On a lovely Friday in August 2009, a friend and I were weaving through route 395 as it winds through the lush Judean Hills, and then descends into the valley of Route 38, which junctions into Route 375.  After driving Route 375 for a few miles, we find the turn off for Netiv HaLamed-Heh, where the Ella Valley Winery is situated.  This was our third trip to the winery.  Our previous visit was very generously hosted by Udi Kaplan.  The winery was founded in 1996 when the Adert Vineyard was first planted.  Soon after, in 2001, the winery was constructed using state of the art wine making technology, that would allow Ella Valley to compete with the world’s best wineries.  The winery was built from the bottom up with a desire to craft the world’s best wines, while keeping to a strict adherence of the kosher certification requirements.  The winery started production with the 2002 vintage, when they produced some 100,000+ bottles of wine, to high praise and acclaim.  Since then, they have succeeded with their vision and are continuing to produce more than 200,000 bottles of top quality wines, even for their non reserve lines (named Vineyard Choice).

The winery is managed by Uri Kaplan, who runs the day-to-day operations of the winery, while the wine making duties are left to the capable hands of French trained Doron Rav Hon.  Doron has been part of the winery since its inception, and his handiwork is all over the wine itself.  The wine’s signature flavors are clear with every sip.  There is no overripe fruit, clobbering oak, or under ripe green characteristics, that dominate many of the wines in Israel and the world alike now a days.  Instead, Doron’s wines are all well balanced wines that do take advantage of the sun and valley’s cool nights.  He uses French oak predominately, which allows for a more subtle wine expression, and thereby giving the grapes a chance to show their true quality, without screaming it from the rooftop.  When talking with critics and wine experts alike about Ella Valley, the word that comes up is consistency and elegance.  The reds and whites alike are consistently elegant, while keeping to winery’s credo – of traditional elegance with a twist modernization.

So when we drove up to the winery, we were not surprised to find that very credo staring us in the face.  The winery’s lovely traditional structure and facade, was quietly wrapping its modern inner workings.  We were super honored to meet with Doron himself, and he was kind to show us around the winery before, sitting down to a superb wine tasting.  The conversation was varied and fascinating; from discussions around kashrut to Doron’s wine making philosophy.  The wine tasting was equally varied from an Unoaked Chardonnay all the way to a blockbuster Merlot and everything else in between.  If you had to point to a single varietal that defines Ella Valley – it would have to be Merlot.  From 2002 and on, Ella Valley’s Merlot(s) have been the top scoring and most sinewy yet refined wines in their portfolio.  Nothing about our wine tasting changed that perspective, except for the fact that they continue to show exactness and gentle prodding on all of the wines in their fine portfolio.