Amphorae (Israel)

Dimitri Gurevich, CEO of Amphorae Kerem Maharal, Israel
Amphorae is a very recent winery which operates from the bushy hills of Kerem Maharal in the Zikhron-Ya’akov area (Carmel mountains). It is making New World wines, and mostly reds by the way. It sits in a small valley with a feel of Provence all around with all these aromatic plants and bushes; this is may and this looks like summer in the south of France already.
The winery which was founded in 2000 by high-tech-sector businessmen, has been purchased soon after in 2008 by Russian investor Vladimir Dubov, who was one of the shareholders of the Russian oil giant Yukos. The winery went then through major refurbishing, investments in new tools and new staff even though it was still very recent. The wine partners working with the news owners had already made wine since 2006 in Kfar Kisch, a kibbutz-like community in lower Galilee with many immigrants from eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics. The manager whom we met is Russian-born Dimitri (Mitia) Gurevich, he has been working for 10 years in the wine industry before this job. There are quite a few other Russians in the winery which makes it even more interesting although the quality of its wines suffice largely to justify a story. [Again, I can't but lament that the Russian administration virtually doesn't allow small artisan wineries of this scale to exist in Russia].
The initial founders of the winery looked for the top quality from the start, and their wines were already awarded in 2001 in a competion in the country.

Assistant winemaker Alon Domboya (right) and Bernadette The staff was very nice at Amphorae, first there was this friendly Russian lady named Rima (not on any picture here) originally from Uzbekistan if I remember, then Russian born assistant winemaker Alon Domboya, then Bernadette, this vibrant young woman on the picture who is originally from Rumania. She has a passion and taste for wine which makes me think that she has a bright future in this field... The chief winemaker is Arkadi Papikian, a Russian-Armenian who was not present when we visited. Alon's story is interesting too : Born in Russia from a Russian mother and an Ivory-Coast father, he spent his youth in Russia before leaving the area (Minsk in Belorussia actually) at the age of 18. Alon studied in Tel Hai, a renowned college in Israel where he pursued a degree in biotechnology. He has been working here for the seven consecutive harvests (since 2005).
There are a few vineyards around the winery but the grapes actuially come from Manara in the upper Galilee, a region with excellent conditions for wine grapes. They have long-time agreements with growers there, and they also have their own vineyards in the Golan Heights, in Sha'al as well as schech, where altitude, soil parameters and climate suit particularly for vine growing. Some grapes are also contracted near Psagot in the Judean hills. Psagot is considered the best place in Israel to grow Cabernet Sauvignon, and they exploit a small surface there (7 Dunams or 0,7 hectare). Alon Domboya in the vatroom Alon Domboya says that the wine style at Amphorae is more new world with heavy-bodied and poweful wines. Still, this is a small size wineries, fitting in the Israeli boutique winery catefory. The winemaking he says takes into account many details, starting with a rigorous selection of the vineyards purveying the grapes, then the sorting of clusters and grapes arriving at the winery at harvest. the different plots are vinified separately and blended after the élevage. The winery has been employing the services of enologist Michel Rolland since 2009, and his assistant Thierry Haberer come here some 5 times a year. He has been helping a lot with advice on the vineyard management and also for the technology. Michel Rolland still comes once a year, to check the vineyards before the harvest, and help decision making for the blends. The cask room The winery produces about 50 000 bottles altogether which in fits the Israeli boutique category. The last three vintages consisted of reds only with also some rosé, but this year they will make some white with a vineyard of Sauvignon Blanc that they grow on the Golan Heights. Alon says that if there's a good place for Sauvignon it is the high-altitude, volcanic plateau of the Golan, that's at least the only region in Israel where he saw good results with Sauvignon.
The grapes are picked manually in the different vineyards they work with, and brought to the winery in boxes with refrigerated trucks. There's a cold maceration for the reds, from 7 to 10 days. As I noticed that the tannins of a particular wine I was tasting were not harsh at all (tasting details at the bottom), Alon says that this is because of the ripeness of the grapes, they look more for ripeness of flavors than ripeness of sugar. Sometimes he says, people pick according to the sugar level but at Amphorae they check that harvest takes place a bit later even though the alcohol may be hiogher then. Overall, he says, he doesn't feel that the alcohol level is out of balance. Asked if they do some micro-ox to soften the tannins like Michel Rolland is said to favor [maybe be an excessive reliance on Mondovino from our part], he says not at all. He visited Michel Rolland's winery in Argentina and there too, the approach to ripeness is similar to what is implemented at Amphorae, but he didn't see any micro-ox use either. Tasting from the cask Tasting the wines with Bernadette, Zeev and Alon :
__ Amphorae Blend, from a cask. Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot. Refined and powerful. Signature collection. Inky wine, some wood but not ourtwardly.
__ Amphorae Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, from a cask. Marana vineyards in Upper Galilee. Nice mouth feel, aromas of eucalyptus and stone minerality. Very concentrated though. 2nd nose yields these eucalyptus leaves and similar aromas. Very nice. The wine spends lots of time for the élevage, usually 2 and a half years in casks.
__ Amphorae Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, from the Jerusalem hights, on the eastern side overlooking the dead see at a 900 meters elevation in Psagot, from the top cuvée. New cask, Mercurey cooperage. They use a few other cooperages but Mercurey is the one they prefer. Plus, they tend to use mostly larger-volume casks, like 300-liter and 500-liter ones. Makes the wood more elegant, Alon says. The yields on this vineyard is 500 to 600 kilograms per dunam (5 to 6 tons per hectare) even thoug they irrigate. Last year's harvest there was october 1st (this week it should be 2 or 3 weeks later).
Nose on the incense, oil range of aromas, petrol and garrigue (Provencal bushes) notes too. Thin tannins but well marked. Length. Alon says that in Psagot the soil is very poor, with basically only 15 centimeters of earth, then you find the limestone rock. Still powerful wine for me though, not my usual wine. Will be very good with a meat dish for sure. Alon Domboya and Bernadette Noga
__ Amphorae Unica. Merlot Barbera 2006. Bottle (we're back on the street level at the tasting room). Unica is the top range of their wines at Amphorea, will be named Signature. It is considered a very unusual blend, Alon says that it was made to deal with the problems many wines face in Israel, the lack of acidity. Barbera has very good acidity (its ph was 3,3 at harvest), and it is grown in Kfar Yval near Kiryat Shmona up north near the Lebanese border. It has been blended here with 83 % of Merlot coming from Tsuva in the lower part of the Jersusalem hills. In general they don't correct the acidity even though they keep the possibility if needed. Other winemakers usually don't aknowledge it but it is a common practice in the country.
What a nose here ! Very good acidity in the mouth indeed, and good length. Asked about the SO2 addings, Alon says that they make checks to monitor the needs in that regard, but usually they add some at the arrival of the grapes, then at the end of the malolactic fermentation and then they just check the levels a few times, correcting it if necessary. Filtering is very scant here, this is just to remove the big particles in te wine. They made checks of their wines a few years ago through a specialized lab in France and it turned out that after 2 or 3 years of élevage the wine is totally clean of bacteria, rendering filtering unnecessary, that's why they do a very simple one. A tasting before and immediately after their filtering shows no difference in the taste by the way.
The bottle costs 275 Shekels, not really my kind of prices (56 € or 81 USD).
__ Amphorae Unica Shiraz (majority with 45 %), Merlot (35¨%) Cabernet Sauvignon (20 %) 2006. All grown in upper Galilee vineyards. Bernadette says that this is definitely the best wine here, thanks in particular for the quality of the Shiraz here. The first nose is less expressive, here is a wine that needs some time to open. The mouth feel is more tannic and also more on the acidity side. 15,6 ° in alcohol, feels like 14). Again, Alon says that they looked for fruit ripeness even if the alcohol went up, because in the end there's a balance that makes the whole wine hold. He says that for the last harvest, he remembers that the ph was between 3,8 to 3,7 at harvest and was 3,65 in the barrels, so if there's a correction it is a very light one.
__ Amphorae Cabernet Sauvignon 2006. Long élevage in those large-capacity casks. Very nice nose, aromatic mediterranean leaves, eucalyptus and the likes. 15,3 °. 6000 bottles, a very small batch. First mouth is closed, will open after a few minutes. Nice generous wine but out of reach at 325 Shekels (65 € or 96 USD).
__ Amphorae Inna 2006. Desert wine.Sweet fortified wine. 300 bottles made of it, sold only at the winery. More adapted to the Russian taste, someone says. This is a Madeira style of wine made with Chardonnay. Late harvest. Fermentation stopped by alcohol adding. For the aging stage, the interesting thing is that it hasn't been topped up and after 4 years there was almost only half of the barrel full. Excellent wine, with good acidity. 195 Shekels (39 € or 57 USD).

Amphorae Kerem Maharal, Israel phone + 972 4 984 0702 fax + 972 4 654 0756 www.amphorae-v.com

Back in Tel Aviv : girl on the beach

Comments

[Sergey Tokhtabiev]

Dear Dubov Vladimir-Дубов Владимир Матвеевич , только наша организация может спасти Ходорковского М.Б. и Юкос. Правительственные документы прилагаются.Плюс освобождение нашего фонда от таможенных пошлин на 25 миллиардов дол.

Переписка с нашим адвокатом на Кипре-
-------- Пересылаемое сообщение --------
От кого: [...]
Кому: [email protected]
Дата: 01 августа 2011, 17:38
Тема: Dear Adrianna Klaedes ,Elena

Уважаемая Елена, прошу объяснить Dear Adrianna Klaedes, что только наша организация может спасти Ходорковского Михаила и Юкос. Adrianna писала мне, что она уже связывалась Claire Davidson (Клэр Дэвидсон) –представитель Ходорковского М.Б. и Юклса в Лондоне-информация о ней ниже. Клэр Дэвидсон в свою очередь может связаться с Леонидом Невзлиным или другим руководством Юкоса, кто на свободе и в Европе. Невзлин Леонид сейчас проживает в Израиле. http://www.nadavfund.org.il/contact/.

Чтобы они поверили в наши возможности и начали финансировать наш проект по спасению Ходорковского и Юкоса.

Юридическая Суть Проекта- с 1993 года я вел переговоры с Юкосом о поручении ему сделок без уплаты налогов по схеме комитент-комиссионер. Так как наш фонд с 1991 года по Распоряжению Председателя Верховного Совета РФ РФ Б.Н.Ельцина был освобожден от всех налогов и таможенной пошлины в бюджет РФ. Эти освобождения были закреплены в 1994 году ст.69 Конституции РФ.Таким образом, при подтверждении нами этих поручений с Юкоса и Ходорковского М.Б. снимаются все обвинения о хищениях с особо крупных размерах.

Требуется, чтобы они приехали в Вам на переговоры с моим участием.

Такой выход устроит всех в РФ. Так как воровали многие , кроме нашего фонда. Так почему должен сидеть только один М.Б. Ходорковский. Тем более, если он не воровал, а выполнял наше поручение.Прошу это объяснить Клэр Дэвидсон. Чтобы они смело начали нас с вами финансировать. А затем посмотрим, может быть еще кого-нибудь нужно узаконить для спасения имиджа наших бизнесменов.Вот такой проект. Жду ответа.

Сергей,

Информация для представителей прессы

Всеми вопросами, связанными с публикацией материалов Библиотеки ЮКОСа занимается компания Gardant Communications. http://www.gardantcommunications.com/

· Вы можете скачать полный текст данного вебсайта здесь.

· Видеозапись (качество идентично транслируемому видеопотоку) пресс-конференции,
состоявшейся 4 марта 2010 года по окончании слушания в Европейском суде по правам человека, предоставляется по запросу.

· Высококачественные фото, сделанные во время слушания 4 марта,
также предоставляются по запросу.

По всем остальным вопросам, связанным с прессой, обращайтесь:

Claire Davidson (Клэр Дэвидсон)

Gardant Communications
51 Causton Street
London SW1P 4AT
United Kingdom (Лондон, Великобритания)

Офис: +44 207 976 5555
Мобильный: +44 (0) 7767 351 433

Эл. адрес: [email protected]

-------- Пересылаемое сообщение --------
От кого: [...]
Кому: [email protected]
Дата: 29 июля 2011, 19:01
Тема: Dear Adrianna Klaedes ,

Dear Adrianna Klaedes ,
repeatedly banished to Mr Khodorkovky my materials- Russia Govenments's documents. He is silent.
Does not believe it.
But we may release him immediately. To do this, I must go to London for his colleagues to sign on-site instruction to his company not to pay taxes.
Your profit 50/50.
Sincerely, [...] President International fund for Indigenous and ethnic minorities, http://www.saklyamirov.narod.ru/ ,tel.+79654314733

-------- Пересылаемое сообщение --------
От кого: [...]
Кому: [email protected]
Дата: 23 июля 2011, 19:15
Тема: Уважаемый Михаил Борисович,

Уважаемый Михаил Борисович,

1991 года по Распоряжению уважаемого Б.Н.Ельцина наш фонд был

освобожден от всех налогов и таможенной пошлины в Бюджет РФ. Это Распоряжение

действует и по настоящее время. В увязке с 69 ст. Конституции РФ, которую я

пробивал , неоднократно с 1993 года предлагал письменно руководству Юкоса

договор о совместно деятельности. Он означает, что Юкос не должен был платить

налоги и пошлину в бюджет РФ по поручению нашего фонда-комитент-комиссионер.

Таким образом, юридически получается, что Ходорковский М.Б. не должен сидеть.

Так исторически сложилось, что только наш фонд задним числом может объяснить

всем, почему они не платили налоги. Всему цивилизованному миру.В противном

случае страдают невинные люди и инвестиции не идут в Россию.

Справка-

C момента аварии нефтяной платформы Deepwater Horizon в Мексикансом заливе молодые инженеры

Международного фонда развития малых народов и этнических групп

разработали новую технологию по безопасности добычи нефти в Океане. Без нашей технологии невозможна нефтедобыча в Арктике и на Сахалине. Ранее работники фонда предложили увеличить тепловые швы, чтобы предотвратить разрушение моста через Волгу- колебания ,лето 2010 года. Далее, в первые же дни после катастрофы на японской атомной электростанции "Фукусима" инженеры фонда предложили безопасный метод охлаждения реактора и предотвращения распространения радиации на другие регионы .Однако правительство Японии проигнорировало нашу помощь , время было упущено, ядерная катастрофа оказалась реальностью. Без наших технологий натуральной пищевой кукурузы невозможна модернизация сельского хозяйства. Ожидаемый доход превышает от нефти и газа. Молодые лидеры Международного фонда развития малых народов и этнических групп стали победителями конкурсов Молодые Лидеры Европы в 2009 году, Бритиш Кансел в 2005, защитили диссертации мастера права в Лондонском Метрополитен Университете и Американском Университете Вашингтона, выдвинуты на международную техническую премию 2012 г.

Юридическая Справка.

По Акту ГПУ Президента РФ № А19-1-1647 от 09 августа 1994 г. Совету Министров РФ, министерствам и ведомствам РФ ,Мэру Москвы предписано оказывать содействие фонду, а также по Распоряжениям Председателя Верховного Совета РФ № 1547/1-1 от 5 июля 1991г.,№ 3436зп-1 от 31 августа 1992 г., №4222-1 от 25 декабря 1992 г., Канцелярия Президента РФ давала поручение Правительству РФ исполнять указанные Документы Главы государства. Международный фонд развития малых народов и этнических групп по Распоряжению Совета Министров СССР № 1998р от 28 ноября 1990 г. действует на территории страны в качестве юридического лица бессрочно.

В настоящее время по всем этим проектам Администрация Президента сделала запросы и поручения-от Н.Бородай № А26-01-316234 от 20 мая 2011г., от А. Дозорова 05 июля 20 11 г.№ А26-20-430723.-прилагаются.

Информация-

Во избежание недоразумений -ликвидирован другой фонд малых народностей, а наш называется малых народов.

С уважением, Президент Международного фонда развития малых народов и этнических групп [...] С.А

адрес: [email protected] , http://www.saklyamirov.narod.ru/, ряд правительственных документов прилагается, тел. 8.9654314733,