The term “game-changer” is used far too frequently in the world of wine. But when discussing Avi Feldstein and his impact on the Israeli wine industry, it’s the only appropriate way to describe him. Over the course of a career that’s lasted for more than four decades, Feldstein has worked in seemingly every conceivable part of the business, from mixologist and wine writer to marketing manager and vice president of business development at the iconic Segal winery, all before crossing over into production. And now, after helping shape a generation of wine professionals and playing a major role in putting the modern wines of Israel’s ancient land on the map, he has introduced his own eponymous wine brand to the United States. The four wines that are currently available here from the Feldstein portfolio represent the culmination of a lifelong dedication to the transformative power of wine in general, and Israeli wine in particular.

A Means of Communication

“My first love is language,” Feldstein said, the knowing gleam in the eyes of this published poet as full of passion as ever. As a student, he pursued Western philosophy and the philosophy of language, an endeavor that, even all these decades later, continues to shape how he sees the wine he produces and its role in the world. Indeed wine, which his family of Romanian immigrants drank regularly at home in Israel, has exerted an unavoidable pull his entire life. Ultimately, he would come to conclude that wine, in addition to being a way to express the truth of the land and to accompany a meal, was above all else a means of communication. “But wine,” he pointed out, “unlike words alone, can cross cultural and linguistic boundaries.”

Feldstein’s vinous journey began early. In order to make extra money as a student, he took up bartending. Eventually, he opened the first school for bartenders in Israel. During that time in Tel Aviv, he created large chapters for his students on wine, spirits and beer. Ultimately, that led to a stint as a wine writer for newspapers. All the while, however, the pull of working on the inside of the industry proved too strong to ignore.

If wine is one of the few means of communication that crosses all borders—in that regard, Feldstein believes, it is similar to music—then helping to craft and sell it was the only logical next step. “I wanted to create wine instead of just words.”

Mining the Past for an Even Richer Future

Feldstein initially found himself in management and development at Segal, the iconic wine producer that, at the time, he recalled, “was a company with a rich past, but not a clear future.” This was back in the 1990s, when prevailing wisdom held that “the vineyards grow the grapes and the winery makes the wine, and they should not overlap,” he said. “I convinced them that they should take care of their own vineyards.”

He enlisted the help of the son of Segal’s CEO to convince the boss to allow him to plant the first five vineyards in the Upper Galilee. Back then, this was a region believed to be much better suited to growing other fruits and crops. The Judean Hills and the Golan Heights were increasingly carpeted with vineyards, but the Upper Galilee was a sort of vinous terra incognita.

Yet Feldstein was convinced of its potential. “The diversity of terroirs, the micro-climates, the range of aspects—it was incredible,” he noted.

The five vineyards he planted there have since become iconic, but at the time, the endeavor was far from a guaranteed success. And yet, like all game-changers, no matter the industry, Feldstein persevered. Between 1995 and 2000, he planted approximately 700 dunams (around 173 acres) of grapevines.

It caused a sensation. The first year the grapes were harvested, he remembers, there was a line of locals asking to buy the wine. Within a few years, as the quality of that land became clear, other vineyards were planted around the initial five, and a wine region was born.

Or, rather, reborn. Because while Feldstein was the first to pioneer the Upper Galilee in our modern era, he was beaten to the proverbial punch by a thousand years or so. One day, while hiking a few hundred meters from his vineyards, he came upon the remnants of a synagogue in an ancient Jewish settlement where, a millennium in the past, wine and olive oil were produced. The Upper Galilee, it turned out, had always been perfectly suited to growing wine. It’s just that the knowledge had been lost for countless generations, and it took a visionary like Feldstein to bring it back to light.

A Champion of Indigenous Varieties, and of Israel’s
World-Class Wine Potential

In the beginning, the Upper Galilee was primarily a place for cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah—the varieties that the vast majority of new and established wine regions were focusing on in the 1990s, given their wide popular familiarity and tendency to earn the highest scores from the most important critics of the time. Argaman, arguably Israel’s most important hybrid grape variety, was grown at lower altitudes, often over-cropped, and used primarily in Segal’s entry-level red.

“But I saw its potential,” Feldstein said. “Argaman was like a rough stone waiting to be cut into a diamond.” He planted a vineyard 450 meters above sea level, “And that movement changed everything.” He lowered yields from what had become typical for Argaman. He green-harvested. He chose new rootstocks to better leverage the terroir. “I showed that Argaman could be a vin de garde [a wine that could potentially age and evolve favorably over the long term], work beautifully alongside a great dinner and age brilliantly as well.”

As always, he was right. And while there was no research he could look to in order to guide his path forward, Feldstein soon realized that Argaman was perfectly suited to a more modern philosophy of winemaking, with lower alcohol, higher acidity and a greater perception of freshness as the wine ages.

That first commercial Argaman vineyard was planted in 1999; the first commercial vintage hit the market in 2006. It was the beginning of Feldstein’s international ascent.

Around the same time, he created a number of iconic wines for Segal, including a highly regarded chardonnay and reds that The Economist called “the Screaming Eagle of Israel” and that British wine critic Jancis Robinson referred to as one of the six best kosher wines in the world.

Soon after, Feldstein left to work as a wine consultant, but he realized that his true calling was crafting wines under his own name. Feldstein Winery opened in 2014, and while he didn’t have enough money to hire an adequate team to help him—he did everything himself, from cleaning the winery to making the wine—he released 6,000 bottles that first year, all built on a strict set of rules that he has refused to deviate from.

No repeating past achievements: “If you stop creating,” he said, “you stop evolving—you may not notice it right away, but the spark fades.”

A focus on cutting-edge winemaking, and a willingness to shift as conditions dictate.

A promise to be outspoken about Israeli grape varieties—not just Argaman, but increasingly Dabouki, too.

Today, four Feldstein wines are available in the United States: a layered, deeply accomplished grenache-based rosé; a white wine built on Dabouki; an age-worthy cabernet sauvignon; and the iconic Gilgamesh red, which brings together three regions and six grape varieties (including, of course, Argaman) from five individual vineyards to create a wine of unforgettable depth of character. He also still serves as the technical director of Segal and Barkan. His stamp on the world of Israeli wine remains as indelible as ever.

Feldstein’s journey in wine may have begun decades ago, but his sense of curiosity, passion and wonder are as youthfully vibrant as ever. “You don’t make a cultural revolution by giving a new answer to an old question,” he said. “You need to ask an entirely new question.”

He has been doing that for more than 40 years. In the process, he has helped to spur a revolution in Israeli wine and the ways it’s perceived around the world. Which proves what he has always believed: Wine is not only a sacred beverage to drink for kiddush. It is also one of the best means we have to communicate with one another, no matter who we are or where we’re from. Feldstein’s wines do that with character, honesty and unforgettable deliciousness.