Tulip Winery

Tulip winery is both a very good winery and an important human effort. The winery is located in "Kefar Tikva" - which means village of hope - a community of disabled people which provides its member the infrastructure to run their life as close as possible to non disabled people. Tulip winery provides employment possibilities for Kefar Tikva members and a focal point where visitors and members of the village meet. Interactions with people from outside of the village are very important for disabled people - said my wife the psychologist.

Their wines have received very good reviews from the Wine Advocate for the Israeli Syrah based wines. I've been too late in trying to get a hold of these wines. High (88 & 90) scores have ensured that within 3 weeks from getting the scores the winery will be out of stock. Great for them.
The Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Australian Shiraz were available and proved to be good to excellent wines. In addition to the red wines, we have tasted a, unreleased yet, new white wine, Grapa and Arak (the later is not available commercially).
The picture on the right shows the winery's founder along with the four of wines we've tasted. This is a family owned and run business, who seems to work very well.
As Yitzhak told us: "I was looking for something to do after retierment. Combining Family, wine and contribution to the community looked like the best combination". I believe many people would agree with him.

The wines:

Just Merlot 2006
Light to medium red color. Nice red fruit and some lead pencil, light bodied. A bit too alcoholic and unbalanced. Nice finish. 83

Just Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Pretty deep red color. Blackberries, blueberries with medium body and nice medium finish. The wine lacked acidity and felt a bit too sweet. 86

Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005
Deep red color. Excellent nose: Blackberries, blueberries with a green component. Elegant and pleasing but with a bit too much greenness. Good sweet finish. 89

Shiraz Australian 2004
This is a very elegant and balanced wine. The deep red color gives you a first hint into this wine, then the nose has an excellent combination of cassis, Chocolate as well as herbs and blossom. good finish and medium-full bodied. This wine was produced from Australian grapes by Doron Yitzhaki - who studied wine making in Australia. 91

Gewurztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc blend 2007
This is the first vintage of this wine and if the bottling process will maintain the current quality, it should be on of the 2008 summer hits. A wonderful combination of the typical aromas of the two grapes: Tropical fruits and apricot are followed by grassy and lime notes. The mouthfeel is a combination of light sweetness and good acidity. 88-90