Pomegranate Wines

Filed in archive Wine News on November 23, 2007

Earlier this week I was reading HaKerrem: The Israeli Wine Blog and saw this post about a pomegranate wine from Israel. Father and son Gaby and Avi Nachmias began producing it in 2003 and selling it locally. The wine was very well received and in 2004 they founded the Rimon Winery. (Rimon is the Hebrew word for pomegranate.) They are trying to open up channels of distribution to make the wine available internationally, including in the United States.

From Israel 21C:

In Israel, Rimon wines cost about the same as most fine wines, at $15.50-24.50 per bottle. Distribution costs will certainly cause a price markup when they hit US shops, but Open
declines to give a price range.

In any case, Rimon shouldn't have to worry about competition for many years. "We spent a long time developing this wine," Open says. "It will be very difficult for anyone else to try to imitate it."

However, Rimon Winery is not alone in the pomegranate wine market. Bargetto Winery was making a pomegranate dessert wine back in the late 1970s. A few weeks ago, they reintroduced this wine to the market.

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel:

Not much has changed since Bargetto first made pomegranate wine. The winery again turned to George Stieb of Porterville, the same grower who provided the juice before. Last October, the juice arrived at Bargetto's already pressed and chilled, and Michael Sones, Bargetto's winemaker since 2004, said he enjoyed making the wine.

"This was my first experience making it, and the variety of pomegranate we're using is wonderful," said Sones, a former cellar master at David Bruce Winery. "There's a lot of interest right now in people drinking pomegranate juice. I think because of the health aspect of antioxidants people are well aware of eating and drinking things that are good for them. I'm glad we're resurrecting the pomegranate wine."

Armenia also makes pomegranate wines, according to the Sentinel article.

The pomegranate was one of my favorite fruits long before the health craze surrounding it began. These wines sound interesting and I hope I get the chance to try one. (All else fails, I suppose I could try making my own).