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Tabor wine: it's the real thing

The might of Coca-Cola has propelled a boutique Galilee winery to world class status.

July 10, 2014 14:21
10072014 mountain vinyard

By

Anthea Gerrie,

Anthea Gerrie

3 min read

It's a very modern Israeli fairytale. A grape grower - the fourth generation of growers in his village - decides not to sell his grapes to wine makers any more. Instead, he finds a wine-maker to help him produce his own wine. The results are so good that a subsidiary of multi-national Coca-Cola notices and invests millions.

The grower - Arie Sela - and wine-maker, Arie Nesher, have both stayed on to see their bottles win top national and international accolades.

This is the story of Tabor, named after the biblical mountain in the shade of which the winery sits.

The winery was founded in 1999 with a tiny production of just 30,000 bottles per year. Since its 2005 takeover by IBBL - which markets Campari and leading international spirit brands as well as Coca-Cola in Israel - it has become Israel's sixth largest winery, making nearly two million bottles. Its Adama Merlot has just won an unprecedented 93 points from the highly respected Wine Enthusiast Magazine - the top award the American publication has given any Israeli wine and its wines - which are kosher - landed in Britain for the first time this spring.

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