S. Simon Jacob: 0:09

Welcome to the Kosher Terroir. I'm Simon Jacob, your host for this episode from Jerusalem. Today's episode of the Kosher Terroir is a conversation with a truly stellar human being, my good friend Ya kov Shuchatowitz. Yakov and his wife, Roberta, live life traveling back and forth between homes in Southern California and Jerusalem, israel. He invested some years ago in a successful winery located in Kibbutz Hanaton in northern Israel called Jezreel. In my quest here to introduce people living their dream within the Kosher wine world, Yakov is a passionate example. Being a semi-retired developer from outside LA, he has successfully turned his passion and wine into an active role in the Israeli wine industry. Join in our conversation discussing Jakov's journey to this point and his love of Israel and pride in the example Jezreel has set with a grape variety as it has developed. If you're in the midst of a commute, enjoy. If you're home, grab a glass of your favorite Kosher wine, sit back and relax. Welcome to the Kosher Terroir podcast. It's a pleasure to have you, jakov, really great.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 1:33

Pleasure to be here, pleasure always to be with you, simon.

S. Simon Jacob: 1:38

I love your hat and your shirt with Jezreel logo, Jezreel team on it Very cool. If I didn't know already, I know you're a partner in the Jezreel winery. I've seen you working the booths for the winery and the different wine shows In Israel. I think I saw you in London as well.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 2:06

We were in Florida, for sure, in Florida. London I haven't been to yet.

S. Simon Jacob: 2:10

Okay. Then I saw you in Florida and I also saw you in LA probably, for sure, in LA, okay. So you really have gotten around promoting the brand. Tell me a little bit about what this is.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 2:24

So we're going to make a le'Chayim here. We're going to taste two wines, one a little bit older, one just released. One is the Pet Nat 21 from Jezreel, the white Petnat, bringing you a 21 only because the 23 isn't ready yet and we made no wines in 22. I'm sure, shemitah, we had made Baruch Hashem for the first time, made no wines, and really, really proud of that.

S. Simon Jacob: 2:51

I saw everybody taking vacations, so I think they were thrilled with that.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 2:57

You know what it please God, it'll have its proper consequences, all in good time and in good ways.

S. Simon Jacob: 3:05

Super impact, right, okay, so this is the Pet Nat from 2021. Yeah, I don't know Boray Peri HaGafen, wow, this is really nice, like I said, a cloudy wine for a cloudy day it is. It's cloudy, which is one of the ways I love wine and this is actually really, really cool. It's really great. I tasted the first Petnat and that put me off Pet Nats, but this is this is certainly not that. It's. It's really nice, it's delicious. It's got acid and it's still hanging in there. It's nicely.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 3:49

It's still hanging in there nicely, it's still cloudy, but you know we started with Petnats. We started the first one with Dubuki grapes, which I don't like, kind of like Argamon, are a little bit fun to work with, Super challenging, Super challenging. But we actually the first, the first time we ever made the Pet Nat. We actually I was there we actually crushed him by hand. We were just doing small batches to play with it and we were literally crushing him in a little wooden vat, literally by hand.

S. Simon Jacob: 4:24

Wow.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 4:27

And it's kind of one of the things that Jezreel is very proud of. And then we started some trends in the Israeli wine industry that have carried over and then some you know, larger wineries have given us the compliment of continuing. You know, you see now Pet Nat's. So this was one of the first Petnats in Israel. On Petnats around in the culture world and we see just about every winery in Israel is making the Petnat, Similar to our Argamon, which we were, we were so fortunate to succeed with, and now, you know, so many wineries are making Argamon. It's a tremendous compliment because we wanted to get back to making Israeli wines and now a lot of wineries are doing that.

S. Simon Jacob: 5:17

No, baruch Hashem. It's awesome, it's really awesome. I remember, I remember, I think the second year of Argamon, or third year of Argamon the 14, the 2014, which was just spectacular was a great Argamon. It was just. I don't think anybody thought that Argamon could be like that. And now they're now they're really, they're quite a number of them.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 5:47

They're different and they're good, but there's a lot of variety in it now, and even purely single vineyard, single varietal.

S. Simon Jacob: 5:57

Argamons this. You know what? If the Pet Nat was like this the first time I tasted it, I would never have given them up.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 6:05

Well, that's kind of a rule Don't give up on. You know, if there are wines that are you know, many taste them. They may not be to your quality standards. I'm not saying to go back to those, but quality wines that maybe you just weren't in the mood for one day or weren't in their prime spot or the right temperature, or whatever it may be, or even with the right people or the right people.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 6:28

And it's kind of one of the thoughts I had when you asked me to do this today was to to kind of branch away from. I went back and I listened to every one of your sessions so far, which was an effort, but it was. It was really amazing. And then then you've had some fantastic interviews so far, but I think it you kind of focused on the different areas of what Terrawah is and I kind of want to be bold and crazy and say there's a fifth.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 7:00

I think you mentioned four previously, I think there's a fifth one that is has as much effect on the wine and on the ultimate enjoyment of the wine at the table, and that is the people.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 7:13

And that goes from the people in the vineyards, the people in the wineries, the people in the corporations that are handling the distributions, the local salesmen in the stores, to the individuals you're enjoying the wine with and the individuals who are purchasing the wines to enjoy. And they have an effect both forward and backwards on the wine industry and on the ultimate product, the ultimate wine but hopefully you're going to enjoy. And I think it's too too often, not God forbid, to put down how much effort goes in into the vineyards and in the vines and in the growing and in the production of wines. But to me, part of what attracted me to the industry besides passion for wine and passion for Israel was the characters Every winery you visit. I have yet to go to a winery that at least one member of the team was in a real character of some sort, and I mean that in a positive way, no, 100%.

S. Simon Jacob: 8:19

I think you're hitting upon a really important point, especially even if you listen across the podcasts. There isn't a podcast that doesn't have somebody on it. That's like that really. It's a pleasure to meet them, it's a pleasure to spend time with them.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 8:36

And even the ones that maybe I don't want to say this negatively, but even the ones that aren't such a pleasure. They're interesting. They bring a different dimension to the wine and the characters. You get to know wines when you visit the wineries by knowing the characters, and that changes your taste for that wine.

S. Simon Jacob: 8:56

It certainly changes your perspective on the wine as well.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 8:59

It does.

S. Simon Jacob: 8:59

It really does. It's funny when people tell me about a wine and it immediately brings to my mind the winemaker, where it is who I was with when I was. We were tasting the wines when we were visiting the winery. Yeah, it's really kind of crazy, one of the things that you mentioned. You listened to the other podcasts, one of them, the one we did you were there with me where we did wine tasting in Yatir, in the actual war there. Visitor center.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 9:37

Which, I have to say, is just beautiful.

S. Simon Jacob: 9:39

Anybody who?

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 9:39

can get, there is so beautiful and at Tinyakov we're such gracious hosts. It was really a special day.

S. Simon Jacob: 9:46

They were such gracious hosts that it was impossible. It was like hurting mice, it was unbelievable because everybody was so excited about tasting what they were tasting and they were in so many different conversations at the same time. To try to record that unless you mic everybody and mute them and then unmute them one at a time Almost an impossibility. So I've gotten some complaints that you know like I couldn't even follow. That you know like conversation, because I was there, I had a little bit of you know, some hints, some clues as to following it, but it was, that was a challenge. Before I do another wine tasting, you know podcast, I'm going to figure out how to control that a little bit better because it's otherwise it's almost un-comprehensible for the listeners, but it was okay.

S. Simon Jacob: 10:43

It was certainly a lot of fun to be there.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 10:46

It was a lot of fun and I apologize for my side comments in the background.

S. Simon Jacob: 10:51

No, that was great that they have a.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 10:52

It was everybody needed to be edited out.

S. Simon Jacob: 10:55

No, everybody had side comments, Everybody was participating. It was just great. It was a wonderful experience and they were really super hosts. They were really super hosts. How did you get into this? How did you get into wine? How did you get into yeah?

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 11:11

great questions, yeah, so I think the original impetus was kind of right. At the time I was here in Israel, going to Yashiva back in whatever was 1980, 1981, and fell in love with Israel and literally spent almost every Shabbos of that almost two years that I was here in a different place.

S. Simon Jacob: 11:36

Which Yashiva were you in?

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 11:37

It was called BMT Bay of Medici, lutotera, and we were privileged to have on staff there somebody with some very strong government connections. And literally he came to us and he said anywhere you want to spend a Shabbos, we'll arrange it. You want to go to an Air Force base, we'll arrange it. You want to go toyou'll be a guest with a general, I mean.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 11:58

And literally for a year and a half I went to every settlement and every kibbutz and everyliterally trying to spend more time, unfortunately or fortunately visiting, getting to know Israel in depth and then sitting and studying and learning. That being said, when I came back from that experience and I had this burning love of Israel, I was back in the States, back in Los Angeles, and I was involved in catering and Hashgah work, restaurants, a lot of Pesach programs, and it was really in the Pesach programs that started my drive to find good kosher wines, because back then there wasn't a lot, there was handfuls, and on every program I was working, somehow I became responsible for the wine closet and it seemed like whatever I brought the customers, they weren't happy.

S. Simon Jacob: 12:56

Wow.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 12:56

And I was like you know I'm strithis can't be right. I mean, we'reeven back then we were in a world of emerging kosher food and kosher cuisine and restaurants opening all over the place and there was just still no, very few. I mean, you know quality wines and I just started making it a. I knew nothing about wine really and I just made it my job not my financial job, because it was the opposite but I literally tried to buy every kosher wine that came to market and to try it and to get to know and just to taste the differences. And that's reallyI had never had any formal education in wine. It's always been.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 13:43

You know, the way I learned things is by doing, by getting jumping into it. Same way I learned the construction business. It was just jumping into it and learning how to do it from the inside and from others and learning from the industry, people, people who are experts, and since then I justI just literally whatever I could afford to buy it. But and I eventually built a seller in LA and now we're working on proper storage places here In Jerusalem and it's so rewarding in where the industry was and where it is now. It's just every day is a pleasure. Every day I walk into a store and I see new wine or new winery or a new product and it's like it's payback. Yeah.

S. Simon Jacob: 14:34

You know, what's amazing to me is that I see that I experienced that as well. There's a new wine. Every time I walk into a store, there's a new wine on a shelf that I've never seen before. Or somebody asked me about a wine and I've never seen it before, which is like wow. And not only that, there are a lot of winners.

S. Simon Jacob: 14:58

Amazing winners, amazing winners. There are some wines that you know. Obviously you know, in a large majority of wines you're gonna find wines that are mediocre, but out of the ones that I've been tasting, they've been getting better and better and better. There really are a lot of winners, so I'm super impressed. There is almost no winery that produces at least not one or two fantastic wines. I mean, some of the wines that they produce are, again, pedestrian, but of the others they're really. There's some incredible wines out of every single one of the wineries.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 15:45

Which again, it's a pleasure to go and see the wineries and see the newest stuff and also to see how the old stuff's doing. I mean, we just recently I hope you mentioned the 2014 Argamon. We just did a tasting a few weeks ago in. La of the Argamon and the Argamon, Cira and Caringon from the 2014 vintage and I'm not gonna say they have a lot of life in them left, but they're all still in great shape right now. They were delicious and 10 year old Israeli wine 10 years ago said you can't do it right, who would've thought right?

S. Simon Jacob: 16:20

It's really awesome. It's really awesome. So that was your start.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 16:25

That was my start, and then blessed with living in California, access to a lot of amazing California wines I heard so around the corner basically for me and the Weiss Brothers and Covenant, et cetera, et cetera, it's a venue. I mean, there's so many great California wines.

S. Simon Jacob: 16:44

So you seem. Though one of the things I've noticed with you is not only are the great California wines that you've tasted or tried, but you've built relationships with the winemakers in those places, like the Weiss Brothers from. Shura.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 17:00

Shura yeah, they're also. I mean they're right down. They moved to Ostarn, so when they were up in Santa Maria it was a little harder to visit them, but now in Ostarn I can get there as quickly as anywhere else in LA.

S. Simon Jacob: 17:13

Probably faster than getting downtown, but yeah, and they're just fun, guys.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 17:20

They're just always happy, they're always into it. They're always experimenting with something. That's what I love about them is that they're just experimenting with new varials. They always wanna just try something new, try something new, try something new, and most of them work.

S. Simon Jacob: 17:34

Right, yeah, they are. They're really amazing and, having being close to Oxnard, you're right next to Hurtak's main campus, which is a lot of fun to visit, and the restaurant is just fantastic. Actually, it's funny because what really grew them there was Todd Aaron and his cooking at the restaurant. He was just an incredible person. That was a big loss for us in New Jersey because he moved out from Jersey. He used to run a little restaurant in Springfield maybe it's where's the town, but he ran this restaurant called Moseca, which was just blew everything else out of the water and, to have something close by, it was five minutes from my house To have a real kosher restaurant, five minutes from my house, and he had a place you could store wine there. So I had, you know, a case or so of wine sitting in the restaurant so that I could grab it whenever I wanted to. So that was great.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 18:35

I remember meeting Todd when he first got to Los Angeles. Actually met him at a wine tasting for Hagafe with Ernie and sitting next to him and he was I don't know who he was at the time, but he had just got in that way and I'm talking to him and we're learning of each other's wine secrets et cetera. Then he told me what he's gonna be doing there. I said I can't wait.

S. Simon Jacob: 18:59

Since then the chef there has been amazing. And Todd moved here to Israel, originally at Crave, and then he was well, maybe not originally at Crave, but I think one of the earliest things he did was Crave, and then here in Israel at least, and then he went on to Bodega in Tel Aviv and I think he's now doing somebody told me he's doing something up north in the Golan, I think so that sounds Exciting to hear.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 19:29

It sounds really cool. I'll have to go find that one, yeah it sounds fun.

S. Simon Jacob: 19:34

So then, what connected you to Jezreel?

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 19:37

So I my business in LA was at a point where my kids were brought to the gym, basically doing everything except for occasional phone calls. But what do I do about this? What do I do about that? They were basically handling the day to day work and I wanted we were thinking about our future in Israel. We were working on hopefully having a apartment here which, well, shouldn't we now do and I wanted to spend more time in Israel but have actually something connecting me. Even before we had an apartment here, I wanted to have a physical, financial presence in Israel and for me it had to be wine. I mean, wine and Israel, just those are my two passions. So, besides my wife, of course, grandkids, et cetera, et cetera. But we decided that we wanted to invest in a winery and I really went looking. I went, I was like everything, it's beeshama. We went looking.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 20:41

My son and I, aaron, visited a whole bunch of different wineries all across the country here and I met Jacob and Yehuda, the two, yehuda and Ahar, jacob and Edavid, the two founders of Jezreel Winery, sat down and talked with them and it's kind of funny, but what attracted me most to them and to the winery was that all three of us were opposites, like each of us was coming from a different religious background or a different political background, different financial.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 21:18

Everything about us was different and yet we got along because we had this common passion for Israel and wine and it was always about those two things together and I just the timing was right. They were looking for investors, they were looking, they were doing crowdsourcing, they were trying to do whatever they could to get the place up and going. And Shedochman Hashemayim, we just stepped in and I've loved working with them ever since. Again, we're still very different than each. All three of us are so different than each other, as are many of our other investors and people involved, but it really, to me, is part of what we're trying to build in the wine is the commonality of all of Jews and the commonality of the love of wine and the love of Israel.

S. Simon Jacob: 22:11

Very cool. So what year was that? What year did you?

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 22:15

They started in 2012,. I came in in 2013. So, like the 2014 vintage was my first real baby and it was across the board. It was a great vintage. It was just such a pleasure. And then, right on the back of that, came 2015, the Shemitah year, and this was all really new. And how are we gonna do this? And okay, we're just gonna make less and blah, blah, blah, and still negotiating contracts with our, with our vendors or with our growers. So it was very difficult. But I sat down with the partners at that point in time and I said, look, we're asking for God's blessings here, we're asking to make the best Israeli wine in Israel. We gotta do it by what God gave us to do in Israel. And I said, by next Shemitah, I don't wanna be making any wine. And I got such positive responses from all of my partners that it was just so heartwarming and thank God. It's been a challenge, but it's been a good challenge.

S. Simon Jacob: 23:22

Do you have favorite bottles from Jezreel?

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 23:25

Really the single varietals, the carongon especially is probably my favorite. But you know, it really again depends on the mood, depends on what you're eating. I mean the sira is bold and spicy and just right in my wheelhouse, and then argaman is our proud baby. I mean there's nothing else to say about argaman, it's just, it's so beautiful. It's the color, the texture, the fruitiness. They're each unique. The blends we make are great and people love them, and the bushel ones are doing amazingly well now in some of the kosher restaurants in the States that are looking specifically for that, and I'm actually doing quite well in some not kosher restaurants as well. That's a whole different discussion, but to me it's the single varietals are really because they're so different and unique and they're so Israeli.

S. Simon Jacob: 24:19

So, as much as I support your you know, being a religious Jew, I totally support the Shemitah decision but I was just thinking about it. If you hadn't made that 2015 carongon, that was. That is one of my favorite bottles. I still have some, Really, and it's that was an awesome wine. Crazy awesome wine. Is there a favorite style that you have? Do you like whites? Do you like it sounds like you like fruit forward reds.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 24:54

You know I like I like all wines. I tend to drink more reds, primarily because my wife loves reds and is not in love with whites. For the most part, I think again, the curve of quality in whites is a longer term coming. Yeah, there's some amazing whites wines available now and those took a lot longer to come to the forefront than the reds. I think it's really more experience. There's been so many more reds to try over the years, thank God. Again, I'm loving the explosion of white wines now, especially here in Israel, the quality coming out of Israel. Some of the new wines are just spectacular Right.

S. Simon Jacob: 25:43

Really crazy, really wonderful. I've got an exposure to both. I have a question for you, because there's kind of a battle going on in the wine industry, especially the Israeli wine industry, where Israeli wineries, whether it's the winemakers or the marketing people or whoever they have, a desire to be put onto the shelves in liquor stores or wine stores all around the world as Israeli or Mediterranean classification, so that they'd be with other Middle Eastern wineries or Mediterranean wineries, like some of the Greek wineries, rather than in the kosher section. And then there's others who feel very strongly that it should be put in the kosher section and that's where they should be.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 26:44

I would say my feelings on that are more to the former and less to the latter. I would rather see them. If we're going to do a separate section, I'd rather see them in a separate Israel section than a kosher section, because, especially again, I mean if you're talking about kosher markets or kosher marketplaces, that's one discussion.

S. Simon Jacob: 27:09

If you're talking about total wines or liquor stores neighborhood liquor stores.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 27:15

There's much more of a. I've gone to a lot of them on sales calls and they love the idea of not maybe necessarily in Israeli section, because it may not be big enough to actually depending on their buyers and their clientele, but a Mediterranean section. And there's one. There's a liquor store that I'm thinking of right near my house in Los Angeles, that sweetheart gentleman from actually from Lebanon, a Christian from Lebanon, who runs the wine store and he's been a great friend. He's carried all of our wines. He carries us all of Herzog's wines, all of Royal's wines and he has a whole section of kosher wines.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 28:03

But when I approached him with setting up a Mediterranean section, he jumped at it because he loved to bring in Lebanese wines and they're very sympathica with Israeli wines. The same, like you mentioned, greek and I'm not impressed with it yet. But we have a first time on kosher Cypriot wine. I ain't got free. Soon we can bring to the base of mcgis. Yes, kind of crazy. Yeah, I think we got to work on the quality of that one still, but it's getting there.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 28:34

But this is and there's no reason there shouldn't be a Mediterranean section, because there's Mediterranean food wherever you go. I mean, the largest growing restaurants in the world are Israeli chefs making Mediterranean restaurants all over the world. And then, and not necessarily for the kosher market at all, and they're they're thriving. So I think there's a thirst for a Region, an area. It doesn't have to be one country or one city or one. We're not France, we don't need to be when we're we're ever own uniqueness. But I and there's, you know, been that push to to have separate regions of Israel et cetera, but I'm less excited about that. I think it's Honestly, almost every one here in Israel is Getting grapes or growing grapes in many different parts of the country. So I think there's there's something to be said for that. So I think more you know, israel's great, but I think even a Mediterranean in the, in the, in the secular community, does really well and it it is what we are about.

S. Simon Jacob: 29:45

Because you go back and forth between the United States and in Israel and travel quite a bit. Are the things that Israeli wineries could do better to sell themselves in the world?

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 29:57

I.

S. Simon Jacob: 29:58

Know you think that way about Jezreel.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 30:01

There's always more we could do as an individual winery, but so much of it is is involved the distributor, the importer exporter, the local distributors, in each market are different as well. Obviously, the best way for any winery to to Advertise or express their product is is direct right.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 30:29

Which is why, you know, getting people to the winery, getting people to the online spaces, to Social media content context of what your wine is all about is is, is is all empowering. But Everything else really has to be done as a partnership with the different, with the different levels of distribution. And and there's some tremendous partners out there Royal, you know, certainly has been a tremendous partner of Jezreel. They've been great to us. I Love I don't love everything they do or done, but we certainly have had, you know, minor disagreements but basically they have been a full-on partner from the beginning and really helped us along and we certainly have a lot of gratitude that in that department and their marketing team is is. You know, it's amazing they they're out there doing and then the wine shows and the trade productions and newspapers and magazines that they're they're in.

S. Simon Jacob: 31:24

Yeah, they're trying to build the skills. It impresses me because I've been at least one Specific internal Show that they ran just for their salespeople. That was a discussion on Bordeaux, and and they took them through. You know, this is what Bordeaux is. This is you know, this is what you should be looking for in the wines. This is what you should be doing, and I know they do that with Israeli wines, too, and others. So it's it's educating their own salesman is, you know, is a big job.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 32:03

It's. It's a trickle-down effect, because that salesman's then educating the salesman or the buyer in the local store. Yeah, and the consumer is also being educated by the staff in the stores and as well as wherever the tastings are being done.

S. Simon Jacob: 32:18

Actually in just real, in the winery, you've got a.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 32:21

You've been running some programs Thursday nights and Fridays we have. They have a good time up there. It's a More of a local crowd for the most part, but it's very busy, very exciting. We were able to bring in Wanted to bring in a restaurant for many years and we couldn't get the permitting Really. And so somebody said, hey, bring in a food truck, you can get a permit overnight. So we did and it's. You know, it's grown into two trucks or whatever now, but basically there's, we're able to get a scuff on it now and it's, it's really, it's a pleasure. You go up there and it's it's. It's all dairy, but it's, it's good. We have a chef on site who's who's making delicious dairy foods and Just stuff that goes well with Mediterranean wine.

S. Simon Jacob: 33:11

Yeah, I found it with the aqua warriors orange wines, but a lot of the whites and a lot of the, even some of the more acidic rosé's. They really meant for food, especially Flavorful food, which is where Israel is really on the map now. It's gotten more and more and more into crazy delicious foods. Pairing them with Wines Can just totally expand that, that experience in such a nice, nice and delightful way. I mean we've, we've actually We've actually gone out a few times together with the Friedenbergs, the Stacy and Dory, and we're always there are always a few bottles of wine that come with us and that and that experience between friends and really exceptional wines and Very flavorful and fun food has been a just an incredible experience for us.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 34:25

Like we're us, and it's been an honor to be with you and the brother, so often, it's a pleasure.

S. Simon Jacob: 34:31

It's a pleasure. I really want to taste the white, the red.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 34:34

Okay, yes, let's do that.

S. Simon Jacob: 34:37

Thank you. Thank you, tell me about this red, because this is really special.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 34:42

I've never seen this before so this is a Private label small batch wine that was made by our main winemaker yes, he Hachmon. He named it Bay three moan, which is where he lives that's the moshad that he lives on in the north, near the winery and it actually came from some, some new vineyards not new vineyards, but new vineyards to us that we have, we got a hold of about three years ago, which has both Cera and Capronet growing in it. This is just northeast of no, this is, oh, northeast of the canary at. This is a wow. It's actually a beautiful vineyard. It's a gorgeous view, sights, and, literally, from the vineyard you can see our hermoan across across the valley and you can see down through canary as well. It's just a beautiful sight, and so I believe that's where these grapes are coming from and we're gonna taste this for the first time. He just he just gave me these two bottles and I have not yet tasted it, so L'chaim.

S. Simon Jacob: 35:52

L'chaim Burruchatara nailahinum ealakolam hatova hamitid. Oh man, Wow, this is really lovely.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 36:11

That strong Cera has so much. This is gonna. It's gonna need a year or two, but no, no, but you know what the oak is.

S. Simon Jacob: 36:21

The oak is there for sure, and it's gonna need some time to settle, but the thing that's impressing me is how incredibly balanced this is. It's. It goes right across your whole palette. It's got it. It's got a long finish on it. It's really lovely, great, great wine.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 36:40

This is um One of the you know, small stories of many of the wineries that have let their wine makers sort of do their own thing on the side. You know mentioned the Friedenberg. So what Donnie's done on the side with his, with his, his light reds so I like to call them are just amazing. I mean his granache, I'm just in love with it.

S. Simon Jacob: 37:04

Me too. That's my favorite of the his wand.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 37:07

Um, but, but really each, each winery. You know, I can make up so many wineries where the wine makers make his own wines and it's it's. It adds to the winery, it doesn't take away from it. Like I said, I wanted to bring something you hadn't tasted before and this is definitely great without anything new from from last year. We had to have to come up with something new. This year's wines aren't ready yet, but yeah, they're, they're getting there. They're getting there quick.

S. Simon Jacob: 37:34

This is, this is really, this is what which year is the 2020. This is a 2020 Wow.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 37:40

It's a 2020, but with a lot, of, a lot of aging in barrels. So it Because that he, just he, just like I, just this first time I saw that, so it's a couple weeks ago.

S. Simon Jacob: 37:50

You know, I learned an interesting thing from Amihae Gloria, that if you ferment an oak, you don't get oak in the wine. You get the structure from the oak but you don't get the flavor of oak in the wine. And it blew my mind, to be honest, and he and he proved it to me, showed me and we taste it and it's really interesting. There's so many nuances in making wine. There's so many things that you can do and taste and see and it's I'm really enjoying speaking to all of these people, it's just your, your, your.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 38:33

I can't wait to go visit Amihae after your podcast with him, because the place sounds amazing. I mean just just gorgeous, just from your descriptions and well, no, it's, it's a.

S. Simon Jacob: 38:43

It's a work in progress, for sure, but it's going to be Truly awesome to. It's gonna be truly awesome to be there, and there's so many wineries that had interesting places before, like Pesagot that now has a really incredibly beautiful Visitor Center wedding.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 39:04

Yeah, it's, it's a total wedding venue.

S. Simon Jacob: 39:07

It's a total wedding venue now. I mean, I think most of the people who visit Pesagot are visiting because of weddings, but it's beautiful and, and you know, you've got places like Castel that are just well crazy, crazy, crazy beautiful and he, ellie Benzacaine and his family take so much pride and that place. You know you could. You could eat off the floor In the barrel room, which is like crazy.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 39:39

You can eat off the floor in the production right You're 100% right.

S. Simon Jacob: 39:44

You're 100% right, and actually even now with the acavauria and pinto down south there. Their, their winery is also a total work in progress, but it's got the structure to be something awesome well, we witnessed firsthand the, the head of the company, and they're cleaning the drains right, that was like. Yeah, that was.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 40:10

What's what deer is going into that?

S. Simon Jacob: 40:11

It's gonna be amazing when it's finished. It's just, it's really awesome.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 40:15

The fact that it's not finished and they don't even have full power yet and they're still producing wine already and they're maintaining. It is just.

S. Simon Jacob: 40:25

Adam Miller took a beautiful picture of the of the Vineyards that we're gonna put up on the wall in the Up in the visitor center. There's a huge wall that has windows out the back and when you look out the windows you see the desert and and you can't even imagine seeing the winery, because the winery is in the middle of the desert as well, the vineyard is in the middle of the desert as well, but he took a beautiful picture that is just all Desert in the background, with this incredible wine, incredible vineyard growing right in front of you. It's just awesome.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 41:04

So I'm I'm hoping that gets if it's anything as beautiful as his other photographs. He's, he's crazy, he's, he does unbelievable unbelievable images.

S. Simon Jacob: 41:15

That was yeah, that wasn't. That was a fun thing to do.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 41:19

Listen, I just want to. I Want to share my passion. I love wine, I drink it every day. I I want. I think it benefits the soul, benefits Every part of our lives. Like I said, I you know I couldn't talk on the microphone without having a glass of wine, because I'm a quiet, shy person until I have a little bit of wine.

S. Simon Jacob: 41:50

But if you invite somebody to the dinner, I strongly, I strongly recommend you take Yaakov up on it, because he's amazing. He's an amazing host, but also an amazing he and his he and his wife are awesome dinner companions.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 42:07

Oh, thank you. Thank you, pleasure. We look forward to the next one.

S. Simon Jacob: 42:10

Yeah, I look forward tonight, tomorrow no yeah, absolutely. Well, tonight is, you say, rebo. Actually you say Rebo's got a concert here next door.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 42:19

So you gotta get out of the house. I don't have to get out of the house.

S. Simon Jacob: 42:23

I'm. That's a concert I want to go to, especially during sleep hold week, because this week is we're on the edge of Rosh Hashanah soon. This, this Friday night, is Rosh Hashanah and Yishai Rebo In his concerts sings a whole big thing of Svartis Lichot, so it's gonna be crazy awesome.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 42:48

Remember last year walking by and not being at the concert but just listening to it from up here in Yiminu Oshet. It was just, it was spectacular yeah he's, he was in.

S. Simon Jacob: 42:57

He was in New York, in Madison Square Garden, and and One of the things he did which was just crazy to me was he he needed a glass of water. So he said a bracha Shackle, shackle the Edmonds Varro on a glass of water and I think like 14,000 people said I'm in and and that was just. You know, in a time when there's so so much stuff going on between people and different opinions on stuff, it's it was awesome to see everybody united in that in that way well, two things that bring people together Music and wine.

S. Simon Jacob: 43:43

Yes, that's true, I'm very cool, very cool, thank you. Thank you for being here, simon.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 43:49

Thank you for having me and thank you for doing this podcast series podcast because you're teaching the whole world and All of I please God.

S. Simon Jacob: 44:02

Thank you so much and I look forward to visiting up in in the winery in Israel. I've been there a couple times, but I look forward to visiting, especially when you're there. The last few times, the last times I've been there, you haven't been, but it's, but that's.

Yakov Shuchatowitz: 44:18

You know, yeah, I'm driving together. Just tell me when you want to go. I look forward.

S. Simon Jacob: 44:21

All right. Thank you for listening to this episode of the kosher terwa. If you're new, check out some of our previous episodes. The kosher terwa is published weekly and available on all major podcast providers, including Apple, google and Spotify. Please tune in again for more of the kosher terwa.