Itay Lahat: Crafting Exceptional Wines in the Western Galilee's Unique Terroir

Ever wondered how the unique climatic and geographical conditions of the Western Upper Galilee shape some of Israel's most intriguing wines? Join us as we sit down with Itay Lahat, an acclaimed Israeli winemaker whose journey from local vineyards to international accolades is truly inspiring. From his hands-on education in Australia at the University of Adelaide and the Petaluma Winery, to his robust academic background with an MBA from Hebrew University, Itay's story is a blend of tradition and innovation. We cover the influence of terroir, emphasizing his passion for low pH and high acidity to produce harmonious, drinkable selections.

Itay shares his enthusiasm for the future of winemaking, discussing upcoming expansions and the integration of cutting-edge technologies from Italy. He highlights the importance of producing kosher wines that proudly represent an Israeli identity. As we explore the meticulous processes of fermenting and aging, Itay's dedication to quality and his collaboration with other experts shine through. Whether you're a wine enthusiast or curious about the art of winemaking, this episode offers valuable insights into the balance of tradition and modernity in crafting exceptional wines.

For more information:
Itay Lahat Winemaker, Oenologist, Viticulturist,
Website: https://www.itaylahat.co.il/itay-lahat-the-winemaker/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itay.lahat
Email: itay.lahat@gmail.com
Phone: +972-50-791-2737 

Chapters

• 0:09 Israeli Winemaker Itai Lahat's Journey
• 22:36 Exploring Terroir in Winemaking
• 33:54 Winemaker Discusses Expansion and Technology

Transcript

Solomon Simon Jacob: 0:09

Welcome to The Kosher Terroirh. I'm Simon Jacob, your host for this episode from Jerusalem. Before we get started, I ask that, wherever you are, please take a moment and pray for the safety of our soldiers and the safe return of all of our hostages. The following episode is a conversation with. Itay Lahat a resident of Galilee western region and focuses his efforts on making local wines using his intimate knowledge of the area. Some of his most outstanding grapes are picked locally from the well-known El Kosh vineyard.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 1:02

Itay's wines have a uniquely consistent character restrained and balanced, with low alcohol, delightful acidity and a dryness uncommon in Israeli wines. He has been behind the scenes, playing a major role in the Israeli wine industry for over 20 years, eventually becoming a consultant to many well-known Israeli brands with the purpose of helping boost their quality on par with their international competition. When he is not busy serving his numerous clients in their wineries or vineyards or making his own wine, itai teaches winemaking at three different universities in Israel. If you're in your car, please focus on the road ahead. If you're home, sit back, relax, select a delicious bottle of kosher wine and enjoy. It's my pleasure to introduce Itai Lahat. Itai, welcome to The Kosher Terroir.

Itay Lahat: 2:06

Thank you.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 2:07

Okay, todah. How did you start in wine? What was the beginning, the origin of your interest in wines?

Itay Lahat: 2:14

And it's probably the usual answer it's the food things. It's bringing in some science, it's the creations of. I was not talented enough in making music or other things that you can create stuff other art so if I wasn't good enough in art, I picked craft.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 2:42

Craft is good Craft is good, you're a resident of the Western Galilee.

Itay Lahat: 2:51

Since we talk, about the wall, the Upper Western Galilee, or actually the Western Upper Galilee, because there is the Upper Galilee and we believe that wine-wise should or weather wise also we should divide it to East to the Miron and West to the Miron, which gives you not completely but significant enough, differences in weather, in humidity, definitely humidity in day and night temperatures, not necessarily soils, but definitely weather.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 3:36

The Mediterranean plays a part of that.

Itay Lahat: 3:39

So, closer to the sea, you have, because of the sea, more wind, higher humidity, warmer nights and cooler days, cooler vineyards. In the upper Galilee we can be 1 to 2 Celsius above during the day, but we'll get a very nice breeze earlier in the afternoon.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 4:21

You graduated with a diploma in oenology and viticulture from Adelaide, australia. What was it like to be an Israeli studying? I mean, there's a lot of Israelis in Australia, but when you went, what was it like to be there as an Israeli?

Itay Lahat: 4:44

Never had a thought about it. First there was another Israeli with me, Eran Goldwasser, from Yatir we did slightly different program but at the same time and another former Israeli that was around there that we were friends. I don't think I ever thought about it. It was just yeah, I was a foreigner, yes, but in the program we had Americans, we had Britons, we had even the New Zealanders that weren't exactly Australian. So it was a big party, not a big wine party. I didn't feel anything strange.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 5:36

So did you do any harvests there?

Itay Lahat: 5:38

Yes, yes, I did two. One was more academic in school and one was in Petaluma Winery in the Adelaide Hills. That's an interesting winery. Petaluma had a Kunawara first premium mellow. Their ambition was to make the best suited grapes to each region in South Australia. So for them it was Riesling from Clare Valley, chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills, cabernet Merlot from Kunawara etc.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 6:16

You also graduated with an MBA.

Itay Lahat: 6:19

Yes, I did Wow From the Hebrew University.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 6:22

Yeah, have you made use of it? Do you feel? Has it been an important part of your background?

Itay Lahat: 6:31

Well, it does give me a broader look perspective and look at the place we are.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 6:43

Your family is originally from Israel.

Itay Lahat: 6:45

Both my parents were born in Israel.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 6:48

Yeah.

Itay Lahat: 6:49

Both at 49, and both two immigrants from Europe, wow.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 6:55

Your original name in Europe was Lechter. Yes, lechter, lechter.

Itay Lahat: 7:03

Yeah, I never know if it's Lichter or Lechter that I went to the cemetery and checked out.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 7:11

So is that the reason. It almost seems like the signature on the bottles is like a flame.

Itay Lahat: 7:18

I knew I wanted a lithography logo.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 7:21

Yeah.

Itay Lahat: 7:22

And then the guy the guy's name is Ken Maccabi. I let him do what he feels like, and I guess that the name Lahat make him do this kind of draw, this kind of flame.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 7:39

Because it's actually. It looks like a flame and I thought it's so close to what you'd get from a Leichter.

Itay Lahat: 7:45

It's also the meaning for Lahat Right, okay, right so for him. He didn't know the Leichter, he knew the Lahat, lahat. Okay, all right, he could translate it for passion or for the fire and flame.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 8:00

Right, you started in 1995, actually in Israel.

Itay Lahat: 8:06

When I started my bachelor degree in the agriculture faculty in Rehovot, I went to the back then Shlomo Cohen the late Shlomo Cohen, the famous and lovable in the wine institute in Rehovot and asking for a job. And I got it. So my first vintage was my first year in school, was my first vintage also, and I was very lucky to put my hands on each grape that was in Israel in each region that was in Israel in each region that was in Israel.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 8:46

At my first year in the profession, and then in 2000 until 2007, you were in Barkan. I'm not testing you, I don't necessarily remember each year, but I came back from Australia. Yeah, I'm not testing.

Itay Lahat: 9:05

No, I don't necessarily remember each year, but yeah, I started it. I came back from Australia for Vintage 2000. So Vintage 2000,. I had a double one in Australia, one in Israel, and been there for eight vintages. So that makes the calculation right. First I was in charge on the vineyards.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 9:23

Okay.

Itay Lahat: 9:24

First I was in charge of the vineyards and then I was fully in charge of the whites, whites and rose and just involved with the reds. Back then there were not as many wineries as today and they were playing the old market from bottom up everything.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 9:47

And after 2008,. You went into a consulting role of consulting to different wineries and different companies.

Itay Lahat: 9:55

Mm-hmm.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 9:56

Which is very interesting. What sort of projects were you doing for wineries, as an example?

Itay Lahat: 10:03

It depends on the wineries and all the owner requests. It could be in many cases being involved in everything meaning from planting to growing, to labeling and marketing strategy, and for others it was only please help me with blends, so it was spread all over the pans on the wheels of the wineries.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 10:33

What was the biggest challenge as a viticulturist in Israel?

Itay Lahat: 10:37

The biggest challenge there was there wasn't really a market for there. There was a small market for the premium wines and not much of appreciation of the work you should do to get there. So convincing growers, managers, even to the market, that you should do the hard work to get to the great wine it's not just being given from God or whatever. You have to really work hard for that and to convince growers to do the effort, that was a big challenge. And to convince managers to pay for the effort, that was even a bigger challenge.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 11:34

What sort of differences did they have to do to really work harder for their vineyards to produce better wines? What sort of things did they do?

Itay Lahat: 11:50

Back then it was mainly not 100%, but the conventional was getting a protocol. So you prune, you irrigate with lots of water, feeding the vineyards with a protocol, not. The protocol includes minimum extras like, for example, thinning. Punch thinning was very rare to convince someone that it's important.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 12:44

It would just let the clusters grow, whatever clusters were there.

Itay Lahat: 12:48

Whatever nature gave you, it was really hard to convince to thin Also the green thinning before which. Now, these days, for premium wines, that's the protocol. So today, working better your soil, measuring your irrigation, measuring your fertilization, if needed, measuring even your sprays, you don't do in premium grapes, premium growing of grapes, premium vineyards grapes, premium growing of grapes, premium vineyards, there's nothing that goes by protocol except spraying against a hoidium, for example. So the actual growing is by needs and not by protocols. So, from pruning, you're not going to prune for 20 tons per hectares, you'll prune for the best, best balance you can achieve. Then you definitely do a green thinning of shoot, green shoot thinning, unless you go watch, watch and see. There's no need this time. Okay, so there's so many more practices that you do, which are obviously more effort more costly and the end product is you get less.

Itay Lahat: 14:22

Yeah, so the effort is higher for less yield, and you can see it at the prices of the grapes, obviously, yeah.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 14:33

And I can see how people would say wait, what are you doing? You know we need as much yield as possible out of this area, and that's not what you're looking for. You're looking for quality, not quantity. Yeah.

Itay Lahat: 14:51

So today again, with premiums, you still have in Israel, in France, in everywhere, you still have the quantities vineyards and they are necessary. You need them too in the market. But when you have quality boutique winery it's not part of your game. You have nothing to do with medium quality grapes 100%.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 15:25

So when did you get into making your own wine?

Itay Lahat: 15:29

So I was playing in my mind with this for a long time. But the first wine was made at La Hattelavan in 2012.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 15:43

Did you use the same winery for all the grapes that you got, or did you pick the grapes from specific wineries? Vineyards, vineyards, I'm sorry, not wineries vineyards.

Itay Lahat: 15:57

I've been through two stages. I've been through two stages but in all cases there were vineyards that I was involved with the plantation and picking off the site and picking off the materials, and part of the deal was that I can get some for myself. So first stage was Jerusalem Hills and Golan Heights, but since 2018, concentrated on the Upper Galilee and mostly on the Western Upper.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 16:32

Galilee. So that's that, elkosh. Vineyard.

Itay Lahat: 16:36

Elkosh Vineyard is the main vineyard that I source fruit from. But I do fruit from, but I do source from other places in the Upper Galilee.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 16:47

What's that like now? This morning my phone was pinging me every two seconds about another missile launch into the Upper Galilee, and that whole area has become crazy. What's it like now to be there, where I live?

Itay Lahat: 17:09

is 12 kilometers from the border, so the day-to-day life is normal but very noisy because you have it all. You have the Air Force going there, you have the Hezbollah shooting on you, you have the IDF shooting back, you see it in the sky, you hear it. So far we're not directly attacked, but hopefully it will stay like this. But the vineyards are much closer to the border and so that's tougher. I have one vineyard that I source from in Dovev. It's right on the border and you can go and practice there and walk there only when the army lets you do that and it's still a big risk. You.

Itay Lahat: 18:06

I have another one that was hit by either missiles or missiles parts, so with and was uh when it was burned. So one of the vineyards that I source from important fruit is half burn and not to the ground, so probably it will recover for next vintage, but not for this one. And you know you plan for those grapes, you had your vintage plan and now you don't have this plot. And in Elkosh that's also tough. You have to go through an army block and you go after the block. Roads are quiet, Sometimes you see the army, then you see the sky is burning and sometimes you have the siren and you have to run to the next terrace, and in one case one of my important vineyards is really, really close to the border, and when was the time to spray against downy and powdery mildew? No one would do that. So we will suffer the significant loss of grapes, of yields, and you never learn any of that at school.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 19:35

And please, god, you should never. This should be over this year. I hope to God it's over this year. I was up in Reconadi and it's, and there there's 7.64 kilometers from the border, so it's close enough to the 8 kilometers that they don't usually.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 19:59

They're not getting impacted by what's being sent from Lebanon Beside the Meiron, beside the Meiron, which is heavily Right, but yeah, they're not a target, like Meiron is a target, but that five kilometers that's across the top of Israel is almost like free of anybody but the army. Right now. It's very hard. It's very hard. Tell me a little bit about your wines. I've tasted them and I love them. By the way, thank you, I've been drinking them, for I've tasted them and I love them.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 20:42

By the way, Thank you, I've been drinking them, for you said you started making wine when 2012.

Itay Lahat: 20:50

For this label, for the Lahat label. Yes, the Lahat label started in 2012.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 20:54

2012. So I've been drinking them, I think, since 2016. And I love them, thank you. Yeah, I started actually drinking the reds, and now I've been drinking the whites as well. So tell me a little bit about it. What type of wine is it? What was your focus in making these wines?

Itay Lahat: 21:22

First the headline. Let's say I call it a personal terroir, meaning combining the two most important things the land, which make you different wines, and you need to explore your own, and that's the region we're discussing, but not only also personal to wine. So it's my interpretation for this and I looked at wines first as a culinary drink have to go with food. It's really nice to enjoy a glass of wine without food, but this is not my goal. This is different wine making different style. So that's the first thing it has to be tasty and complex and balanced and fits many different cuisines and habits of eating.

Itay Lahat: 22:36

So in reds, tannins are soft, alcohol is moderate, acidity is relatively high. And that's where the terroir came together with my personal ideas, because these specific vineyards give me very low pHs. It's really unique. It probably comes from a lack of potassium in the soil, but the outcome is that it's a very low pH wine. So it gives me the opportunity to write at the perfect stage of ripeness low but ripe. Low sugar, but ripe, and with a really crisp, nice acidity. Much higher acidity and lower pH than average. Warm climate Also decided to do in the red varieties that are less tannic, less harsh, less green, like Syrah is the main red variety and in the different labels there's one variety of Syrah and two different blends, but then the different wines, but the main is the Syrah influence, which have almost no green character, very juicy style and soft tannins.

Itay Lahat: 24:16

So the wines are very drinkable and the best bottle of wine is an empty bottle of wine. Yes, and the best things I can hear from customers and other give you credits is that was we had many bottles on the table. That was the first one to get empty, so for me that's the best thing I can hear, and with the white.

Itay Lahat: 24:51

I actually want to make it's not a full body, because again it's low, medium alcohol. Not low, but medium alcohol.

Itay Lahat: 25:04

Approximately 13 is usually the point, could be a bit higher or a bit lower, and so it's ripe. Medium alcohol, crisp acidity again. But I want to make them very complex, so to make the white like the red and the red like the white in a way. So again, the variety I use is which you can call them Mediterranean, south of France, rhone, you can call them Rhone, rhone varieties, rond varieties are such like Rossan, vionier, marsan, all grapes that give you good or great or the best texture you can think of from the varieties that are available in Israel.

Itay Lahat: 25:58

So besides being complex and balanced, they are textured. All whites are aged for a relatively long time with oak or modern amphoras. Most wines are in oak but there's no part that is just stainless steel and doing nothing for evaluating for levage. So they're evolving in oak, big oak, usually 400, 500 liters. They're evolving, they stay on leaves. I get patient with them. There's no rush, no rush to anything.

Itay Lahat: 26:52

Do you do batanage? At the beginning slightly, and then I leave it for a long time without moving the wine at all on these and I'm kind of laid back with those things. It's not really laid back because you're on top of everything, but it's slow. Things happen. So you crush slowly, then you feel the press. I don't do whole bunch press. I leave it on skins, but not for too long. It just takes long to feel the press. So this is the time you'll have the skin contact. No worry, go have a coffee. Come back now. We're going to get the free-run juice and maybe a light press into it. The juice is going to the oak, not wine going to the oak. Juice is going to the oak and then you ferment it inside the oak.

Itay Lahat: 27:59

Yes, yes yes, and then I can use many kinds of yeast, for example, so to get the more complexity also by that, and the varieties and the vineyards, and then leave it there till it's time to wake up and blend.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 28:22

How long do you leave it on the oak for? What's the typical amount of time For?

Itay Lahat: 28:27

the whites they got in oak in August to September. The latest vineyards come in September, the earlier come mid-August. And then I bottled. The 2023 was bottled just two weeks ago, so mid-June, so a few weeks before I get them out of oak and make them ready for bottling. And the reds the reds will stay uh with. First I try to get them if possible to oak the earliest possible, even still fermenting so separate from skins at the last grams of sugar into oak directly. Then it, it stays there. It's finished fermentation there, finished malolactic there, with no wrecking, and develop more character and even some stinkiness and earthiness a little bit, and some reductiveness bit and some reductiveness. Then a few months later it depends on vintage, but between three to six months later I blend them to their final blends. So you blend in the middle. That's cool, and so it could be January. That it will be January of no, if it was 23, the 23 vintage, the wines were blended January 24. And then it will stay blended in oak for another year.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 30:10

You know, you mentioned that you come to it from a culinary perspective. So what sort of food would you eat with the whites?

Itay Lahat: 30:21

First what I try and think that quite succeeded, that those wines fit to most of the possibilities. These days you can say that a couple going to a restaurant will drink only one bottle of the possibilities. These days you can say that a couple going to a restaurant will drink only one bottle. It depends what glasses they use.

Itay Lahat: 30:48

Yeah, or people drive. People want to stay in touch with reality Papers. Yeah. So you know, this is the modern time. People don't stay for five hours in restaurant and having eight dishes with three bottles of wine. Usually that's the normal case, yeah.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 31:13

And.

Itay Lahat: 31:14

I really like them to have a large bottle of wine from the beginning to the end. So with white it's easier, because you can start with raw fish and finish almost everywhere. Maybe not a charcoal steak, but almost all the rest will fit, even hard dishes like stews with lamb. The whites will fit it definitely, and with reds you shifted a little bit. So the raw fish maybe not, but from there up, even roasted fish they're to the end, to the heavy meat, it will be fine.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 32:10

So those wines are fit to that to be with you for a full meal. And I even actually like spicy foods with crisp whites. Spicy foods with with crisp whites, like Asian food with a crisp white is like very yeah with Asian food.

Itay Lahat: 32:25

Crisp white will go very well, the spiciness and the umami yes that will fit well, but more I don't know let's say sophisticated food or more Mediterranean spices. Then we'll go better with more brown style wines.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 32:55

So you've made some big steps. Recently there's been some announcements of your moving up into Barkan, the first step that was exactly one year ago was that we became partners exactly one year ago, was that we became partners?

Itay Lahat: 33:20

So they invest in Lahat winery so we can make more wine, build a new facility, new modern, state-of-the-art equipment, the facilities which we are planning now. So the first thing is that the Lahat winery is growing up.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 33:41

So that was one of my questions Was Lahat going to grow or were you going to be absorbed into Barkan? No, no, not at all.

Itay Lahat: 33:50

No, no it's totally independent. I'm the winemaker, the manager, the grape grower and partner and the main focus is on that. If, by myself, I produce 20,000 bottles, the goal is to do that at the best way. The effort you need a lot of effort, also the support of a big company, a big and enthusiastic company, because you need to plant grapes you, you need a facility, you need a cache and I'm happy that I have them on those side and they're happy that their distribution can sell Lahat and they just started now to sell. Balkan started to sell Lahat just this month and at the moment we're all happy with that.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 35:04

Not very happy with all the rest happening around, but this, this step was looks very promising so do you have any plans for changes from what you're doing now, or you're just expanding what you're doing?

Itay Lahat: 35:21

now, no, just expanding the portfolio will stay more or less the same labels, the same. I will introduce probably, hopefully next year Rose Wine, but that's the only one. That's a thing I thought of doing for a long time, but every time my effort was in doing other things. But there's a good chance that I can introduce a rose, not the one that is the niche today South Provence, very light wine. I want to make a wine first, a wine that is a rose and not a rose that might be a wine. So that's the game.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 36:01

Something that's more complex. Yes, a wine, right, that's a real wine, something that's a wine.

Itay Lahat: 36:06

Usually we said red wine, white wine and rose. No, it should be rose wine, not rose. Right, but all will stay the same, except that on the back label, instead of Itai Lahat, it's Lahat Winery LTD. That's the only thing, and that I'll have more wineries, more vineyards to source from. I already bought new equipment that it should be loaded in Italy as we speak. For the coming vintage. Well, in this side, I think the future is bright. As you know, when we're recording, the last is less known.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 36:59

Are you going to take any responsibilities at Barkan as well?

Itay Lahat: 37:04

That's a very new thing. They asked me and Avi Feldstein to be chief technical or something like that. We haven't done anything yet, we just accepted it Very challenging project that me and also Avi and the old company and Olivier took on us. Slowly, slowly, we'll do what we need to do.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 37:28

I love that they've given you the not only the resources but the vineyards to be able to pick what you want.

Itay Lahat: 37:39

For the start, for the small first steps, I could pick the Rossan vineyards from the Upper Galilee they have. The rest is the vineyards that I planted with Yoel Benayoun from Elkosh, the grape grower, so I can get some help from that, but still the majority is what I had before. There were new plantations coming in which before I didn't know if I can source them myself, and now I know that I can.

Itay Lahat: 38:16

So the first step is plantings that we did and now I know that I can source from them, and another step is good vineyards that I could source from them and grow with the agronomist Ishai in the upper Galilee. No, those that didn't burn down.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 38:39

It's crazy, you know. I just want to tell you there are many small boutique wineries that choose to go the path of not being kosher. It's an easier path, certainly an easier path, and it's certainly a more hands-on path. It's very hard to put somebody else's hands in your place when you're in a winery. I honestly don't know how kosher winemakers do it. It's crazy to me, but I'm so happy that you are one of the wineries that chose to be Kasher, because I love your wines, thank you. Thank you very much. In the kosher community across from between the United States, the UK, israel, certainly you have a lot of fans. Thank you, I didn't know that.

Itay Lahat: 39:49

You do, you really do A little bit, but I'm not following all of that.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 39:55

Really nice to hear, and it's also I love that you're clearly identifiably Israeli. It's not something that's hidden. Everything is in Hebrew and it's done so tastefully and beautifully that I love it, thank you. There's so many examples of phenomenal wineries now, new wineries that are modern. The equipment now is so amazing. I mean, you can see all of your tanks or barrels on your iPhone and you need to have hands-on all the time, but in order to monitor things, you can now monitor 24 hours a day.

Itay Lahat: 40:50

Yes, but this when we discussed I look at the phone and the guy that's there that I have to call him back is a guy that works with monitors yeah, exactly. Yeah With sensors, yeah, with sensors. And I was about to purchase some sensors that measure in tank the ongoing fermentation and give you online ongoing stats on the sugar levels. And there was some problem because the frequency is not allowed in Israel because that's the. The army use it. So we hired a guy in Israel to try to overcome that.

Itay Lahat: 41:33

And there's this company, the Portuguese company. They're going probably that's what I'm working on now they're probably going to make some better trials with me with a frequency that fits to Israel. So I need to speak with him because that could be a very interesting thing, but mainly small wineries cannot use those tools. It's mostly others. But this thing doesn't influence the wine. It helps you in the process, it helps you to be on top of, but it doesn't really change the wine. There are some other things that are more important in terms of really the wine quality, definitely in the receiving lines and the crushers and the de-steamers that can give you cleaner berries at the end of the process.

Itay Lahat: 42:45

I'm going to buy a really nice press that is the most up-to-date quality and technology that can give you the best juice at the end of this beginning process. Those things are more important. There are lots of brilliant technologies now, but they don't fit small wineries. The huge wineries have now some opportunities that they never had before. It would really be a blue ocean. You can really take the leftovers and recover good wine from it, for example. So to take not the best grapes but to extract the good stuff with avoiding the not as good. So those are really game changers, but it doesn't fit the boutique winemaking.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 43:50

One last question that actually I forgot to ask you was you use amphoras? Yes, so tell me a little bit about the difference between the amphoras and the. Yeah, oh for sure.

Itay Lahat: 44:04

First, not all amphoras are the same. Yeah, okay, two most important things about amphoras Oxygen transmission, which could be from way too much to not enough, and you do need to have the exact OTR. And second is the quality of the material. So let's assume that we're only discussing clean clay and not contaminated clay from wherever. So that's the first stage. And then is the OTR again, and the amphora I used from Tava in the north of Italy. They're absolutely the best. I've been trying many before I picked them, absolutely the best. I've been trying many before I picked them.

Itay Lahat: 45:02

And the oxidant transmission there is about the same as new oak without having the oak flavor. So for me there could be thing like the least. Contact could be different because of the shape. But for me the most important thing is when I made my first varietal Rossin so we discussed the Syrah before as the main red variety of the winery and the Rossin is the main white variety of the winery. So I wanted to have the varietal expression in the best possible way I can, and for me was to give it evolution with the exact oxygens as in oak without impairing the taste of the oak. So I use it now mainly for the Rassan Amphora wine, thank you.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 46:07

Thank you very much for being on the Closure to a Wall.

Itay Lahat: 46:09

I really appreciate it. Thank you for inviting me. It's a pleasure.

Solomon Simon Jacob: 46:13

Pleasure. Thank you, pleasure. This is Simon Jacob, again your host of today's episode of the Kosher Terroir. I have a personal request no matter where you are or where you live, please take a moment to pray for our soldiers' safety and the safe and rapid return of our hostages. Please subscribe via your podcast provider to be informed of our new episodes as they are released. If you're new to the Kosher Terroir, please check out our many past episodes and thank you for listening to the Kosher Terroir.