I will start with a question.: What's in the bottle of wine besides grape juice?
The bottle labels of most wineries mention "sulfite" or "bisulfite" as part of the wine's ingredients, with an explicit note that this is according to the standard.
What is this sulfite?
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''Sulfite' is sulfur dioxide, used as a preservative known as E220/1/2 (according to the standard), everything that begins with the letter E is defined as a food additive, approved by the European Union (although sometimes there is a certain restriction on the quantity).
All of these additives in the 220+ range are known to cause headaches. The amount allowed for addition should probably not cause these effects, but for sensitive people they can still cause headaches.
So, why does the winery need this 'headache'?
Sulfur dioxide is used as an antibacterial agent against all kinds of bacteria and germs, which we do not want to develop in our wine, and also as an antioxidant that we are careful of throughout the life of the wine - from the end of the first (alcoholic) fermentation until the bottle is opened.
The advantage of this substance over pesticides is the fact that it is not a poison. But what? There is a price of a headache sometimes. It turns out that this price also causes a headache for the winery owner, and some try and even succeed in avoiding the bilsofite.
This is why I opened and wrote that the vast majority of wineries write that they contain 'sulfite' according to the standard. But there are a minority of wineries that try and even succeed in dealing with the problem, and produce one line of wine without sulfite at all.
But there is also a minority within the minority that does not use sulfite at all in all the wines in the factory. Not just in one line. The sulfite there is used solely for cleaning and disinfecting the equipment.
Without a bill.
This is the winery we are visiting this time.
In fact, this is a winery that in the past did not add sulfur at all, but today adds a little bit of bilsulfite.
This is 'Haro'eh Winery' - a boutique winery, whose name indicates its location and origin, the village of Haro'eh-Chivat Zion in the Hefer Valley (not far from Hadera).
The owner, Ehud, is essentially the entire winery: the winemaker, the assistant winemaker, the worker, the assistant worker, and the marketer. He is the man behind the brand, HaRo'a Winery.
Despite his diligence, Ehud is sometimes forced to enlist the help of friends, who are all Sabbath-keepers, of course. But everything is done by him and under his sole supervision - from picking the grapes to marketing the bottles. The winery is in the backyard of the house, and to get to the visitors' center you have to go through the house.
By the way, you can arrange breakfasts accompanied by wine tastings (meals based on Jacobs cheeses, breads from the local bakery, and winery wines).
The first harvest of the Ro'a Winery was in the 2010 harvest, in which a total of about five hundred kilograms of Merlot grapes were harvested from the village of Dalton in the Upper Galilee. There were no bottles left for sale from this harvest.
In the second harvest, 2011, the quantity had already doubled, and from this harvest too, unfortunately (and to the winery's delight), there were no bottles left for sale.
Both of these brews were made without bisulfite at all, except for sterilizing the equipment.
The Winemaker's Dilemma
The wine was indeed excellent, but due to the lack of sulfur during production, the wine needs to be stored twice as long in optimal conditions (about 17 degrees and a certain humidity), and as such, it has a shorter shelf life.
Now we understand the winemaker's consideration of what to prefer - a wine that can age and be kept for a long time or a wine without sulfur.
In consultation with wine and marketing professionals, Ehud decided to add a little sulfite in the following harvests, but only after fermentation and not when the grapes were picked. Fermentation is done by the natural wild yeasts of the vine, not by adding cultured yeast.
This has an advantage and a disadvantage: The disadvantage is the lack of supervision, control, and storage. The advantage: naturalness, freshness, and health.
In the 2012 vintage, barrels of Merlot and Cabernet were made from Dalton Vineyards and Petit Verdot from Kfar Shamai. From this vintage, a small number of bottles of Merlot remained for sale (65 shekels).
In the fourth harvest of the Ro'a Winery - the 2013 harvest - the grapes were harvested: Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Kfar Shamai, Merlot from the Dalton vineyard, and Syrah grapes from the Tel Fares vineyard.
The grapes were brought to the winery for the 'Kersher' separation and crushing machine, and immediately afterwards the entire pulp was transferred to fermentation with wild yeast, in small containers. At the end of the alcoholic fermentation, the entire wine was transferred to oak barrels for aging, for 8/9 months.
After barrel aging, the two wines were blended into a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Syrah and bottled. The Cabernet Sauvignon was bottled alone (varietal) without filtration.
The wine is well made, slightly cloudy in color (unfiltered), classic aromas of Syrah and Cabernet, balanced, slightly sharp flavors, gentle acidity, and a long, good aftertaste.
This vintage is also still available for purchase (89 NIS).
All of the winery's wines are fermented with the natural wild yeast found in the grape skins.
And this year's harvest
This year's harvest included Cabernet Sauvignon - Dishon Vineyard. Merlot and Marseillan - Dalton Vineyard. Shiraz and Petit Verdot - Shilo Vineyard.
They have just finished fermentation and pressing and are going into barrels for aging.
Tasting the young wines in the barrel shows that they have great potential with good acidity, which will help maintain long aging. Because of the time the wine was soaked in the grape skins, before pressing, the wine acquired good colors and flavors.
We'll wait and see.
In the next harvest, in the year of Shemitah, the winery will observe Shemitah in practice, and therefore no grapes will be harvested.
• Shraga Gebhard is a consultant in the professional and kosher field of wines.
