The wine, White Label Judean Hills 2021, is a product of Flam, an Israeli winery located in the Judean Hills near Jerusalem.

The magazine praised Flam’s White Label for its “full-throttled core of red currant, blackberry, dried flower and dusty earth flavors.”

“Shows a spine of graphite that brings focus and drive to the round, lush palate,” the review reads. “Delivers details of black licorice, grilled apple wood, anise and smoke that play out on the finish, framed by fine-grained tannins.”

Flam’s White Label comes in at number 95 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100. At $69 per bottle, the wine certainly isn’t the kind you’d dump into a chili base, but it would certainly make for a lovely addition to a nice meal with friends and family.

In 2023, the wine market in Israel was valued at $1.6 million. It is projected to reach an estimated value of $2.5 million by 2093.“It’s thrilling to see your name next to the big names of wineries worldwide that I’ve always admired,” Gilad Flam, one of the winery’s owners, told Ynet.

“As a wine enthusiast, I’m a subscriber to this magazine and now I’m on the list of the world’s best wines. I used to follow these lists and dream of tasting some of the wines on them my whole life,” he said.

“But the truly remarkable thing is that these lists always include wines from Burgundy, Piedmont and Napa Valley — major wine regions that the entire world looks to. … It’s not a given to see an Israeli wine on this list.”

The winery released a statement explaining that “White Label 2021 embodies the winemaking philosophy of winemaker Golan Flam, which emphasizes finesse and precision while honoring the fruit and terroir. Its clean and minimalist label allows the wine to speak for itself, with its quality achieved through uncompromising dedication to excellence at every stage of the creation process.”

Flam Winery joined the boutique winemaking game in 1998, operating as an Italian-style family estate. During the weekdays and on Fridays, the winery is open for tastings, training and professional wine workshops.

Originally posted on israel21c.org