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The Beit-El winery has been in operation since 2002. It produces dry red Merlot and Cabernet wines. When winemaker Hillel Manne moved here in 1996 he asked about agricultural land. He was informed that the shallow Terra Rosa soils, on limestone coupled with the harsh winters here made agriculture here unlikely. That was when he really started to get excited. With his UCD agricultural background and experience in other viticulture areas in Israel he immediately had a gut feeling that he was onto some excellent wine terrior. . In Beit-El the altitude of the vineyard is 870 Meters above sea level. This gives us the cool dry evenings to ensure that the grapes mature to a proper balance between sugars and acids. The warm Israeli climate ensures an appropriate sugar level and our cool evenings enable the acid retention that is necessary for a balanced wine. The shallow Terra Rosa soil on the limestone hills is ideal for quality grapes. So far he has planted some 3000 vines on 15 dunams of land. Since 2002 he has been making consistently larger lots and better wines both from his own vineyards and outsourcing from vineyards in the Binyamin area. When asked about how he described the experience he answered candidly “both exciting and frustrating. Exciting to see the incredible improvement from year to year. Frustrating when I think ‘if I had only know what I know today 5 years ago.” For example he has decided to concentrate on Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. We have experimented with other wines and grape juices perhaps that could be hinted at but the main game is the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. These are the classic Bordeaux wines. Of all red table wines, the red wine of Bordeaux, which has been known in England by the name of claret for quite a while-the past eight centuries may be called the perfect wine; it looks nice and it is nice; natural, wholesome; complementing but not assertive; dependable always; gracious and gentle. These wines have been emulated in many great wine growing areas in the world. Quality of a wine is the result of the happy partnership between soil climate vines and winemaker. Hillel has already started grafting other varieties he planted over to the varieties that he has identified as having the greatest potential. Wine is an art that demands patience. It takes 4 years before a newly planted field is harvested for the first time, then we must wait another year and a half before the wine is released. In a new wine growing area there is a lot of trial and error. But is it really a new wine growing area? There is actually ample archeological evidence that up until the Arab conquest this was a prolific agricultural center. There are a number of wine presses hewn in the stones from the Roman and Byzantine periods. In Jewish terms this means second temple , talmudic through the gaonim. As Hillel tells his guest’s ‘that is a wine making tradition that is unbeatable(unsurpassed?). On the other hand it obliges us to aspire to be something special.’ It was in this area that the agrarian revolution began. Here were conditions that the agricultural surplus allowed the transition from nomadic life style to permanent settlements. It was not enough to produce a surplus, technologies that can preserve the food for the rest of the year must be supplied. Drying grain was the first example of such technologies. Wine making was developed soon after. It was pressed in wine presses similar to those found in Beit-El. The fermenting grape juice was then filled in earthen wear jugs and stored in caves found in the area. There is not a lot of evidence what varieties of grapes were grown here in our area. Some of the varieties grown in France are considered dating from the roman era. It is quite possible that they were the same varieties as grown here in that period. The fermentation was caused by wild yeasts that are ubiquitous. Under anaerobic conditions the sugars are turned into alcohol. The wine varieties of grapes natural ripen with %23-25 sugar. When this is converted to alcohol it yields wines with %12-14 alcohol which acts as a natural preservative. The wines in Beit-El spend their first winter in stainless steel cooperage for months they are natural cold stabilized by the cold winters here. They are 1-5 degrees C. This allows the Potasium Bitatrate to disapate. The wine is bottled in the spring and is held for another 6 months in the bottles to develop a bottle bouquet. There are many Kashrut considerations in making wine. The source for the grapes must be supervised to insure that no Orlah or Kiliim is present. Orlah is the first 3 years of the vines life the fruit is forbidden by the Torah. Kiliim is a mixture of agricultural crops in a field. For instance if wheat is grown between the rows of grapes then the grapes from that field are forbidden. In the winery only religious Jews are employed to insure the kashrut. All the materials used in production are from unimpeachable reliable sources.