Tasting the Fine Wines of Assaf Winery in Israel

To be honest, I’ve never really been a huge fan of wine. But then again, I have only tried cheap wine (when I was ballin’ on a budget in college), so my wine palate is not too diverse. When my tour guide in Israel, Eli of Israel4All, said that we’d be visiting a winery and doing a tasting, I thought that it would be interesting, but I had no idea what to expect. As always, I’m willing to try anything once. So I thought, let’s give this wine tasting a shot.

 

 assaf winery wine tasting in israel

 

We started the day in Tiberias at the Leonardo Plaza Hotel and the winery was about a one hour drive away. We stopped at some other sights along the way, which I’ll cover in depth in future blog posts, but when we reached the winery it was beautiful. There were mountains, vineyards and more. I truly felt like I was somewhere special and I was ready to start trying some wine.

 

 

Assaf Winery is owned by the Kedem family. They have been growing vineyards since 1990 and making wine since 1997. Since then, the business has grown to become the most prestigious winery in Israel. In addition to trying wine at Assaf, you can visit the AdiKa Coffee House, which serves tapas, pastries, and drinks, and is located inside the main visitor’s center. If you’d like to have the full experience, you can even opt to stay in one of their cabins for a night or two. There are three cabins and staying in them means that you will have complimentary breakfast, dinner, and all of the wine that your tastebuds desire.

 

Oren Kedem and I

Oren Kedem and I

 

My visit to Assaf Winery started by sitting at one of the outdoor tables. As we waited for the full tasting, we were quickly served our first glass of wine. It was a rosé wine and was my favorite one of the day actually. It was sweet and quite delicious. Definitely better than any wine that I had previously had. We relaxed and sipped on the rosé for about 20 minutes, when we were then informed that it was time for the wine tasting.

 

assaf winery wine tasting in israel

 

The wine tasting took place inside and at a high top bar table. Luckily, with my new wheelchair I can raise up to eye-level, so it was easy for me to sit at the high-top table. If you are using a chair that can’t raise up, just let the staff at Assaf know and I’m sure that they’ll be happy to come up with a solution to accommodate you. They were incredibly helpful and nice.

As soon as I pulled up to the bar area, I saw eight or nine bottles of wine sitting out. Almost immediately, I said “Are we going to try ALL of these?!”. And Oren Kedem, one of the owners of Assaf Winery and our wine tasting expert, said “Yes” with an enthusiasm. Early on, it was easy to see how much passion he has for this business.

 

 assaf winery wine tasting in israel

 

The tasting started by trying some white wines. The portions were quite generous and he said that we didn’t have to drink it all if we didn’t want to, but of course I did. The whites were good, but my two favorite wines that I tried were the rosé and the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, a red wine. During this tasting I learned that I do prefer red wines, but it was a lot of fun trying all of the different kinds. Oren did a fantastic job of explaining each one also.

 

 assaf winery wine tasting in israel

 

The wine tasting lasted for about 45 minutes. I may or may not have drank my Assaf at Assaf Winery (get it??), but it was a fun time (from what I can remember. Haha!). After the tasting, we decided to get some lunch in the adjoining AdiKa Coffee House. I got a cheese and bread platter, which came with 2 more glasses of wine. It was delicious and I would definitely recommend grabbing a bite to eat here after doing the tasting and of course making a few purchases of wine before departing.

 

 assaf winery wine tasting in israel

 

After drinking so much wine, you might need to use the restroom. I’m happy to say that there is an accessible restroom just outside the coffee house. The restroom was spacious. Overall, Assaf Winery was very wheelchair accessible and I never encountered a problem.

 

 assaf winery wine tasting in israel

 

My experience at Assaf Winery was an unexpected delight. I went from literally knowing nothing about wine and thinking that I wasn’t a fan to really enjoying it and learning a lot. This ended up being one of the highlights from my recent trip to Israel and if I’m ever back in the area, I’ll definitely be stocking up on some great wine at Assaf. Whether you like wine or not, I would encourage you to give wine tasting at Assaf Winery a try. It’s a unique Israeli experience that shouldn’t be missed.

Want to see my experience at Assaf Winery in action? Check out this short video –

*Thank you to Israel4All and Assaf Winery for this unforgettable experience. All opinions are authentic and my own.

 

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