It’s hard to think of a more beautiful and interesting wine trip than a visit to the Clos de Gat winery in Mitzpe Harel. And that’s even before trying their exquisite wine! Clos de Gat Winery is an Israeli boutique winery on Kibbutz Harel, at the foot of the Judean Hills.
THE PORCH WHERE THE WINE TASTING IS DONE
So the Winery is the result of a joint venture between winemaker Eyal Rotem and Kibbutz Harel. Furthermore, the vineyards were planted in 1998 and the winery began operating in the 2001 vintage. The winery owns 130 dunams of vineyards and it markets about 60,000 bottles a year (as of 2011). He produces wine in three series: Sikra, Clos de Gat and Harel. The name of the winery is based on the phrase: “Clos” – in French: a vineyard fenced in with a stone wall and “Gat” – an ancient winery in Hebrew.
In addition, Daniel Rogov chose the winery as the fifth-best in Israel (2011). Clos de Gat is one of the Israeli wines that received the highest scores from wine critic Robert Parker, the magazines “Wine Spectator” and “Decanter”.
More About Clos de Gat
So the winery is perched between their vineyards where they make also their wonderful wine which makes it one of the best estate wineries in Israel. Usually, the wine tasting is on the porch that overlooks the vineyards. But if it’s getting too hot then we will be sitting at the air-conditioned stone house that once served as the headquarters of Yitzhak Rabin during the War of Independence.
