Making Contemporary Wines of Israel with Guy Eshel

Cru | Wine Industry Podcast

Born in Tel Aviv, Guy grew up between California and Israel, building a strong bond with both lands. After a harvest internship in Napa Valley, Guy decided to pursue winemaking professionally, and he graduated from the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology in 2013. He has worked at Cliff Lede Vineyards and Whetstone Wine Cellars in Napa Valley, Domaine Francois Villard in the Northern Rhone, and Clonakilla winery in Canberra, Australia. Most recently, before moving back to Israel to join Dalton Winery as head winemaker in 2015, Guy worked at Broc Cellars in Berkeley, one of California’s preeminent urban wineries.

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CRU COLLECTIVE WINES: 2019 Delta California Chenin Blanc There are only a handful of producers in California making stunning Chenin blanc and Delta is one of them. This wine full of characters classic to Chenin like lemon verbena, jasmine, Bartlett pear, apricot, blood orange, and my favorite tasting note that for me is the sign of a quality Chenin blanc, fresh persimmon. An odd one, I know! Super tasty! This Chenin is sourced from some chilly-willy vineyards way out on the Cali coast and fermented partially in stainless steel tanks and partially in neutral wood barrels which allows for a micro oxygenation during fermentation to develop more texture and provide a bit more lees contact. It’s also 12.5% alcohol so if you’re trying to stay a bit healthier, this is a solid wine for you.

So Delta is the new project from Alexis and Matt Iaconis, who just happen to be friends and neighbors of mine. Matt & Alexis first met while both working at the three-Michelin starred The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa and now have a beautiful family, own and make wine for there primary label brick & mortar, and now have Delta. What I love about the Delta wines is that they are California appellation, but that in no way means that they are of a lower-quality than the higher-end brick & mortar. Production is still small and their commitment to sustainability is even more so in focus while $1 of every bottle sold is donated to their non-profit partners like the The Surfrider Foundation and Cool Effect to help fight for environmental change, something that is near and dear to my heart having studied sustainable development in college. What’s even better though is that this Delta Chenin is $15 a bottle, a steal of a value! But, as a listener of Cru and because I love this wine so much, you get it for $13.50 a bottle when you shop on the Delta Wines website, winesforchange.com. Just enter the promo code CRU at checkout and Matt & Alexis will give ya that 10% off. Also, if you are yearning to explore the brick & mortar wines, which the 2015 Sweet Water Springs Vineyard Blanc de Blancs from the Russian River which drinks like blanc de blancs from my favorite village in Champagne called Vertus, you can snag 10% off all of the brick & mortar wines at brickandmortarwines.com too! I’m stoked, I hope you are! And I hope that you’ll enjoy this Chenin cause it is yummy!