“To make this Shabbat a Delight”, consider a bottle of Gewurztraminer from Har Bracha Winery. For those of you lucky enough to be in South Florida, Nir Lavi, owner and winemaker of Har Bracha, will be visiting Kosher Wine Warehouse on February 29th. Check their website for details.
Gewurztraminer (pronounced ge-vurz-tra-me-ner) is a grape varietal popular in both Germany and France that does very well in the mountainous areas of Israel with its warm days and cool nights. It is very aromatic with the essence of floral and tropical fruit. The taste is “yummy”, with hints of lychee, apple, apricot, pear, and just a bit of spice. The wine is delicious and according to our Sephardic friend/cooking expert “Amit”, can best be enjoyed with a dish of “Spicy Oven Baked Moroccan Salmon”. Make sure to chill the wine as serving nice and cold preserves the aromatics.
The Har Bracha Winery is located in Samaria next to Mount Gerizim. It is one of the most beautiful spots in the country. Nir Lavi and his family moved to the area out of true passion and love for the land. They believe this to be the “cradle of winemaking civilization”. They began by growing grapes to sell to other wineries, but quickly discovered they could produce wine themselves. It is a family venture and they produce about 50,000 bottles a year.
The Lavie Family has been hard hit by the war. Their children are serving in the IDF, and Nir’s wife has been using the winery’s restaurant facilities to cook meals for the soldiers guarding their settlement. She started on Oct. 7th, and continues to this day. The winery is closed for visitors as they are using all their resources to just maintain production. No on-site wine sales, few restaurant and wine shop sales, and struggles with exports; Har Bracha could use our help.
This Shabbat, put a bottle of the Har Bracha Gewurztraminer on your Shabbat table. In doing so, we can share the “blessing” of wine while supporting our friends.
I ordered my wine through Kosher Wine Warehouse, free Shipping with a purchase of $99. Use the code ISRAELWINEGIRL for 10% off your entire purchase.
Israel Wine Girl 
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