Yaacov Oryah Wines

Yaacov Oryah is considered to be one of the top winemakers in Israel. Over the years he has been the head winemaker at a number of Israeli wineries, including Psagot in the Judean Hills and his current post at Pinto winery in the Negev. Yaacov also consults with many small boutique wineries who seek his vast wine knowledge and expertise. If that weren’t enough, he also produces his own line of wines under his name. While established wineries aim for consistency in style and taste profiles, Yaacov is able to tinker and experiment and create unique red, white, rose and orange wines under his own label. The results are amazing and his wines consistently garner top scores and rave reviews.

Mention Orange wines (also known as skin macerated wines) in Israel and Yaacov’s name will immediately come up in the conversation. Using white grapes that spend some time on the skins to extract flavor, color and body, Oryah produces a range of orange wines under the Alpha Omega series including single varietal Chenin Blanc and Gewurztraminer, a Late Harvest Gewurztraminer , and some blends. Along his orange wine journey one of the wines developed flor (a layer of yeast that sits atop the wine and protects it from oxidation while contributing interesting aromas and flavors) thus the Alpha Omega Melchizedek was born.

Oryah’s white wines offer their unique style as well, covering a range from the crisp Queen Hearts blend to his Light from Darkness, as the name suggests, a white wine made from red grape varieties, giving it more body and texture. More recently Yaacov has embarked on what may be the most exciting project in his portfolio, the Multiple Expressions (M.E.) series. In this series Yaacov takes a single varietal from a single vineyard and produces multiple fermentations (batches) and then blends them to perfection, creating a wine masterpiece of complex and layered aromas and flavors. The winemaking starts in the vineyard, with some vines grown under canopy (for less direct sunlight), some out in the open, parcels are harvested at different times; from early harvests to retain the acidity to late harvests to extract the rich flavors. The wines are then fermented using different containers, some in stainless steel tanks, some in barrels (and as you may have guessed different barrels - American, European, new, neutral), in all there are 13 different fermentations per wine that are then blended to create a single M.E. wine.

If that seemed like enough work for one winemaker, Yaacov also produces Pretty as the Moon, a rose that was supposed to be another white (a blanc de noirs) but yielded some color that made it a rose. This wine is typically produced using Rhone varietals such as Grenache and Mourvedre.

Yaacov brings the same creative passion to his range of red wines. He produces a Pinot Noir under the Black Pinecone label, in years that offer the best quality harvest for the varietal. A small batch of A Place by The Sea made with Merlot that is only sold in the U.S. He is known for the interesting red blends including the S.O.B. (Special Oryah Blend) made with 7 distinct varietals that one wouldn’t think to combine, artfully composed into a delicious, approachable wine.

Yaacov’s creativity doesn’t end with winemaking. The names on Oryah’s labels are clever and creative in their own right. For example, the Multiple Expressions (M.E.) alludes to the 13 fermentations used to make the wine, but the ME abbreviation (boldly displayed on the wine label) speaks to the essence of the wine. While terroir is often what drives the flavor and style of a wine, Yaacov shows how the winemaker can take wine from a single terroir (vineyard), and create something based on winemaking decisions that tastes wildly different than if he just let the terroir do the talking. The orange wines under Alpha Omega - Greek for A-Z - connote the usage of the whole grape including the skin (whereas white wines don’t spend time macerating on the white grape skins, you can only get the orange hue in these wines from skin contact).

In all, Yaacov has produced over 30 different wines under his label, some of which were one time productions but most continue to this day. The blends in a wine may change but the quality and unique profiles are consistent and otherworldly.

The Yaacov Oryah wines are sold exclusively at KosherWine.com