The focus of a series of educational master classes held in New York, Orlando, and Los Angeles, Israeli wine took another important step in November as the region received official recognition from Guildsomm —one of the sommelier community’s top educational organizations—and inclusion in Guildsomm’s study guide.
Hosted by Staff Writer Bryce Wiatrak, the November master classes reached key members of the trade in some of the wine world’s most important metropolitan areas, as attendees learned about the history, key regions, and important varietals of Israel in the context of other winemaking countries of the Eastern Mediterranean. Following the successful master classes, Wiatrak published his work as an Eastern Mediterranean study guide on GuildSomm’s website, to be used as a resource for the organization’s members while studying for their Court of Master Sommelier accreditations.
The publication of this guide marks the first ever curriculum-based set of educational items featuring Israel—signifying that the country’s wine culture is now more than just a side note among the trade. The study guide will exist now in perpetuity on GuildSomm’s website alongside parallel study materials on Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Rhone Valley, Northern Italy, Central and Southern Italy, Spain and other classic regions, which is an impressive development for Israel and its neighboring wine countries.
