Attended by a crowd of hundreds of wine-savvy consumers, curious New Yorkers, top sommeliers, journalists, restaurateurs, and members of the retail and wholesale beverage trade, Wines of Israel presented its first-ever public exposition of the country’s fine wines in New York City on September 10th, 2019, to an overwhelmingly warm reception. The day-long fête, held at Union Park Events in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, featured a crowded, buzzing grand tasting, exceptional mezze from top Israeli restaurants Lamalo, Nur, and Bread’s Bakery, and multiple seminars from leading voices and palates of the wine world—including Kathy Morgan MS, Yannick Benjamin, and Erik Segelbaum. Throughout the evening’s walkaround tasting, hundreds of wines from twenty-seven of Israel’s leading producers were poured for a highly-engaged, often three-deep throng of wine lovers, with social media influencers and trendy locals alike sipping and sharing their thoughts on everything from Israel’s classic red blends to the country’s more experimental offerings directly with the winemakers and winery representatives, in a room seemingly beset by selfies and flash photography. The chic event kicked off a series of regional seminars and tastings that continued to spread the news of Israeli wines’ arrival as a top-of-mind Mediterranean wine-producing region for both casual consumers and diehard fine wine acolytes alike.
