The flavor of tar in wine of Negev

Discover the of Negev wines revealing the of tar flavor during the olphactive analysis (nose) and during the gustative analysis (mouth).

More information on of Negev flavors

Negev desert wine region of southern Israel is one of the warmest and driest Vineyard areas in the world. It Lies at a latitude of between 31 and 29 degrees North, on the fringes of the Syrian Desert. For a northern hemisphere wine region, this is remarkably close to the equator; just a few degrees closer and it would be deemed a tropical wine region. Negev only receives about 100mm (4 inches) of rain per year, much of which disappears in flash floods.

Modern computer-controlled irrigation is a necessity and water usage is understandably a major issue and is one factor why the wines of the region must reach a quality level to justify premium prices. Despite its unlikely macroClimate, the Negev has been a vine-growing area since ancient times. It may well have been one of the world's very first wine regions – if an area could be seen as such 6000 years ago – and has been enjoying something of a minor renaissance since the 1980s, though it accounts for less than 5 percent of Israel's total vineyard area. As demonstrated in the Judean Hills immediately to the north (and Galilee beyond that), high altitude is the viticultural antidote to low latitude.

Temperatures in the Negev reach great heights during the day but drop significantly overnight, which allows the vines some recovery time. High diurnal temperature variation is almost invariably a bonus for vineyard zones, but if the days are so hot and the nights so cool that the vines actually shut down, the chances of growing grapes with balanced sugars and acids are dramatically Reduced. Thus the quality demands of modern wine consumers have driven Negev viticulture up into the hills, away from the extremes of the desert climate. Even at higher elevations, humidity is low in the Negev, but the vineyards nonetheless enjoy a morning blanket of mist before the heat of the day sets in.

News on wine flavors

Reduced planting density initiative approved in Champagne

The proposal reduces the mandatory density of planting from 8,000 vines per hectare to approximately 6,000. This would be accomplished by allowing 2.2 metres between rows, essentially removing every other row. The stated purposes include reducing the cost of maintaining the vineyards and therefore the time necessary to maintain them. This has been put forward as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and proponents estimate that such emissions would be 20% lower under the measure, leading som ...

La Rioja Alta expands with ‘artisanal vineyard’ deals

Guillermo de Aranzabal Bittner, a director at La Rioja Alta, said the company had acquired 35ha of old vines, with a minimum age of 45 years, in the village of Elvillar at an average altitude of 600 metres. He also said La Rioja Alta would buy more old vines this year, bringing total ‘artisanal vineyard’ acquisitions to a minimum of 5oha, and potentially up to 75ha, by the end of 2022. ‘We are buying very old vineyards, pruned in the traditional way with very low production, some of which are fi ...

Wine Australia closes Shanghai office after Chinese exports plunge

China was previously Australia’s leading export market, with sales worth $1.2 billion in the year to September 2020. However, Beijing then imposed a 212% tariff on imported wine from Australia as a retaliatory measure after Canberra called for an international investigation into China’s handling of the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan. Trade minister Simon Birmingham called it ‘a very distressing time for many hundreds of Australian wine producers, who have built in good faith a sound market in China’ ...