S. Simon Jacob: 0:09

Welcome to The Kosher Terroir. I'm Simon Jacob, your host for this episode. From Jerusalem, from the hills of Beit El, where Jacob dreamed, Trained in agriculture at UC Davis, but rooted deeply in the ancient terroir of the Judean hills, Hillel has built a winery that is both a modern boutique producer and a living bridge to the biblical past. a boutique winery, turning ancient terroir into world-class kosher wines. It's here, on Today, his rows of Cabernet, Merlot, and Carignan vines are nourished by the same sun and soil that sustained generations before him. Steeped in history and prophecy, Hillel Manne and his family have been quietly crafting wines of rare elegance and soul. We'll talk to the visionaries behind the label, explore the marriage of faith and fermentation, and taste the wines that carry the story of this place in every glass.

S. Simon Jacob: 1:19

If you're driving in your car, please focus on the road ahead. If you're relaxing at home, please open a bottle of great kosher wine. Sit back, relax, as this story about Beit El is not just about a winery. It's a testament to how land, history and human devotion can merge into something truly timeless. My name is Hillel Manne, okay, beseder. And this this is Nina.

S. Simon Jacob: 1:48

Nina Pleasure. Okay, so the questions I have is I want to know a little bit about your history and you know why you made Aliyah and your path to actually making wine.

Hillel Manne: 2:10

I always sort of wanted to move to Israel. There used to be this thing with you come and go to an opan, and it wasn't. There weren't so many yeshiva programs when we were young, when I was young, when I was young anyways, and the in 77 I I did an opan in nekipot, zain sohim, and and it was great, I had a great time and I then I came back to america and wanted to learn all about cotton because I had to do a bachelor's degree from my parents, right, and so that was so. Then I came back and, inshallah, I ended up working in the vineyard in 96, when I moved to Beit El, the obvious, or the, what appeared to me then was appropriate agricultural activity was grapes here in this area.

S. Simon Jacob: 3:10

Was there a family impact from your journey?

Hillel Manne: 3:14

My parents weren't very happy about us moving to Israel, but me and my brother moved to Israel and we had kids and they enjoyed the grandchildren. My sister stayed in New York and doesn't have children.

S. Simon Jacob: 3:28

So you have grandchildren and grandchildren here.

Hillel Manne: 3:33

Me now. My parents are nifter Okay, but no you now? Yeah, I have, I have. Yeah, you know my granddaughter gotten get my oldest granddaughter got get granddaughter got married a couple weeks ago.

S. Simon Jacob: 3:47

That's something I'm still waiting for.

Hillel Manne: 3:49

None of my grandchildren are married, so I have no great-grandchildren yet I've got a grandson, who's an officer, and he's got the kids, he's finishing up the basic training with them and they're ready to go in the next couple of weeks. Wow.

S. Simon Jacob: 4:06

So this is my number two son, and his eldest is in Givati, so Baruch Hashem. Okay, what inspired you to choose Betel as a site for planting grapes and to be here?

Hillel Manne: 4:23

I chose to live here, okay, and I chose to live here because it was a settlement but with all the services. Before we lived in Petah Tikva. You want to take the kids to the swimming pool? When they're separate swimming, right, yeah, okay. Pool when they're separate, swimming, right, yeah, okay. And and the you know, and there was, like you know, from, uh, seven o'clock at night till 11 o'clock at night, and you know, and I mean there wasn't anything available and here was, everything was available. You know, there was schools had a good reputation, the there was, there's clinics here, there's whatever you need. It was a family-oriented decision. And then, when I got here, I wanted to do something in agriculture and I looked around and, because of the poor land and the topography, it's making wine. But I had a terrible business plan. I wanted to make simple grape juice and wines and sell it to my neighbors. That was a terrible mistake. Never try and make money off of your neighbors.

Hillel Manne: 5:39

You got that right away. It took me a number of years to pick that up.

S. Simon Jacob: 5:42

It took me a number of years too. Ein chacham kabbal, that's what I tell my wife. Can you describe the journey from your first vines to today's?

Hillel Manne: 5:51

production. The first step is that I planted Karan Yan because I wanted these simple wines, right? Wow, and it turned out to be my Karan Yan. I don't know whether you know my wines, but my Carignan is very popular, as it turns out. Now, my take on it from my experience is that people, they don't have the self-confidence when it comes to wine, so their decisions are kind of you've second guess them. Okay, but they like something very smooth and they don't necessarily like the big tannic. Uh, cabernet, that right, but they still. All they know is they come in the store and say give me my cabernet, right yeah so here it's.

Hillel Manne: 6:37

You know a lot of my wines, also the merlot, in israel, but also in the english-speaking world that has a very bad rap as a wine. I made two pallets of it, say for argument's sake, okay, and just sat there and nobody was tasting it for like two years. Right, because you know nobody.

Hillel Manne: 6:56

And then, somebody came in and tasted it and made a lot of noise about it. Now it's something, my Merlot from Forte Poix. It's a good wine. It's very concentrated, very sophisticated wine. But I'm just saying that those were sort of things that happened on the way. And then the big thing in the last few years is that I have two sons, his son Meir, and Shalom David, who work with me in the winery and they've really A. They brought it to a different level and they're always trying something. I don't know whether we've got it still. We make Cochon de Pesach brandy, we make white wine rosé, all sorts of interesting things are happening and they're really very effective. Isad Mir is very effective in marketing. Nina is also very effective in marketing. Everybody knows that and Isad Mir is very effective in marketing. Nina is also very effective in marketing. Everybody knows that, and Isad Mir is very effective in marketing. And Shalom David is very organized. He studied it in Ariel in Shifi Joy's program, and he comes in with a little bit more organization than I have.

Itzik Stern: 8:05

My favorite thing about your Merlot is the anecdote that comes with it. Mr O'Meara told me a million times that people taste it and it's called Merlot Tapuac. He says people taste it and they try to be the aficionados and they taste it and they go. I'm really getting that apple, I'm getting that tapuac in there. And he just says you're right, there's some tapuach in there, come on, guys. But he goes along with it and it makes people feel like they know exactly what they're talking about.

Hillel Manne: 8:28

Yeah, that's. That's the difference between me and marketing. Okay, is he's nice, I'm not nice.

S. Simon Jacob: 8:35

He'll learn what were some of the early biggest challenges that you faced at the very beginning. I promise there's going to be questions about the wine too, but I'm asking.

Hillel Manne: 8:47

No, I don't. You know what's a challenge. A challenge is what's in your head, right?

S. Simon Jacob: 8:53

A hundred percent it's all about what you.

Hillel Manne: 8:56

If there was something that I'd really like to change, it would be the politicians. What do you call them? Bureaucrats, stuff like that, but it would be the politicians.

S. Simon Jacob: 9:13

What do you call the bureaucrats? Stuff like that, but but but that's not happening. That's part of nature, newton, and whatever. Okay, gravity, whatever. Are there biblical or spiritual roots that, uh, shape your approach to winemaking?

Hillel Manne: 9:22

no, not to the winemaking okay, I make wine, make wine, that usually the process is that I'm making something that I like, okay, okay, and then I have to go and find somebody to sell it to, okay.

S. Simon Jacob: 9:38

I mean first You're very pragmatic. I love it. I totally love it.

Hillel Manne: 9:42

No, no, no. I love it because you think like I think, no, no, no. Let me rephrase that Go ahead and then I make wine that I like, yes, and me and my family drink as much as we can, and what's left over we sell. Okay, so that's clear. It's about a hedonistic experience. Okay, we're having a good time here. Okay, the question is about the Bible. Okay, when somebody buys wine, they don't just want wine and their fish, they want a story about it, and so we've got the biggest story in the world. I mean, you know it's here. It's part of the experience when people come here to visit and everybody's invited to make an appointment before you come. But everybody, you know, we've got the vineyards here and we've got the history and we've got archaeology and we've got all sorts of interesting things. It's part of the experience, part of the story.

S. Simon Jacob: 10:43

Yep, let's talk about more technical wine things. It's part of the experience, part of the story. Yeah, let's talk about more technical wine things. The Terra Rosa soils here are unique. How do they express themselves in your wine?

Hillel Manne: 10:56

Look, everybody likes this deal about terroir. I understand it's part of your thing, okay.

S. Simon Jacob: 11:00

Yes.

Hillel Manne: 11:03

But why is everybody on it? Because it's the only thing only they have. Okay, right. But everybody also has something else that they're forgetting about. Okay, it's about the, the people growing the grapes and people growing the wine. What their, what their motivation is, okay. Okay, there are people who want I, I mean I'm fortunate, I mean I buy grapes out, but most of the grapes I grow, I'm a farmer, that's my. I make grapes and then try not to ruin them in the winery, and then everything's good, okay. And the point about terroir is the question is it's something of a talking point, but everything fits together. But you know you aren't getting anywhere unless you decide where you're going to first, right, and so you have to say what I want to do. Okay, and the terroir is part of that puzzle, but it's not. You know, everybody comes into the store and they say how many months was it in a barrel? Right, they didn't ask what barrel, they didn't ask how many kilo per? Do you know how the crop yield? They didn't talk, did you?

S. Simon Jacob: 12:19

do? I'm going to ask you those questions, but no, I'm not. No, no, no, no, no.

Hillel Manne: 12:27

I'm just saying that people talk about talking points so that they have something to talk about, right and and and that's great.

Itzik Stern: 12:33

Okay, nothing wrong, but it's you have to, but it's not the most relevant points, no, it's part of the puzzle.

Hillel Manne: 12:41

everything's part of the puzzle, but I will will tell you something about the altitude here being 850, where you're sitting, 870 meters above sea level. It gives us an advantage is that in the evenings it's cool, and why is that important?

S. Simon Jacob: 12:59

You've already discussed that. No, no, no, go ahead, tell me Okay.

Hillel Manne: 13:03

But everybody talks about this but plants don't respire. Plants respire by temperature. Okay, it's not like you take a high schooler, undergraduate, right, and he respires according to the beers in the room and the music and whatever right and playing basketball, whatever it is right. And plants it's a function of the temperature and at night, when the temperature goes down, they don't respire.

S. Simon Jacob: 13:36

They respire much less okay.

Hillel Manne: 13:40

And so that's great, because during the day they're doing photosynthesis, they're going forward In a lot of places. It's hot at night and they're respiring like nobody's business and they're taking a step back. So it's a matter of how much forward. Everything's about the photosynthesis and the biochemistry that's going on there. That's what makes the grapes.

S. Simon Jacob: 14:08

But it's also what you were speaking about. With regard to the winemaker. That's the reason why my podcast is called the Kosher Terroir, and I take a lot of flack for that, because people say there is no such thing as a kosher terroir. I take a lot of flack for that, because people say there is no such thing as a kosher tewa. And my feeling is that the winemaker and his process and what he does is an integral part of the wine and because of that it's as much a part of the environment around it. He's an integral part. The process of what you're doing is place a part in the story of the wine. So that's the reason why I even use the name the kosher terroir, and I do take a lot of heat from that, from you know it doesn't matter.

Hillel Manne: 14:58

If you do something, you'll get heat. Yeah, I know, that's easy.

S. Simon Jacob: 15:02

Okay.

Hillel Manne: 15:02

If you don't do anything, then it's cool, everybody likes you, okay.

S. Simon Jacob: 15:08

Yeah, go ahead. Okay, is your philosophy minimal intervention or maximal intervention?

Hillel Manne: 15:23

In the field. There's a lot of intervention, and that's how I get good grapes okay.

Hillel Manne: 15:30

Okay now, why is that? First of all, I see success. I see higher phenolics. When you do the leaf plucking and you get the berries out in the sun, it's like anything else. You get the morphinols. It's like somebody gets darker after a suntan they get the morphinols. That makes the wine. The wine's not only the color better, but the taste and the whole experience is better. Also, you look at a lot of things that are going on in the fermentation. You know, and that's the yeast, and it's not only the yeast, it's what they're eating. You know, they're eating something really neat, so they're having a good time too, and as a result, you get a lot of yeast fermentation byproducts that are good because of what you did in the field. But the question about intervention is yes, I'm into, and one of the things in France is it's against the law to fertilize. Yes, it's against the law to water, anything To feed on water?

Hillel Manne: 16:44

To water In most cases.

Hillel Manne: 16:48

In most cases, in the most especially in the high-end cases, and the deal there is is is no. Follow the plant, see, you know how it's developing, whether it needs more water or not less water. I'm the one in control. I don't want it to do whatever it wants. I've got a specific game plan for the grapes. Okay, we do petiole analysis to know how to fertilize. We follow up on it. It's part of the game plan, the hand work. But look, usually the grower is one person and the winery is another person.

Hillel Manne: 17:32

That's why it's interesting with you that you're the same person, Okay that's traditional in France. It's not like I invented anything, but the difference is when the grower is growing, he's getting paid by the acre, he's getting paid by the ten, by the yield, by the ton, whatever it is right. And the winery has to make wine with what, and they try and influence how he works right. So they aren't working at At odds. At odds, okay, at odds is good enough. You're saying they don't have they're not working in unison.

Itzik Stern: 18:11

They don't have the same incentives.

Hillel Manne: 18:13

Yeah, they don't have the same goal. They aren't headed for the same point. The grower at the end of the season, he just wants to pick the grapes and go fishing right. The end of the season, he just wants to pick the grapes and go fishing right. Right, give me another couple weeks. I get more mature grapes. I get more. You know, people complain about the high alcohol. I happen to like the high alcohol if you don't want, you know, and the truth is that people, you know, when they're tasting wine, they complain about the higher alcohol only after they read the label, not when they taste it Not before they taste it.

Hillel Manne: 18:47

And I mean because it's only not only about you know what it does to your you know, once it gets into your blood system it's got a lot of the mouthfeel, whatever you call it, and the you know how much mouthfeel you're getting there.

Hillel Manne: 19:06

It's important it has a big impact there, but also the color changes. The color gets more developed, the tannins soften up, the pH maybe comes into balance. Right, that's what I'm looking at when I'm picking. Is the right fruit, is what I'm looking at Other people, you know they don't necessarily have that luxury.

S. Simon Jacob: 19:28

So normally I would ask where's wine made? In the vineyard or in the winery?

Hillel Manne: 19:37

In the vineyard. Okay, if you bring good wine to the vineyard, you can make good wine. Yeah, but not necessarily you could screw it up. I've done it. Yeah, the if you, if you had anything you do is is about the raw material. Okay, yeah, right, you know I get all sorts of people and try and ask and make my appropriate right. But I mean, like a teacher comes in, said, it's about the raw material. I mean, if you get a student, that's, you know, not the sharpest kid, can you make a genius out of him? No, no, you can give him opportunities according to his capacity. It's about raw material.

Hillel Manne: 20:20

Okay, but you can't screw it up in the winery. If you screw up in the winery, if you screw up in the winery, it's not Well, we can distill it still. That's true Now that you have?

S. Simon Jacob: 20:34

Yeah, that's true.

Hillel Manne: 20:35

Now that I've got that in line, we've got a solution. Yeah, no, there were wines that we sold in one way or another because we didn't want it involved in our brand. Fancy wineries often have that. They have their grand fin and then they've got another label that they can put the less successful wine out.

S. Simon Jacob: 20:56

Or they can sell it to another winery to do what they want.

Hillel Manne: 20:59

It depends on the setup, but that's an advantage. Obviously, I won't't. I almost did it, but I won't talk about another winery in israel.

S. Simon Jacob: 21:10

But I want you to know something I edit everything. So even if there's something that you do say, you can always say hey, please don't leave that in the podcast, I edit everything, okay? So I'm just telling you. You'll know from the next question.

Hillel Manne: 21:25

There is a winery here in Israel that's got a tremendous advantage that they send it to their mother winery if they aren't happy about it. Right, they've got a very competent winemaker and he does whatever he can to make a good wine, and the wine that he added up to his standard or to the marketing standard they said, okay, we don't need. You know, that's an opportunity that you often have a sophisticated consumer, right, he can get the rejects. Why was it rejected? Maybe it was just rejected because the marketing department says I don't need that much reserve and so it'll get bottled.

Hillel Manne: 22:06

That happens sometimes, yeah, so it gets bottled and sold at a lower price point, right.

S. Simon Jacob: 22:10

In Betel. How do you balance tradition and innovation in the vineyard and in the solar techniques?

Hillel Manne: 22:21

Look, let me say it this way, we balance learning as much as we can. Okay, yeah, what gives good results, we work on that. Okay, there's no secret. It's look in the halacha world, I've got my rules right. Yeah, one makers, I don't have any rules. Okay, but this is a critical thing to understand.

Hillel Manne: 22:48

Is that we talked about France a minute ago? I was talking to a Frenchman. Okay, I was actually. It doesn't matter what I was interested in, okay, and I taste non-kosher wines. If I think there's something to learn, you know I taste and spit okay.

Hillel Manne: 23:03

The point is that I was talking to this winemaker, tasted the wine and I wasn't really impressed and said I, you know, it needs a little bit more. You know power in it, some, whatever you call it, I want to call it, and he does this sort of. I mean, our communication was very poor. I know a few words in French. It was and, and, and I said maybe you could plant some Cabernet, put some more Cabernet Sauvignon into this plant. He says here, in this location, I cannot plant Cabernet Sauvignon. Okay, and I'm aware of the law. So I understood the issue and I said how about Malbec? And he said no, and then, in a minute of candidacy. He says what I can do is I can order from the nursery Cabernet and ask them to write on the bill of lading Merlot. But that just gets back to what we think about politicians.

Hillel Manne: 24:05

We don't have anything special in Israel. They're all there to get around it, work around them. In France there's good research. Okay, there is research. They've got lots of money for research. Okay. In Israel there's a much smaller budget for research. Okay, but in France they do what their grandfather did. Okay, but in France they do what their grandfather did.

Hillel Manne: 24:36

And in Israel, everybody's interest, we go. It doesn't matter whether it's the Department of Agriculture or whether it's Kamal Mizrahi or whoever puts it together, or Shivi. There are great seminars where people come and you get, and people are talking about things. It doesn't have to be their concept that you go home with, but you hear something, you think about it, you think about what you're doing and we're learning all the time. It's a changing thing, but it's not only about me. That's changing. The market's changing the market. 20 years ago, 30 years ago, there wasn't anything to drink and people said I don't like wine. Right, it was, you know. And then, as wines came onto the store and people started having the opportunity, having a little bit more money, so they were buying higher quality wines. So it's also about me. They've been choosing my wines as well no, you're, you're 100.

S. Simon Jacob: 25:35

Right, let's talk a little bit about them. What are, what are, the wines that you offer today?

Hillel Manne: 25:44

listen, this is about the marketing department. It's not me, okay, but I'll tell you what I heard over there. It's going on over there, okay, okay, okay, in order to make, besides the brandy and the rosé and the white wine, the real wine, the red wine, right is in three different tiers. Okay, there's the Sulam Yaakov, yeah, and Jacob's Ladder, jacob's Ladder, and we've got Cabernet in that, we've got Marcellin in that Cabernet Franc, and Carignan's in that, Okay so that's maybe at least four wines we've got in that tier.

Hillel Manne: 26:32

In the second tier is the Single varietals or blend. They're labeled as single varietals, okay, sometimes it's a little blend.

S. Simon Jacob: 26:43

Is that what you're saying? Yeah, okay.

Hillel Manne: 26:50

Look the issue with is if I, according to law, I don't have to state more than 25% or less Less than 25%, I can put in and not state on the label. It depends on the country and it depends on.

Itzik Stern: 27:05

It's 15, I think right.

Hillel Manne: 27:08

Let's Whatever. Look, I'm not good with following any laws, okay, but the issue here is I have blends, okay, I have in the Revelation. Now what we're releasing is a Cabernet and a blend and you know people get talking about and it gets them confused. I like my Cabernet, I like the blend, and if you get Don't look at the label. Exactly, exactly. Don't look at the no wine. Yeah, that's why.

S. Simon Jacob: 27:40

Flum produced the white label In order to. They produced the white label on the new wine that they introduced and they said they're tired of people looking at the label and telling them what they think about the wine. Did you drink it? Drink it. If you like it, you like it. If you don't like it, fine, I don't care, just drink it.

Hillel Manne: 28:01

No, this is Look, where's the issue here? The consumer doesn't have the self-confidence, because if I'm having a conversation with you, I don't want to embarrass myself by saying something really stupid, okay, wildly stupid. You know, I can get away with. People have this feeling that they brought this bottle of wine to their girlfriend, to their father-in-law, to somebody from the army, whatever it is, and they want to make a good impression. They went out and bought a good bottle of wine. They don't want to go through all that process and then be embarrassed by the guy saying it's not a good bottle of wine, right? So he first of all checks out what the critics wrote about it, okay, and then, whether he likes it or not, it's a good bottle of wine. The critics said it was a good bottle of wine. Whether they're having any fun or not, they they right, they they.

Hillel Manne: 28:51

It doesn't come across. I'll give you the opposite example. I always say that about chocolate. Nobody writes. There's no chocolate critics, right? You? I could choose my own chocolate. I don't need anybody to tell me what chocolate it is right. I told that. I've been telling that for a number of years. And finally there was somebody from Belgium and they said of course there are people who write about chocolate.

Hillel Manne: 29:15

But, I mean you know, the concept is not everything. You go out and read what a critic says and on the basis of that, you buy it and enjoy it. Okay, you've got to find the wines that you're having a good time with, and this is a hedonistic experience. Okay, you're supposed to have a good time.

S. Simon Jacob: 29:37

You brought up the Revelation Reserve, you make that as a Cabernet and as this is what will be released, Okay, that's a blend. There's a blend in a Cabernet.

Hillel Manne: 29:51

Okay, very cool.

S. Simon Jacob: 29:53

Very cool. It is very cool.

Hillel Manne: 29:54

It's a very good one. That's the top of the line for you. No, again, I'm talking about things that I don't understand.

Itzik Stern: 30:01

Okay, marketing will be here in a few minutes though I am so happy to have met you.

S. Simon Jacob: 30:07

I really am. I'm so happy to have met you. I really am I'm so happy to have met you it's a pleasure.

Hillel Manne: 30:12

The concept is is price points, yeah, okay, the price points where I'm not making any money and I don't need to be there, okay, right. And the the price points that that they're just there for show Nobody's selling any wine for, and how many bottles? 200 bottles of wine go, it goes, it happens, but it's on the shelf and wow, okay. So I asked a diamond merchant that likes my wines and drinks my wines. He says how do you sell those one carat diamonds for all the?

S. Simon Jacob: 30:51

For the money.

Hillel Manne: 30:51

For the amounts of money. As far as I'm concerned, I don't know why anybody needs a diamond, right? But that's my personal issue, okay. Okay. So he says, no problem, you want to sell a one-carat diamond? I put a 1.25 and a one-carat diamond and a 75-point, okay. And then the guy looks around and he says how much does the big one cost? And then how much does this one cost? And then that puts him in the. He didn't buy the most expensive one because that was too expensive. He didn't buy the smallest one that was on the table, right? No, so price points are all about that psychology, okay.

Hillel Manne: 31:41

Again, if you're sophisticated and work on it, you can really find very good values today in the market. Okay, they're very good value wines available. But if I'm putting out a wine at 200 shekels, right, or $50, $60, I can't disappoint the client, right? I can't be. I can't say I mean, obviously there's always going to be somebody who says I didn't like it, right. I mean, you know, that's life okay. Always going to be somebody who says I didn't like it, right. I mean, you know, that's life okay. But there's two wines that one's called 5757, okay, it's something that we last winter we had wine here from 2017, okay, and it was very good wine and it was also a little bit different bottle, a little bit heavier, a taller bottle something, and it was a very good one, but it was waiting for the marketing.

S. Simon Jacob: 32:38

I loved your 2017, 2018. There was wine I don't know whether it was called Heritage, I don't remember exactly what the name was had a brown label. It was just. We don't care about the label.

Hillel Manne: 32:49

We already discussed that.

S. Simon Jacob: 32:50

Spectacular. Spectacular one.

Hillel Manne: 32:54

I still have some oh Hashem.

S. Simon Jacob: 32:56

It's my wife's favorite.

Hillel Manne: 32:59

The 5757. Went with my, with Shalom David, the second son in the business, okay, the one that studied in Ariel, and I said you haven't been to one of these big Wine shows. You haven't been to one of the wine shows and that was Milan this winter. Okay, now, because of the COVID, they're out of sync and they have Milan and Bordeaux in the same year, so we'll see how, but Milan is a better show, okay, Anyways, it doesn't matter. Milan is a better show. Okay, anyways, it doesn't matter.

Hillel Manne: 33:27

It was difficult because of the flights and something. Anyways, we got there and we, you know, we meant this. We saw that it's more about, you know, integrating things than anything specific. And I saw this metal label and I said you know who would buy a metal label on a one kilo bottle of wine? You know, it's not something that that's going through through my mind and but, but I was, I was, I was diligent, I took samples, I wrote down the car, I came back and I made fun of it in front of, uh, the staff and and he said, oh, good, go. I said, look, there's a particular store owner that we have that he has very good relations with and I think he does very good, he's got it. Okay. He's dealing with the people every day who buy the package, right, and he says send him a picture of it and what's up. If he likes it, we'll move forward. If he doesn't like it, he sends it back with zero time. Okay, he said, take it.

S. Simon Jacob: 34:31

Do it. There's a winery here in Israel. Their whole marketing is those metal labels. Whatever the whole marketing. Oh my metal label is much better. Okay, and you know, what? Because of that, there's a bunch of wineries outside of Israel, now in California, and what have you that are doing all the metal labels? I was not aware of it. Yes, it's crazy. I think it's absolutely mischievous. Look, it's the same thing with heavier bottles.

Hillel Manne: 35:01

Also, I Big heavy bottles. We bottled Listen, we bottled the. Now it's not for release in the near future, but we bottled it with one kilo bottle and it's going to have the metal label on it, but it's really good. It was my four best barrels, no question asked. Yep, I mean I got to decide which were the four best barrels. You know which is part of the work, yeah, Anyway, somebody's got to do it exactly.

Hillel Manne: 35:34

So in New York I was doing my Hichdad Lut for marketing and I've got this box for bottles of wine and I'm showing the owner of the store. I said, look, what a nice box it is and it's got the barcode on the outside so that you don't have to get out of the store. I said, look, what a nice box it is and it's got the barcode on the outside so that you don't have to get out of the bottle to scan it. You can just, and it opens this way and it carries the bottle, and not only that, it has a bottle of wine inside. Look, it's important. You want to bring, you want to. Packaging is important in the following sense okay. Packaging is important in the following sense okay, when I want to make a good impression on you, it's there, okay.

Hillel Manne: 36:14

If it's about us having a good time, right? When I said us, I moved. You know. I pointed to all the people in the room and the people in the podcast. Right, we're here to have a good time, right? Yes, that was. I don't care what it looks like. I mean, I don't care what the packaging looks like, you just care whether the wine is. I mean, unless you enjoy looking at bottles of wine.

S. Simon Jacob: 36:39

There's some people who do, and you're right about the impression If you're bringing a bottle of wine to a host or what have you some people. It's all about that.

Itzik Stern: 36:50

You've got to dress to impress.

Hillel Manne: 36:51

Right, yeah, and on the past, past, I don't see how beautifully I'm dressed, I know.

S. Simon Jacob: 36:58

I love it. I really love it. I think it's great. You've certainly got the branding Even on the hat, even on the Everything, yeah, all around.

Hillel Manne: 37:08

Okay, my daughter. She's a teacher. Okay, she was out with the kids in Ilon Moe. Okay, and some kid that didn't says how are you related to Per man? Okay, per is my grandson and she's my daughter. She says how do you know I'm related to him? Says you've got the same t-shirt with the bait on it, so all my family's out there working for me. I love it, that's. That's one of the things. I don't know how you, how you fit this in, but it's it's family. I don't have any investors, I don't have any significant debt. It all belongs to us, okay, which makes a big difference.

S. Simon Jacob: 37:56

Karen Young, you're Cliffview. Do you still have Cliffview?

Hillel Manne: 38:01

We just bottled enough bottles for the both of us, okay, good.

S. Simon Jacob: 38:06

So how do you feel that that fits into the global market? I'm asking you a marketing question again.

Hillel Manne: 38:14

I'm sorry, look look again, I'm making something that I'm I'm trying to create things that I enjoy. That I understand. That I relate to the, the advantage of, specifically the Kirin Yan, besides the soft tannins and approachable and it's also got high alcohol, so it's got that mouthfeel and you feel like you're having something significant when you're drinking it and it's got a complex nose on it. Whatever you call it a smell, like we say. It stinks real good. There's a trade-off. Okay, if I'm making something the same wine like everybody else, or my objective is to make the same wine as everybody else, then it's just another wine. I think that I excel in the traditional wine.

Hillel Manne: 39:10

I hope we're trying to excel in the traditionally produced wines, but we also like to make something interesting, something that's different. And you get the feedback. Some people are nuts about the Carignan. Some people say, oh, it's not wine, it's good, I love it. I love your Carignan, it's great. Look, it's all about approaching it in a. We're going to have a good time here, yeah.

S. Simon Jacob: 39:45

What varieties, what varietals do you actually make wine out of? There's Carignan, there's Merlot.

Hillel Manne: 39:55

Look, there's both Merlot from Kval Tapuch and I grow Merlot, okay there's. I grow Cabernet, I grow Petit Grudeauon, I grow some Malbec and some Marcellin. You like Marcellin, I love it. You want some Juicy Gossip? Go ahead. The it's not available in Israel anymore because the people who own the licenses told the nurserymen not to sell it to people in the in the in the occupied territories. Okay and so and so it's it's. It's. It's. To the best of my knowledge, it's not available from the nurseries anymore because the nursery says we can't tell people where they're going to buy it, what they're going to do it after they buy this evening. That's crazy, wow, oh there's lots of politics.

S. Simon Jacob: 40:56

There's lots of politics no. Is there a wine that you make that you feel is way underrated? That's one of your favorites that people should really taste.

Hillel Manne: 41:11

I like a variety. I like a variety. I like it's about what's going on in the room.

Hillel Manne: 41:23

I mean there are a lot of things, it's not about I mean I don't ever want to say it's not about I mean I don't. I don't ever want to say it's not about me, okay, but but I certainly don't pasture wine, pasteurize the wine for for me, okay, just get saying that the people say, oh, I want to. I'm certainly not putting into a box because about me, that's not about me. Okay, I'm a farmer, we make, we have good olive oil, but that's not a business either. I mean, I'm just saying that there's a lot of things that you know you have to organize yourself. What you know you're having fun at and what's the business.

S. Simon Jacob: 42:01

How did the war impact you, or did it? I mean the winery, not you personally. I mean, obviously everybody was impacted.

Hillel Manne: 42:17

Look my kids did Bill William, whatever my Look the Look the corona thing. There's a lot of things that are going on in the last years, in the last few years, and you know two days aren't alike. As far as traveling goes, okay, but the standard visitor here is not from israel. Okay, I don't get it. But in corona I got visitors that were from the center of the country and they couldn't go to. They said I can't imagine, I never thought I'd visit in Beidou. Okay, but they can't fly, they can't go to Turkey, they can't go to Greece for their vacation, and so that was an opportunity. The war, I haven't had the tourists, but you know that'll work out. You have to look at the long term. Okay, it's not from here. Send me as my son if he wants to correct any misrepresentations.

S. Simon Jacob: 43:20

Are you the marketing person?

Itzik Stern: 43:22

I'm trying to sell. I think you need a microphone.

S. Simon Jacob: 43:27

It's a really pleasure to be here. I'm really enjoying I'm enjoying your father a microphone. It's a really pleasure to be here. I'm really enjoying I'm enjoying your father a lot. Amazing Target audience. Who's the target audience for your wines?

Shalom-David Manne: 43:41

It's a hard question because we're looking for all the Israelis, but it's going to be a lie if I'm going to say all the Israelis, because the market in the Haredi is the biggest market in Israel.

S. Simon Jacob: 44:00

This is a really important point, that's interesting because it's the first time I've ever heard that comment.

Shalom-David Manne: 44:06

Because people don't want to say it.

Hillel Manne: 44:09

Hey, when I was a kid, I grew up in America there were very few Hasidim and they didn't have any money.

S. Simon Jacob: 44:15

Right Now in.

Hillel Manne: 44:16

Williamsburg, only Williamsburg, sat there. There's a I don't know what you call it a fund, a managed money fund, whatever?

S. Simon Jacob: 44:25

it's called.

Hillel Manne: 44:26

But don't come here if you're a small client. If you don't come here if you're a small business, if you're a small client, if you don't have $50 million, we don't have anything to do with you. Okay, and they've got hundreds of investors there. Okay, look up Satmir in the. There was a.

Itzik Stern: 44:41

Kennis, what do you call it? Yeah, Kennis, kennis, a convention.

Hillel Manne: 44:44

Convention in New Jersey and big convention center. All Satmar businesses do business with Satmar. Okay, it's an incredible, incredible economic opportunity, right?

Shalom-David Manne: 44:56

Yeah, but not only in the States, also in Israel, because we all the time hear in the Tikshoch that the poor people they only sit in the kolel don't have money. But Jerusalem is the biggest market in Israel.

S. Simon Jacob: 45:17

You know, that's so funny to hear, because I keep hearing from people that Tel Aviv is the market, the restaurants Tel Aviv.

Shalom-David Manne: 45:26

It's the market for the not kosher wines, yes, or for the cheap white and rosé things like that, bubble things, yeah. It's market Not to the red wines, not to the kosher red wines, because the competition between the Israelis wineries and the wine that you're bringing from Italy and. France and all of them. You cannot be in the competition because it's much expensive to make something in Israel, not only wine, everything.

Itzik Stern: 46:05

I know in Italy they support the grape growers and the winemakers Italy, france also France, France as well.

S. Simon Jacob: 46:09

They subsidize it.

Shalom-David Manne: 46:10

Yeah, yeah, it's not only this, it's also the glass. Okay, the bottle, the glass. It's much expensive to buy it in Israel. It's like 25% cost in Europe.

S. Simon Jacob: 46:23

So then, why do they use the thicker glass bottles for the high-end?

Itzik Stern: 46:27

wines it's like unbelievable.

Shalom-David Manne: 46:33

Well, because then they can just up the price at the same. You know, because they have less the. You know what's the chufuni? Chufuni, it's in Arabic. Look at me, okay, and Jews like it. I will bring the big bottle to the table. Look, what a nice bottle, what every bottle I bought with me. They drink in wine.

S. Simon Jacob: 46:56

It's less like. No, it's crazy for me because actually number one is then they ship it to the United States. So a container where the bottles weigh more than the wine is absolutely nuts to me. But they do it and then at the end you pick up the bottle and you think you have a glass of wine left and you go to pour it and there's nothing left in the bottle. It's like what's going on, but okay it's for show, I guess. Where's your market? Is your market mostly global?

Shalom-David Manne: 47:30

So Jerusalem is the biggest market For you, for us. It's the biggest city, I know, but it's also it's the biggest city and it's a very religious city, yeah, and there is like Also it's Tourism, tourism, lots of tourism in Jerusalem, so it's also helping for that, and you have lots of hotels, lots of restaurants. Maybe Tel Aviv is selling more wine, but I think the price of the wine that you're selling in Jerusalem is much more expensive.

S. Simon Jacob: 48:06

Domestic versus international. How much international business do you do?

Shalom-David Manne: 48:11

We do it. We want to do more, but what are the markets for you?

Hillel Manne: 48:16

Tell them about what happened. There was a show in Paris and a show in Vienna, and we were going to send you somewhere.

Shalom-David Manne: 48:22

We're selling to the United States, of course we're selling to France, austria, polish England. No, today we don't have an England, that's it. We're trying more and more, but this is for now, and I needed to go to French to a big show of the company that's selling our wine.

Hillel Manne: 48:46

Say the name of the war.

Shalom-David Manne: 48:57

Okay, month after they opened the sky again, you can fly. So we had also a show in Austria, in Vienna, so I bought a ticket. Of course I wanted to go, and again the Iran attack started, so I didn't went also for that.

Shalom-David Manne: 49:18

So yeah, but in French they're doing very good with their wines how much it's pocobza and they're doing a very, very good with the wine and it's it's not, it's it's big market. It's funny to say, but it's uh, they're like, uh, they buy in a lot. They like the wine from israel. They're also very it's, of course, it's going to the jewish communities for the going and and it's going to the Jewish communities. That's how they're going and it's very Zionist, yes, really Zionist. So they like buying it. Also, they like it. You can be Zionist. Once you will buy it. If it's not tasty, you will not buy it again, but they keep on buying it. Baruch Hashem, and it's different from the state. They like to depend where in the state. But when you go into the Haredi area, the part to help the Israelis business, it's less, of course.

Hillel Manne: 50:25

If you go into Long Island and I don't know, tinek and places like that, Also in New York, the borough park thing, Muncie, Williamsburg it's a better market than Long Island. I don't get it. You'd think five towns would be… Baruch.

S. Simon Jacob: 50:42

Hashem. It's great. I don't…. You're the first person to ever tell me this, and I've spent most of my life in New Jersey. I wasn't born there, but I.

Hillel Manne: 50:54

I don't know. Okay, I don't have. I mean, I have statistics about which stores bought our wine, right, right so that I can be confident about. But most of the people, because I'm the grower and I'm also the guy in the store, I think that I know what I'm talking about.

S. Simon Jacob: 51:15

No, it makes a lot of sense to me. It makes a lot of sense to me.

Hillel Manne: 51:19

I don't get it. What's it called Great Nick? What are the towns in Five Towns? The Five Towns, yeah, yeah, those should be full of people. I did an event there in a young Israel in five towns, motzei, shammes, and it was. Things are out of my you know league. I don't know who I was talking to. There was some kid who says, ah, my you know young kid right. He says, ah, my wife is going to be so sorry she missed the event. I said what you know.

Hillel Manne: 51:52

you couldn't find a babysitter you know, trying to figure out. He says no, she's a surgeon, she's working. It's not things that I necessarily, but it's not a big market. They got the money, there's no question about it. But I think one of the things inside this duality what do you call it is that they go down to Florida and they have some place to spend their money. The Haredi community they don't do scuba diving, they don't do. They have ski vacations. Wine is something they can spend money on and have a good time.

Itzik Stern: 52:34

So I'm interested about the whole thing with how well you sell in france, because your wines, I find, are very, very pronounced, you know, and they have a lot of flavor, and I always find that very different from, at least like the classic bordeaux. Like the general, you know, french wines are known to be bombastic, but also very like tannic, but also very muted, and I find that these are very, very different from the classic French profile, especially what Jews know, you know, when we talk, mostly Bordeaux and stuff like that, nothing like this.

Hillel Manne: 53:00

I don't look, you're talking about two things what. Jews know. And well, no, no, no, no, I understand. Look, they don't know what they're. They haven't tasted all the wines in the world either. And I've met people. I've met French people. I've got a French neighbor who knows wine okay, he knows, what do you call it? You can't fool him right. But he also likes he likes more substantial wines. He doesn't like this elegant thing. Okay, elegant wines are very good, but I mean, it's a genre.

S. Simon Jacob: 53:41

You have to have built up a certain experience to like the much lighter wines and what have you and to feel the elegance or to taste the elegance in them. But these are much more approachable for people. This is much more you know.

Hillel Manne: 54:07

What is it? This is a.

S. Simon Jacob: 54:09

Carignan.

Hillel Manne: 54:09

Yeah, it's a.

S. Simon Jacob: 54:10

Carignan, but it's delicious, it, it's the carignan. Yeah, it's a carignan, it's not a carignan. It's your carignan, this is your carignan from here, from your vineyards, yeah.

Hillel Manne: 54:22

Very good, and this has not been released, but the previous couple of times I tasted it I felt it was very closed, but here I find it's not.

S. Simon Jacob: 54:34

it's not now, it's absolutely delicious did you just open that bottle just opened?

Shalom-David Manne: 54:39

and it just bottled two weeks ago. That's amazing. Another thing, people don't appreciate.

Hillel Manne: 54:47

First of all, for a person to have a good time, he has to decide I'm coming to have a good time, okay, and if you're Okay, the other options I'm not dealing with right now. You've got to decide that you're. You have to try a few different things and see what you like. Okay. But also, the same wine at a different temperature tastes different as it develops in your glass here. Smell it. Smell it now, yeah, it smells different than when you, totally okay. In another hour, the next morning, it's going to be very different as well. It's going to be very what. People ask me how much?

Hillel Manne: 55:21

wine do I drink on shabbos, right, and I said, when I have guests, you know, I I three, four bottles, and when it's only me and Nita it's five or six bottles. But I like opening a few bottles of wine on Friday night and then tasting the same bottles on Saturday morning. The development makes them so much more interesting and so much more.

S. Simon Jacob: 55:45

Okay, yeah, the complexity, you don't feel it until you compare.

Hillel Manne: 55:51

Okay, okay. There are a lot of things to understand. Also, there's a lot of other things to understand about. When you want to have a good time, the color. Is the color important in a wine. If you aren't enjoying the color, I guess that you don't care.

Itzik Stern: 56:10

But that's first between and I got in trouble. I like the wine, drinking wine.

Shalom-David Manne: 56:25

It's amazing it's.

Hillel Manne: 56:27

I never I haven't tasted this, but you feel now the aftertaste is still a little bit. It's there.

S. Simon Jacob: 56:36

I love it. This is the first time I've had a bottle of wine.

Hillel Manne: 56:38

Maybe if you give it to me in a few weeks I can actually feel the reason.

S. Simon Jacob: 56:41

It's part of the romance In a bottle. Maybe it's only a few weeks. It's delicious. I want to ask one more question while he's here.

Hillel Manne: 56:53

We've got somebody who's.

S. Simon Jacob: 56:55

I need you for one more minute. Okay, don't worry, I, I'm listening. I like the finish on this a lot and it's a long finish. It's lovely, it's just wonderful.

Hillel Manne: 57:15

Another thing is you've got very talented winemakers that make the same wine every year. Okay, put it back on, yeah. You've got winemakers that make exactly the same wine every minute it's not me. I don't have to be consistent. I'm a small family, we're making it for ourselves. It doesn't have to be consistent.

S. Simon Jacob: 57:42

I come every time and I want to do it right. You want to get a wow from yourself? That's ok, the question I have while you're on. I want to do it right. You want to get a wow from yourself? That's okay, the question I have while you're on, because I know everybody's going to go soon. The last major question is what's a long-term vision? Where do you want to be in the next year, the next five years, the next decade? What's the goal? Is there?

Itzik Stern: 58:15

He's talking to you, Ismail.

S. Simon Jacob: 58:17

I'm 67.

Hillel Manne: 58:18

I'm retired, I'm retired, I hit it.

Shalom-David Manne: 58:22

No, we don't want to be like one of the biggest ones. We're looking to stay boutique. I don't know what's how many bottles approximately.

S. Simon Jacob: 58:30

Do you make for you now?

Shalom-David Manne: 58:33

approximately. We're doing today around 40 000 bottles, okay, good. We're, of course, looking to grow, but not not about 100, 120, not more than that. We're looking to stay. We're looking to stay in good quality, good things, special things. To stay like family thing, because, if we wanted, we could be already very big, because you have lots of people that come in here. I want to invest you, like all the wineries around us, yeah, okay, so we can be very fast, much bigger, and we're not. We're looking to stay like family business small, not big name, but not a lot of under control, yeah, under control you want, you want to, you want it to be your business, not to be grown.

Shalom-David Manne: 59:29

When you growing, you have to bring more grapes, bad grapes, and to make cheap wines and lots of things around it. We want to stay. We're doing a little bit rosé and white, but we want to be under good red wines in barrels.

S. Simon Jacob: 59:49

Which white do you make?

Hillel Manne: 59:51

Look, I've been experimenting with the. You know what you said about the yeast. I was here with somebody this is the second year. I bought grapes out okay, I bought French Cone and Barden I bought Emerald Riesling. Okay, I bought a French Kona, barden, I bought emerald Riesling. Okay, and the emerald Riesling I eat it. Perfect with the yeast. A friend of mine came in and I was tasting again, these are bottles before we're releasing them. I just opened the bottle and he said, wow, because the smell with the esters, the, the terpens, whatever is going out from the, from the yeast products, it's, it's, it, it's a different experience, the white ones.

Hillel Manne: 1:00:40

But I, I, we are, we are, you know, we drink them, I drink, I enjoy them, I have a good time. But it isn't a big thing in the market. Our core business isn't the olive oil or the brandy, or the whites or the rosés, it's the red triworn.

Shalom-David Manne: 1:01:02

Yeah, this is also the market in Israel People drinking a little bit rosé, but it's more like talking about Rosé and not drinking. Of course, it's also weather People drinking more wine in the winter and they're drinking vodka, Excel, I don't know what in the summer. Don't ask me.

S. Simon Jacob: 1:01:26

I don't know why.

Shalom-David Manne: 1:01:27

I think the young people Wait till it warms up a little bit bit, because it did come out of the refrigerator.

Hillel Manne: 1:01:34

I do want this. This is a very nice effort. Look at the color, look at the when I One of the things is, you know, before I start directing the wines wines we send out to spectrometry, and the fruit to get a rate with the total fennel concept, because that that's. That's a very good indicator of the quality of the wine to the red ones can't believe that Karen Yon is a 24 if the Karen Yon doesn't doesn't age very nicely. What's the oldest Karin Yan you've got here.

Shalom-David Manne: 1:02:13

I have 13 or 14.

Itzik Stern: 1:02:17

It's probably nasty.

Shalom-David Manne: 1:02:19

Also, if it's not nasty, it's like there's no point. It's not like a Ka'ab or Malo. That's making it better. It's like you know, in the halakha there is mitztamek ve'ralo and mitztamek ve'tovlo. Yeah, so here it's mitztamek ve'ralo, but I will be happy to hear your opinion if it's ready to go out to the market.

S. Simon Jacob: 1:02:43

I think it's very approachable. Right now I don't think it's. You can decide as to whether it's ready to go out to the market, but I don't think that there's any. Do you think that there are rough edges on this?

Hillel Manne: 1:03:00

I like them. I like those rough edges Me too.

S. Simon Jacob: 1:03:03

But but it's okay, it's not fully integrated Okay fine, but we have three, three different ones.

Hillel Manne: 1:03:08

Okay, yes, everybody's a fully integrated Okay, fine, but we have three different ones. Okay, yes, Everybody has a different story. Yes, but that's great. I don't know about you. There are people in the world who want to have exactly the same menu every day, every Shabbos, every Yontif. I'm not one of those people. Huh, I'm not one of those people Huh.

Itzik Stern: 1:03:30

I'm not one of those people.

S. Simon Jacob: 1:03:31

You can ask me, okay, fine.

Hillel Manne: 1:03:33

But those people are living. I mean, you know, I hope they're happy, right, yeah, but a boring life, yeah, I'm interested. Something interesting, just, I mean about eating the same thing. Right, I don't speak Yiddish, I don't understand Yiddish. I mean, you know a little bit, I'm Swartish, so I don't know it from.

Hillel Manne: 1:03:56

You don't need the excuse, but I sit and listen to try and figure out what he was talking about. Okay, and afterwards the Rav was talking to me in square Bnei Baruch. Okay, I was an example of what he used me as an example because I take out Shabbos regular and they give Ben Uttam.

Hillel Manne: 1:04:22

And he says can I take his strimel out of the whether it's Bechef Tze, b'gavra, that thing, and also he was talking about. And I said but what were you talking about before? About the fleshy meal. You know, it was before shvus. Right, you're going to yontif, you've got to eat fleshy and stuff like that, but you're also eating milch. So you've got to be careful and think about what you're doing before you get involved. And I was thinking of an example, groping for an example. I can't imagine having a kugel. That's milchek. Then all of a sudden, my mom made kugel with cottage cheese. He says, my mother too, but it's chutznikkem. It's not Israel, it doesn't happen in Israel, but it's interesting. Life is interesting, especially food. You know the name Rich Thomas, sorry, he came to when we were very young. Okay, he came in Napa, sonoma. They used to grow prunes, they used to grow chickens, whatever right, and he said let's try this Cabernet thing.

Hillel Manne: 1:05:49

Okay, he's the guy who Started it, guy who was the field advisor that pushed this concept and everybody obviously wants to say it was their idea. But that's cool. But he was in big demand in the California wine shows. He was a judge in San Francisco, Los Angeles. Some of them are very sophisticated, very serious wine shows. He was a judge, I mean in San Francisco, Los Angeles. They're very, very, some of them are very sophisticated, very serious wine shows and he was always in demand as a judge. Okay, he said in every show without an exception. I could always point at an example where the higher priced got the bronze and the lower priced got a gold. Okay, Always, if you're a sophisticated consumer, it's not about palette, it's about having a good time and being value per money. Right, you can be out there and having a great time, or you could be following the, the trends, the trend and the neighbors and your father-in-law and the critics and spend a lot of money and have a miserable time.

Shalom-David Manne: 1:06:57

You have the Jacob dream. So you have three varietals. In this you have Karin Yan Cab, Frank, Cabernet, Sauvignon and Marcellana. It's also veryana Four.

Hillel Manne: 1:07:10

So very special Four, but in Hebrew it comes out three.

S. Simon Jacob: 1:07:14

Okay, no, no, I get it. I said three no, no, no, it's okay, it's like Monday and Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and you have the.

Shalom-David Manne: 1:07:24

Tal Binyamin. In the Tal Binyamin it's three, that's okay Three, I don't remember. You have the Kabarnes, avignon, malbec and Merlot Okay, the famous Merlot Tapuach that people very like and in the Revelation we did it like. Not every year we did it, and sometimes we did it only cab and sometimes we did it blend, but this year we did it also. Sometimes we did it only cab and sometimes we did blend, but this year we did it also, one, also blend and also cab. So we have two bottles in the 20, in the 23 and above this we have two special things. We have the Majestic and we have the 5757. It's two special wines that we're not doing every year at all. We're doing sometimes when it's very special, when we're getting good grapes. Thank you.

S. Simon Jacob: 1:08:27

Thank you for the time, thank you, thank you for the time, thank you Really.

Hillel Manne: 1:08:33

Enjoy yourself.

S. Simon Jacob: 1:08:44

Today we've heard the stories and tasted the dreams bottled here in the Judean hills. But our journey doesn't end in Beit El. Next week we'll explore another chapter in the ever-evolving story of kosher wine. Until then, keep your palate curious, your glass full and join me again on The Kosher Terroir, where every sip has a story. This is Simon Jacob, again your host of today's episode of The Kosher Terroir, where every sip has a story. This is Simon Jacob, again your host of today's episode of The Kosher Terroir. I have a personal request no matter where you are or where you live, please take a moment to pray for our soldiers' safety and the safe and rapid return of our hostages. Please subscribe via your podcast provider to be informed of our new episodes as they are released. If you are new to T he Kosher Terroir, please check out our many past episodes.