family in the direction of winemaking. The family’s vineyards in various parts of the country produce a variety of grapes that were to become the basis for Tishbi’s award winning wines. Israel’s diverse climates from the Golan Heights to the Judean Hills offered the family the opportunity to compete with some of the best grape growing regions in the world. Its Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon became instant hits not only with the local market but in markets overseas. The wines are imported to the US by Admiral Wines.
To say that Oshra enjoys what she does as the export manager and really the foreign minister of the winery is an understatement. The effervescent Oshra tells tourists “let’s have fun” as she serves a variety of great wines with some great food, all the while stressing the natural, wellness and health. With her infectious smile, she positions a number of wines for tasting: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Cabernet and, of course, Merlot, all kosher certified and mevushal. She also surprises with her 2009 Gewurztraminer and the taste is superb. It is in the restaurant in the Visitor Center that the Tishbis stress the great marriage of good food and wine, a combination that the Tishbis hope will continue to bring them great success. L’Chaim!
