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canic activity and lava flows. Wind
blown sediment deposits help create
the loess based and alluvial sand soils
of the Negev area.
Wine regions
Yarden wine from Israel’s vineyards on
Mount Hermon
Israeli wine is produced in five
regions: Galilee (which includes the
sub-regions of the Golan Heights, Up-
per Galilee and Lower Galilee); the
Judean Hills, surrounding the city of
Jerusalem; the Samson region, locat-
ed between the Judean Hills and the
Coastal Plain; the Negev desert re-
gion; and the Shomron region, which
includes the Sharon plain located
near the Mediterranean coast and just
south of Haifa. As of 2012, Israel has
50,000 dunams of vineyards. More
than 80% of the vineyards planted
in Israel are located in the Shomron,
Samson and Galilee regions.
The Golan contains some of the
highest elevated vineyards in Israeli-
controlled territory,
with vine-
yard planted upwards of 4,000
feet (1,200 meters) from the Sea of
Galilee towards Mount Hermon.
There are seven Israeli wineries in the
Golan Heights that cultivate a total of
1,600 acres (647 ha). These include
four boutiques, and Chateau Golan,
Bazelet Hagolan, and the Golan
Heights Winery whose Yarden,
Gamla, and Golan labels enjoy inter-
national renown.
The Golan Heights, occupied by
Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967,
are located northeast of Israel proper,
though Israel considers it a sub-region
of the Galilee. The political status of
the Golan Heights has resulted in
controversy on the export market. In
one example, following domestic
demand for kosher wine, a num-
ber of Golan Heights wines were
marketed by Systembolaget,
Sweden’s state-owned
monopoly alcohol retailer,
as “Made in Israel” on shelves
and in the sales catalogue. Following
customer complaints and consultation
with Sweden’s foreign ministry,
Systembolaget changed the
shelf label-
ling to read,
“Made in Is-
raeli-occupied
Syrian territo-
ries.” However
this prompted
further com-
plaints,
from some
customers
and a
Member
of Parlia-
ment.
System-
bolaget’s
solution
was to
simply
remove all
reference
to the
product’s
country of
origin on shelves and in
catalogues, classifying the
wine as of “other origins.” The
actual bottles remained un-
changed throughout the contro-
versy, and carried the producer’s
English-language labels.
Grape varieties
Cabernet Sauvignon
During centuries of Islamic rule, alco-
hol production was banned as part
of the Islamic dietary laws. Ancient
Israeli vineyards were uprooted along
with any indigenous grape varieties.
Today, the wine industry produces pri-
marily French grape varieties imported
during the late 19th century. The
most widely planted varieties include
Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay,
Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. Emerg-
ing varieties that have recently been
increasing in popularity include Cab-
ernet Franc, Gewurztraminer, Muscat
Canelli, Riesling and Syrah. Other
varieties planted to some significant
degree include Emerald Riesling,
Muscat of Alexandria and the cross-