A vineyard (illustrative)
A vineyard (illustrative)Gili Yaari/FLASH90

Vered Ben Sadon, owner and  manager of Tura winery which is located in Rechalim, a town outside of Ariel in Samaria, discovered much to her surprise that her winery, as well as others from Judea and  Samaria, were not included in the 2015 edition of the “Guide to Israeli Wines” that was written and published by Gal Zohar and Yair Gat.

She approached the authors and inquired as to why her winery, which has been producing quality wine and apple cider since 2003, was not included in their guide. The answer she received was that it was due to the location of her winery being in Samaria.

The wine guide, which includes wineries from the Golan, apparently had decided to leave out all of the wineries from Judea and Samaria. In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Sadon explained just how wrong this type of approach is.

“This isn’t a left-wing or right-wing issue, nor is it an issue about the quality of the wine that we make. It is simply a misguided political stance, and one that shows a complete lack of professionalism on the part of the authors. If someone wants to make a political statement then they should make it completely, and thereby not include the wineries from the Golan as well, if they don’t consider part of the land. But to pick and choose is just sloppy. We are part of Israel, and so is the Golan, and we should all be included. It just isn’t professional of them.”

Ben Sadon also pointed out that the sloppiness goes even further if one really understands the industry. “We have 360 dunam of land upon which we grow grapes. We sell the grapes that grow in Samaria to wineries all over the country. Just because the physical location of the winery happens to be somewhere else, it doesn’t mean that the wine they produce doesn’t come from Judea and Samaria.”

There has been quite a response to the backlash, initiated by Ben Sadon, to the book and its authors. Yediot Books Publishing house is coming out with a counter-guide, called “The Complete Guide to Israeli Wines” which will include wineries from across the country. Likewise the Caucus for the Land of Israel held a wine festival at the Knesset today, incorporating the wineries who were left out of the guide to show their support. Emphasizing that this is not a partisan issue, MK’s from all sides of the political spectrum attended to sample wines.

“Wine is supposed to bring people together, I hope that from now  on I will only be interviewed regarding the quality and taste of the wines that we produce, and not on silly politicking that is going on like this.”

Jerusalem Wine Club store owner Eli Poch, who owns a thriving wine store in Efrat, a city located in Judea, expressed his distaste with the decision of the authors. Poch said that “wine is a the great equalizer. People, no matter their background can talk to each other over a good glass of wine, and enjoy each other’s company. One’s political views do not matter, nor does it matter where the wine comes from. A good wine should be respected for what it is.”

Poch attested to the quality of the wine that comes from the Samaria region, and especially to wine from Tura. “Samaria, and Tura produce some very high quality wines, and they should be appreciated as such.” Poch who was in the midst of giving a wine tour in the Golan when he spoke to Arutz Sheva, could not comment any further on the matter.   

In a statement to the press Head of the Samaria regional council Yossi Dagan said: “I stand by Tura winery as well as all of the other wineries who stand at the forefront of the conflict regarding the European labelling ban, as well as, much to our chagrin, confused people here in our home of Israel who believe that they can divide our country into two pieces. This is the proper Zionist answer to those who wish to boycott businesses from Judea and Samaria, and I am happy that it is being done!”