Some two dozen Israeli wineries from the Negev region, including several from Gaza envelope kibbutz communities, spent several days in Spain in March, visiting a wine region similar to their own, but 40 years ahead in terms of progress.

“I wanted to find a region that would feel familiar to the Negev wineries,” said Nicole Hod Stroh, CEO of the Merage Foundation Israel that funded the trip. “Spanish wineries are years ahead of the Negev, but it’s achievable.”

The group included representatives of vineyards and wineries, some new, others more established, including tiny wineries from Kibbutz Be’eri, Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Kibbutz Or Haner, all communities hit hard by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, but still producing wine.

Merage is a US-based family philanthropy that has been supporting efforts to realize the tourism potential of the Negev.

The Negev’s desert vineyards were banded together several years ago as a winery consortium by Merage, as they seek an appellation that would grant official recognition as a distinct wine-producing region of Israel. In August 2020, a declaration of the Judea........

© The Times of Israel