Wine and Culinary

Castel Grand Vin 2007- 91 Points. Feb 2010 | Mark Squires, The Wine Advocate |English |The 2007 GRAND VIN, reviewed now from bottle for the first time, is the best since the 2004, and a contender for the best yet, although let’s be conservative at the moment and check back in a couple of years to see where it is. It has good depth, relative to Castel’s style, but simply exuberant, ripe and youthful fruit. In Castel’s style, it manages to meld that fruit into an elegant whole and show some complexity, too. There are touches of olives on the lingering finish, but the exuberant, young fruit cannot be ignored at the moment; it asserts itself and takes over. If Castel is by reputation somewhat elegant and intellectual, this wine, at least at this moment, is showing more sex appeal. This is one of those wines that manage to be elegant without being wimpy, and keeps on delivering flavor on the finish, which is succulent and crisp…

The Jerusalem Shuk Experience can include a tour and tasting in the market or a cooking workshop with an Israeli Chef. The Classic Machane Yehuda Tour draws from the abundance of the shuk, allowing participants a taste of the lively atmosphere. The tour winds through the colorful streets of the market and through its history, as the story of the neighborhood and its famed marketplace unfolds up until its modern incarnation. Learn about important Jerusalem families that have lived in the neighborhood throughout the years; of the development of the Machane Yehuda market; and the positive contemporary transformations within it. During the tour, you will have the chance to stop and taste some of the offerings of the most interesting stands of the market. Speak with the merchants and hear some of the fascinating and fun stories that have become, with time, a part of the unique history of the Machane Yehuda community. The tour will also include a short excursion to the nearby Nachlaot neighborhood, to tell the story of the neighborhood's furnace and its water pits. A short break will be held under the famous, and still fruitful, “berry tree” from mentioned in Yossi Banai's song (Banai was a top Israeli musician and singer-songwriter).

A culinary day in the Galilee - wineries, goat and sheep dairies, a chocolate factory and micro-brewery. We will take you to places in the Galilee that only a local would know. We can show you an organic winery that pipes classical music through the barrel room 24 hours a day. Five km away, we can visit a flour mill that has been grinding, roasting and chopping local produce the same way for over a hundred years. Culinary day tours include wineries, both big and small, goat and sheep cheese dairies, specialty chocolates, a micro-brewery and more. It's recommended to add a home cooked authentic meal and home hospitality in a local village. In the Galilee, the traditional and the modern exist side by side. See it for that for yourself

Humus Said in Acre- This humus is said to be the best in the Middle East. Humus Said is located in the market at the old city of Acre. Both are a must if you come around this region of the world. Humus Said, specifically, is considered one of the best hummus places in the middle-east. Acre is a small city with a population of less than 50 thousand people. A beautiful ancient harbor city, with a glorious history – during one century (12th) alone, it was inhabited by men such as Salah Ad-din, Richard the Lion-Hearted and Maimonides (the Rambam, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, the famous Jewish scholar and philosopher). In the 13th century it hosted the most important Jewish community in the world.