Hagafen Cellars: Difference between revisions

| accessdateaccess-date = February 19, 2011}}</ref> The winery is owned and operated by winemaker Ernie Weir and his wife, Irit Weir.

| accessdateaccess-date = February 17, 2011}}</ref> Hagafen wines have been called "sophisticated, classic and correct",<ref name=Narlock/> and are "rated as some of the best kosher wines in the world".<ref name=Hill/>

| accessdateaccess-date = February 20, 2011}}</ref>

Like many Napa Valley wineries, Hagafen emphasizes Cabernet Sauvignon, and those wines have been favorably received by wine critics and writers for decades. In 1990, the ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that "in conjunction with the International Jewish Festival in New York, a group of wine experts evaluated more than 125 kosher wines. The panel selected the Hagafen Cellar 1987 cabernet sauvignon from California as the gold medal winner."<ref>{{Cite news

| accessdateaccess-date = February 22, 2011}}</ref> Sixteen years later, two wine writers for the ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' wrote, "We feel strongly that you simply can't go wrong with a Hagafen Cabernet Sauvignon."<ref>{{Cite news

| accessdateaccess-date = February 22, 2011}}</ref> In reviewing a Hagafen Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine writer for the ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote, "Classic, rich and powerful, this is a real Napa Cab at an optimal stage of maturity".<ref>{{Cite news

| accessdateaccess-date = February 22, 2011 }}</ref>

| accessdateaccess-date = February 19, 2011}}</ref>

About one-sixth of Hagafen's production is Riesling, which is cold fermented in stainless steel tanks. Wine writers with the ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' have praised Hagafen Riesling as "one of our favorite American Rieslings --– kosher or not --– for years", commenting that "Longtime wine lovers like his Riesling because it's a noble grape done right and novices find it unintimidating because it's slightly sweet and relatively low in alcohol. Everyone appreciates that it goes well with a wide variety of foods."<ref>{{Cite news

| accessdateaccess-date = February 19, 2011}}</ref>

On September 9, 1981, Hagafen Riesling was served at a White House [[State dinner#United States|state dinner]], held by President [[Ronald Reagan]] to honor Israeli Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]].<ref>{{Cite news

| authorlinkauthor2 = Hill, Gerald

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iLAziv4N_dgC&pg=PA255&dqq=%22Hagafen+Cellars%22&hlpg=en&ei=udNeTen_CIOgsQPZu9DUCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&sqi=2&ved=0CEgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22Hagafen%20Cellars%22&f=falsePA255

| doiisbn = 978-0-7627-3443-6

| accessdateaccess-date = February 17, 2011}}</ref>

| newspaper = [[j.|jJ. theThe Jewish news weeklyNews of Northern California]]

| accessdateaccess-date = February 20, 2011}}</ref> on December 2, 2010. The 500 guests at that Hanukkah party included three Supreme Court justices, members of Congress, rabbis, astronauts and artists.<ref>{{Cite web

| publisher = [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]

| accessdateaccess-date = February 19, 2011}}</ref>

<ref>{{Cite news

| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VcIzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wzIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=5018,2550191&dq=ernie-weir&hl=en

| accessdateaccess-date = February 19, 2011}}</ref> and later used custom crush facilities.

| accessdateaccess-date = February 19, 2011}}</ref> Weir and his wife Irit later gained full ownership of the business.

| accessdateaccess-date = February 19, 2011 }}</ref> The Hagafen wine production facility on the [[Silverado Trail]] opened in 2000 and the stand-alone tasting room opened in 2002.<ref>{{Cite book

| doiquote = Hagafen Cellars.

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=v39_FVyR1gsC&pg=PA105&dqq=%22Hagafen+Cellars%22&hlpg=en&ei=LrxeTbW5EZSCsQOdtunRCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&sqi=2&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22Hagafen%20Cellars%22&f=falsePA105

| accessdate = }}</ref>

Originally, Hagafen purchased all its grapes from other wine grape growers. In 1984, it was reported that "Hagafen Cellars produces kosher wine from some of the best vineyards, such as riesling and chardonnay from Winery Lake Vineyard in the Carneros region of Napa Valley." <ref>{{Cite book

A native of [[Los Angeles]], Ernie Weir was a sociology major at [[UCLA]], and then enrolled in the viticulture program at [[UC Davis]].<ref name=Hill/> His first exposure to agriculture came while working on a [[kibbutz]] in Israel.<ref name=Medavoy>{{Cite news

| location = [[New York City|New York]]

| accessdateaccess-date = February 17, 2011 }}</ref>

| authorlinkauthor-link = Joan Nathan

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CMbgAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Hagafen+Cellars%22&dq=%22Hagafen+Cellars%22&hl=en&ei=K9deTcvwH4issAOQhcTOCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDUQ6AEwATgo

| accessdateaccess-date = February 19, 2011}}</ref> Weir was featured in the 2007 documentary film about California' wine industry, called ''A State of Vine''.<ref>{{Cite news

| accessdateaccess-date = February 19, 2011}}</ref> He served as president of the board of trustees of Napa's [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] synagogue, Congregation Beth Sholom, from 2007 to 2009.<ref>{{Cite news

| accessdateaccess-date = February 22, 2011}}</ref>

| accessdateaccess-date = February 20, 2011}}</ref> and that is by far the busiest time of year for Napa Valley winemakers. No work on kosher wines can take place on the most sacred of these days, including [[Rosh Hashanah]] and [[Yom Kippur]], so Weir must coordinate his schedule carefully at this time of year, and work every available moment.

| accessdateaccess-date = February 19, 2011}}</ref>

[[Category:Kosher foodwine]]