If you had told someone in 1980 that the Golan Heights would produce world-class wine, they would have looked at you with polite concern. The Golan was cattle country, a wind-swept volcanic plateau where kibbutzniks raised beef and grew apples. Wine? In the Golan? On basalt rocks a thousand meters above sea level?
Turns out, those were exactly the right conditions.
How It Started
The modern Golan wine story begins with Professor Cornelius Ough of the University of California at Davis, one of the world’s leading viticulture experts. In the late 1970s, Ough was invited to Israel to assess potential wine-growing regions. He tasted the soil, studied the climate data, and pointed to the Golan Heights. The altitude, the volcanic soil, the cool nights, and the significant temperature variation between day and night were, he said, ideal for growing premium wine grapes.
In 1983, the Golan Heights Winery was established by a consortium of kibbutzim and moshavim on the plateau. The first vintages were a revelation. Suddenly, Israel, a country known for sweet sacramental wine, was producing serious, age-worthy reds and crisp, elegant whites that competed with the best in the world. The Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon won international medals, and the Israeli wine revolution had begun.
The Terroir
Wine people love to talk about terroir, the combination of soil, climate, and geography that gives wine its character. The Golan Heights has terroir in abundance.
The volcanic basalt soil is rich in minerals and retains moisture well, giving the vines a steady supply of nutrients without excessive irrigation. The altitude, ranging from 400 to 1,200 meters, creates cooler temperatures than the Israeli lowlands, which allows the grapes to ripen slowly and develop complex flavors. And the dramatic temperature drop between warm days and cold nights preserves the grapes’ acidity, giving Golan wines a freshness and structure that warmer regions struggle to achieve.
The result is wines with a mineral backbone, concentrated fruit, and a sense of place that is distinctly Golan. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah thrive here, as do white varieties like Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
The Wineries
The Golan Heights Winery remains the largest and most well-known producer, with its Yarden, Gamla, and Golan labels available in restaurants and shops worldwide. The winery’s visitor center at Katzrin offers tastings and tours that explain the winemaking process from vineyard to bottle.
But the real excitement on the Golan is in the boutique wineries. Dozens of small producers have sprung up across the plateau, each with its own style and philosophy. Some focus on single-vineyard wines that express a specific plot of volcanic soil. Others experiment with unusual grape varieties or minimal-intervention winemaking. A day of wine tasting on the Golan can take you from a large, professional operation to a tiny garage winery where the owner pours you a glass of something extraordinary and tells you the story of the vineyard while his dog sleeps at your feet.
Wine and Food
The Golan wine scene has naturally attracted food to match. Several wineries have excellent restaurants attached, and the combination of Golan wine with local produce, beef from the kibbutz ranches, cheese from the Golan dairies, and olive oil from the southern slopes, creates a culinary experience that rivals anything in Tel Aviv, with better views.
Experience Golan Wine with Hoshen Tours
A wine tour of the Golan Heights is one of the most enjoyable days you can spend in Israel. Hoshen Tours designs wine itineraries that combine the best wineries with the stunning landscape, local cuisine, and the history that makes the Golan one of the most fascinating regions in the country.
Because great wine needs great stories. And the Golan Heights has both.