Samaria Wines Win Big; Victor Credits Shemittah Year

Article published on CrownHeights.info April 23, 2010

Wineries in Judea and Samaria shone at the annual Eshkol Hazahav wine competition this year, taking a total of seven awards. A total of 251 wines were submitted to the competition, and were judged by dozens of experts in a blind taste test.

The Hararei Kedem winery in Yitzhar was particularly successful, taking two gold medals and one silver. Hararei Kedem's winning wines were a Merlot, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Cabernet-Merlot blend.
Hararei Kedem is a unique winery for several reasons. Not only does owner Ariel Ben-Sheetrit use Jewish labor, instead of hiring foreign workers as many do, but the wines he creates are entirely organic. In addition, Ben-Sheetrit observes the shemittah (Sabbatical) year, allowing his fields to lie fallow once every seven years.

Ben-Sheetrit was given an opportunity to address the audience after winning, and he used the opportunity to tell the hundreds of assembled winery owners, wine experts, journalists and tourists that he credits his success to his observance of the shemittah year, and to the fact that his grapes are grown in the portion of the land of Israel belonging to the biblical Joseph (Yosef), who is buried a short distance from Yitzhar.

The grapes that created his winning wines were grown in the year before the shemittah year, after he had decided to let the land lay fallow the next year despite agricultural experts' attempts to dissuade him, Ben-Sheetrit related. In that year, 2007, the year before the shemittah year, his vineyard produced three times the usual quantity of grapes.

"It was truly a fulfillment of the words of the Torah, that the land will give enough for the sixth, seventh, and eighth years,” he declared. The grapes were special in terms of quality as well as quantity, he added, as indicated by the prize-winning wines they produced.

The Pesagot winery won three medals as well, and Yekev Gevaot of Givat Harel won a single medal, which join the two gold medals it won last year.

The wine industry in Judea and Samaria has flourished in recent years. Wineries in the region have won awards in Israel and abroad, and have drawn tourists from around the world.

Israeli avocado takes Europe

Article published on Ynetnews February 28, 2010
By Navit Zomer

Wall Street Journal praises Agrexco company, says its avocado exports total one-third of amount of fruit in Europe. This season's exports expected to increase by more than 50%

The pear-shaped green fruit's sales have totaled reach one-third of all the fruit sold in the continent, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article dedicated to Agrexco. The Israeli company was defined by the leading American newspaper as the biggest Israeli exporter of fresh agricultural produce of high quality. According to the paper, 2009 saw a 12% rise Agrexco's sales turnover and the company leads Israel's agricultural exports this year.

Last year, the company exported agricultural produce under the Carmel brand for about € 492 million (about $663 million). Agrexco CEO Shlomo Tirosh told the paper that Israel markets 390,000 tons of fresh agricultural produce to countries all over the world, with avocado taking the first place. According to the Tirosh, there is no other product with such an outstanding presence from one single exporter. This season, the fruit's exports are expected to reach 36,000 tons compared to 22,000 last year – an increase of more than 50%. Pepper came in second with about 36,000 tons, in spite of the difficult winter in the Arava region. It was followed by organic tomatoes and conventional ones, mainly cherry tomatoes.

Green herbs have also had a strong presence – particularly basil, chives and mint. Despite the competition from Egypt, Morocco and Spain, the Israeli herbs' popularity is stable thanks to their high quality. In addition, the sales of Israel's melons have risen by 50% after years of decline.

The article reveals that Israel has a real advantage when it comes to organic products. Agrexco began specializing in the organic field 25 years ago, providing all its organic products with a good reputation and advantage over other countries. Tirosh estimates that the company's annual sales turnover will see a 3% rise in 2010.