Israeli Winemakers Rebuilt a Legendary Grape. Find out it’s Shocking Story
Israel wine varieties have been produced and poured for 5,000 years. Now a legendary grape from Biblical scripture is available for $12. Here’s what you’re missing.
The grape nearly didn’t survive. Armies moved through the Levant over centuries, vineyards were stripped during the Crusades, and what remained were ancient vines hiding in the corners of Palestinian villages — unnamed, unrecognized, barely tended.
Centuries later, two scientists walked those same communities together, collected samples, and sent them to a laboratory.
What came out of that laboratory was Argaman: a grape engineered from Carignan and Souzão, bred to recreate the crimson wine described throughout the Bible, now produced across five or six small vineyards in Israel. One winery sells it for $12 a bottle.
“Argaman is this crimson color,”
Josh Greenstein
Founder and Executive vice president of the Israeli Wine Producers Association
“It’s mimicking this grape from the Bible. And it’s really amazing to see the quality that they got out of it.”
That $12 price tag is not a concession. It is a statement about where Israeli wine stands right now: technically ambitious, historically singular, and still operating below the price ceiling the market would easily support. For anyone who has spent years navigating the bloated middle of the American wine shelf, that combination is worth paying attention to.
The Organization Behind the Introduction
Greenstein founded the IWPA nearly 15 years ago with a single, unglamorous mandate: tell the American market that Israel makes wine.
Not kiddush wine. Not sweet ceremonial wine. Wine.
“The biggest misconception is that all wines from Israel are sweet,”
Greenstein says flatly.
“Not so much true.”
The IWPA now represents 40 wineries — approximately 60% of Israeli wine exported to the United States — spanning boutique estates and large-scale producers across every growing region in the country. The portfolio runs from that $12 Argaman to serious premium bottles, with distribution across all 50 states through major retailers including Total Wine, Binny’s, and Wines.com.
What Greenstein is selling isn’t a single style. It is a country that has been producing wine for more than 5,000 years and is only now receiving the editorial attention that usually takes decades to cultivate. The gap between quality and recognition is, at this moment, still an advantage for the attentive buyer.
Why Israeli Terroir Resists Easy Comparison
Israel is roughly the size of New Jersey. It contains dozens of soil types, significant elevation variation, a hot Mediterranean climate moderated in many vineyards by drip irrigation, and geographic extremes that no single European appellation can match — from ski-accessible northern mountains to the lowest point on earth at the edge of the Dead Sea.
“There are so many different climates and microclimates within this small little tiny country,”
Greenstein says.
“Higher elevation, lower elevation, temperature changes — they have it all.”
Winemakers trained at UC Davis, in Bordeaux, and across Italian estates are returning to Israel and applying what those programs taught them to conditions none of those programs fully anticipated. The result is a stylistic range that doesn’t fit a single frame: new world technique applied to old world varieties, layered over ancient indigenous grapes that predate both categories entirely.
The Rothschild family understood the potential early. In 1882 — the same year Baron Edmond de Rothschild was establishing what would become Château Lafite’s global reputation — he sent French rootstock and wine specialists to Israel, founding what became Carmel Winery in Zichron Ya’akov. That grafting of French viticulture onto ancient Levantine terroir has been compounding ever since.
The Grapes No One Is Talking About Yet — And What They Cost
Cabernet Sauvignon remains the volume leader in Israel, as it does nearly everywhere. But the more consequential conversation is happening in varieties that don’t appear on most American wine lists — and at price points that make the conversation easy to enter.
Marawi, Dabouki, Hamdani: ancient grapes recovered from surviving vines scattered across the region, now being produced commercially and showing what indigenous Israeli viticulture looks like before it was interrupted by centuries of conflict. Grenache Blanc is appearing as a precise, low-intervention white. Grenache Noir and Argaman, served slightly chilled, are being positioned as the intelligent answer to a problem anyone who has visited Napa in August already understands: sometimes the Cabernet isn’t what the heat calls for.
“They’ve finally realized it’s okay to drink other grapes,” Greenstein says. “The temperature is very important.”
The entry point matters here. Israeli winemakers have built their strongest value case in the $12-to-$30 range — and that’s where the indigenous varieties live. A Dabouki or an Argaman at $15 represents something no other wine-producing country is currently positioned to offer: genuine antiquity at an accessible price, without the premiums that European appellations attach to anything with a story this old.
At the upper end, the investment is real. Israeli wineries have spent the past decade reinvesting aggressively — visitor centers, expanded portfolios, export infrastructure — and the premium tier reflects it. Parker, Wine Enthusiast, and James Suckling are paying attention.
Resilience as a Business Model
Greenstein doesn’t avoid the context of what’s happening in Israel right now. When asked directly how the conflict has affected the wine industry, he’s honest without being dramatic.
“It’s tough times over there,” he says. “When your kids are at war or when you have to be in a bomb shelter a certain amount of nights a week, you don’t necessarily want to go to a winery.”
What he describes next is less counterintuitive than it first sounds: a domestic wine boom running in parallel with the disruption. The same wineries absorbing the economic shock of conflict are also the ones that have been reinvesting most aggressively in their visitor infrastructure and export capacity. The international food and wine press — the coverage that doesn’t require a political position — has become a meaningful economic lever for producers who need earned media to move product in new markets.
“Israel is a strong, strong country,”
Greenstein says.
“They overcome very quickly.”
The food dimension reinforces it. Israeli cuisine — Mediterranean in foundation, technically ambitious in execution — has become one of the more discussed culinary movements in major American cities. Greenstein cites chefs like Michael Solomonov and Einat Admony as part of a cultural pull that the wine can follow.
A slightly chilled Grenache Noir or Argaman alongside hummus, roasted vegetables, and fresh herbs isn’t a pairing suggestion. It’s the obvious call.
The Kosher Question, Answered Plainly
Most Israeli wine is kosher. Not all of it is. The distinction matters less than most American buyers assume.
“Kosher is simple,” Greenstein says. “It’s observation. A person standing in the building making sure that nothing is added to the process to make it not kosher.”
The wine is not blessed. It is not ceremonially altered. It is wine produced under verified conditions, with a certified observer confirming that no non-approved additives entered production. Greenstein’s illustration is useful: Snapple, Hershey bars, Lay’s potato chips — all kosher, none of them marketed as such, most buyers entirely unaware. The kosher certification on a bottle of Israeli wine carries roughly the same significance. It tells you what’s in it and confirms the process was clean.
How to Find It
Most American wine shops don’t carry Israeli wine yet. That is the opportunity, not the obstacle.
“Walk into your place that you dine the most or you shop the most,” Greenstein says, “and tell them you think Israeli wine would be great in their restaurant.”
IWPA member wines are distributed across all 50 states through major national retailers including Total Wine, Binny’s, and Wines.com. The association is reachable at iwpa.com and @IsraeliWine on Instagram.
Start with the Argaman. Then ask your wine shop manager why they don’t have it yet.
Mini FAQ
What is Argaman wine and where does it come from?
Argaman is an Israeli grape variety created by crossing Carignan and Souzão in a laboratory, designed to recreate the crimson grape described throughout the Bible. It produces a deeply colored red wine grown across a small number of vineyards in Israel. Entry-level bottles are available for as little as $12, with premium versions produced in limited quantities.
Is Israeli wine kosher?
Most Israeli wine is kosher, but not all. Kosher certification in winemaking is an observational process: a certified observer verifies that no non-approved additives enter production. The wine is not blessed or ceremonially altered. As Josh Greenstein of the IWPA explains, many everyday American products — Snapple, Hershey bars, Lay’s potato chips — carry kosher certification without consumers noticing. Israeli wine kosher certification works the same way.
Where can I buy Israeli wine in the United States?
IWPA member wines are distributed across all 50 states and available at major national retailers including Total Wine and Binny’s, as well as online through Wines.com. If your local shop doesn’t stock them, requesting specific bottles by name is the most direct way to get them on the shelf.