HaKerem: The Israeli Wine Blog

Few people have heard of Teperberg 1870 wine, and very little of it is available in the United States (although I did see some in Germany last year). Formerely Efrat Winery (but not located in the city of Efrat), Teperberg has been producing wine since 1870, originally from the Old City of Jerusalem and then outside the city. Of course, for much of its history, it was producing sweet, sickly Kiddush wines. On the other hand, so was Carmel and everyone’s heard of Carmel. Founded by the Tepeberg family, the winery is still in the family’s hands. Personally, Teperberg 1870 is one of my personal favorite wineries.

But today, Teperberg is a winery on the way up. Its top of the lines compete favorably in my opinion with good value wineries like Galil Mountain, Recanati and Tabor (haven’t heard of Tabor? Why is this not available in the US?). In fact, one of my favorite wines is the Teperberg Meritage, which is a Bordeaux-style blend not made in France (learn more about a Meritage in this Washington Post article), which I opened up the 2005 Teperberg 1870 Meritage over the weekend. Not a wine for aging, it was quite smooth (moreso than the 2006) and of medium complexity, although I think I prefer the 2006 vintage.

Meritage is one of the few Teperberg wines available in the United States (kosherwine.com is only selling the Meritage and Shiraz, but onlinekosherwine.com has several more!). It’s also available in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe.

These aren’t the most spectacular wines ever, but they also don’t cost an arm and a leg.

Teperberg is making wine in four series:

Teperberg Reserve

Teperberg Select

Terra – some top wine at a good price. The Cabernet Sauvignon got a 90 from Rogov, and this isn’t one of his favorite Israeli wines.

Israeli – a mevushal mix, not as good as the higher lines, this is what I saw in Germany. Not available in the US, I think this is better than the standard “simcha” wines of Carmel and Barkan and really would be a great wine served for B’nai Mitzvot and Jewish weddings and other events (when a mevushal wine is needed).