About the Winery
History and a personal touch – establishing a boutique winery
“If the agriculture is here, the homeland is here.”
– Moshe Smilansky, one of the pioneering farmers in Israel
“Look at the rain falling from the sky onto our vineyards; there it enters the vine roots to become wine – a constant reminder that God loves us and delights in our happiness.”
— Benjamin Franklin
As second-generation children of immigrants from Eastern Europe, the land has always held a special meaning for us. Moshe Smilansky’s phrase needs no further explanation. When the opportunity arose in midlife, we decided to leave the city, move to the village, and plant a vineyard.
We began by studying the soil and cultivating the vines, learning from anyone willing to share their knowledge. Faith in the process, a passion for fine wine, hard work, and determination brought about the blossoming of a beautiful vineyard.
Establishing the Winery
In 2012, we decided to close the circle by establishing our winery to produce high-quality boutique wines on-site. We returned to the classroom, learning winemaking both theoretically and practically. Guided by experienced winemakers, we mastered the production processes and refined our approach.
We focus on producing red wines with French and Italian influence, blending several grape varieties. These include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Marselan, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Sangiovese from Ben Nun Vineyard, complemented by carefully selected Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Sirah, and Merlot grapes from a vineyard in Givat Yeshayahu.
Winemaking Process
Our wines are crafted in stainless steel tanks imported from Italy, following precise, computer-controlled procedures. Aging and refinement take place in French oak barrels using traditional methods. Within a year of harvest, the must is transformed into exceptional wine.
Producing wine from grapes we grow ourselves provides a unique advantage, uniting vineyard care and winemaking under a single vision. Every step — from choosing grape varieties, planting and cultivating vines, determining the harvest date, to meticulous winemaking — is guided by quality as the ultimate principle.
Commitment to Excellence
Encouraged by positive feedback from friends and professional winemakers, we decided to share our love of wine with a wider audience. Our professional advisory team of winemakers, viticulturists, and managers ensures every bottle reflects the unique character of our vineyard and the region.
Through dedication, knowledge, and passion, we create wines that express both the land and the artistry of winemaking, offering a true taste of Ben Nun Winery.
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The vision and values that guide us
To produce a unique, harmonious, high-quality local wine that inspires passion and joy of life.
The values
Our passion for fine, delicious, and interesting wine is the guiding principle that guides us throughout.
Passion – Our love for good food, good living, great music, and, of course, exceptional wine.
Faith and Determination – Driving our vision forward.
Quality – Crafting unique wines with a clear mark of excellence over time, as if each bottle were made just for us.
Professionalism – At Ben Nun Winery, work is guided by deep knowledge, attention to detail, curiosity, and continuous learning, alongside innovation and creativity, while respecting traditional winemaking methods.
Kosher – Every stage of production is carried out meticulously by observant staff under the supervision of Rabbi Shlomo Naftali from the Gezer Regional Council, Rabbi Rubin (Badatz Mehadrin), and OU certification.
Music and Wine – Having played music since childhood, we discovered a harmonious, unique blend combining our love for jazz and free improvisation with respect for classical music traditions. Just as we experience the magic of music, continuing to play, learn, and improvise, our vision at the winery revolves around a passion for producing unique, high-quality wines that excite the senses. We are committed to crafting the finest wines—wines with local identity, elegance, and balance, combining fruity aromas with subtle, velvety oak notes. Winemaking at the winery is consistently intertwined with music, inspiring joy and vitality.
The winery hosts top jazz artists in the series “Jazz in the Vineyard,” taking place in the winery and vineyard premises in an enchanting and intimate atmosphere.
Our team
The secret of the wine’s magic, its complexity, and captivating taste lies in the winemaker’s deep involvement, in the careful cultivation of the vines in the vineyard, and in the close supervision of the winemaking process at the winery, all carried out with excellent teamwork in both the winery and the vineyard.
The Ben Nun Winery team includes:
Founder and Vineyard Manager: Dr. Danny Yaniv
Founder and Winemaker: Adi Gendler
Winemaker: Itzik Lotan
Winemaker and Kosher Supervisor: Shraga Edelman
Kosher Supervision: Rabbi Shlomo Naftali, Gezer Regional Council
The vineyard and winery
Tel Gezer – The Revival of the Wine Industry
Gezer, a settlement founded in the fourth millennium BCE, is located right in the center of the country along the King’s Highway from Egypt northwards, overlooking the entire coastal plain. On clear days, from the top of Tel Gezer, one can see Ashdod and Ashkelon to the south, and Tel Aviv and the Gush Dan area to the north. Anyone standing on the tel could observe every ship arriving in Jaffa, every caravan heading to Jerusalem, and all activity around the Yarkon springs near Rosh HaAyin.
The Gezer region has been known for grape cultivation for hundreds of years. Already in biblical times, there are records of grape growing that formed the basis for the production of quality wine around Tel Gezer from the time of King Solomon until today. A tour of the area around Tel Gezer reveals ancient wineries and wine presses used for winemaking in antiquity. Many of these have been excavated and are still visible today. With the rise of boutique wineries and vineyards, and the revival of the olive oil industry in Israel, the region is returning to its former prominence and gaining momentum.
Kfar Ben Nun, located in the Ayalon Valley and part of the Gezer Regional Council, was established in 1952 and is situated in an area rich in Jewish history dating back over 1,000 years BCE. The original entrance to the village was via an ancient Roman road connecting the King’s Highway in the Jerusalem hills to the road to the sea. This road passed near the hill adjacent to Ben Nun Winery, where two ancient wine presses were discovered.
One of the presses has been identified by experts as a treading platform from the First Temple period (circa 960 BCE). The second press, later in date and unusually large, is estimated to be from the Second Temple period (around 500 BCE) and likely served as a local “industrial” screw press. A short distance from the ancient presses is a ritual bath (mikveh) dating to the Hasmonean period (140–63 BCE), providing clear evidence of a Jewish settlement engaged in winemaking over 2,000 years ago, precisely at the site of today’s Ben Nun Winery.
The terroir – Vineyard-Terroir
The area is characterized by a unique microclimate, including a cold-air funnel into the valley, which brings cool night breezes even during the summer. The air from the Jerusalem hills provides the dryness required for the vineyard. This distinctive microclimate enhances grape ripening, allowing the extraction of minerals from the vineyard soil and the accumulation of flavor and aroma compounds in the grapes.
The vineyard is planted on the soils of Kfar Ben Nun, in the Ayalon Valley, on the slopes of the Judean Hills toward Jerusalem, between the settlements of Karmi Yosef and Kfar Ben Nun, in a location that once hosted many vineyards. The vineyard grows in heavy, limestone-rich soil, providing an excellent foundation for the flavor compounds concentrated in the grapes. The slope of the land ensures excellent drainage, preventing water accumulation.
The vineyard and grape care
Controlled growing conditions and proper pruning ensure an appropriate balance between foliage and fruit. This balance guarantees optimal ripening conditions for each cluster. Thanks to precise irrigation, regulated drought stress, and controlled sun exposure, high-quality grapes develop with small berries and a high concentration of flavor compounds.
We carefully manage the number of grape clusters per vine to ensure that each grape receives from the vine and the soil the maximum amount of minerals and flavor compounds needed to produce a high-quality, distinguished wine. We strive to limit the yield to 800 kg per dunam, allowing the vine to concentrate flavors, color, and aroma in the remaining clusters. Currently, the vineyard grows Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon varieties. The propagation material for the vines was specially ordered from France. The planting was carried out by hand, with personal attention given to each vine. Even in the first years, the vineyard produced grapes with exceptional quality, aroma, and taste. In 2016, we expanded the vineyard with Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Sangiovese varieties to broaden the range of wines.
Production process
For thousands of years, humans have been successfully producing wine. Yet, to create a high-quality wine, professionalism, the right environment, and, of course, excellent grapes are essential. At Ben Nun Winery, we believe that achieving outstanding wine requires dedication, careful cultivation, and above all, love for every stage of the winemaking process – from the vineyard to the bottle.
Our winemaking process begins on harvest day, a celebrated occasion both in the vineyard and at the winery. All our wines result from hand harvesting, carried out with the help of friends and family at dawn. Each plot is harvested separately, and upon arrival at the winery next to the vineyard, the grapes are cooled for one day at a temperature of approximately 4–6°C to ensure a uniform and controlled start to the winemaking process.
On pressing morning, we meticulously sort the grapes by hand, transferring the selected clusters to the crusher-destemmer, which gently separates the grapes from their stems and crushes them to the precise degree required for fermentation in the tanks.
Fermentation is carried out in chilled stainless steel tanks, allowing us to carefully control the pace for each grape variety, ripeness level, and wine style, with the goal of extracting optimal color and flavor from the skins. Fermentation lasts 7–14 days, concluding when all sugars have converted into alcohol. During this time, we gently pump over the juice from the bottom of the tank onto the skins accumulating at the top, ensuring thorough extraction of taste and color.
After alcoholic fermentation, the wine is transferred from the tanks to the press, where it flows free of skins and seeds into bacterial fermentation tanks. Press day is another joyful occasion at the winery, as the young wine is poured for the first time, free from skins and seeds. On this day, the winemaker assesses the quality of the previous year’s vineyard work. The wine then undergoes slow, oxygen-free bacterial fermentation at controlled low temperatures to fully develop the grape’s quality potential. After this stage, the wine is racked and moved to oak barrels for aging.
We age our wines in French oak barrels, where a slow micro-oxygenation process occurs through the wood, adding characteristic oak flavors that complement the fruit notes from the vineyard. Depending on the wine variety, aging lasts from one to two years.
The final stage in winemaking focuses on creating a balanced and complex wine. Through repeated tastings, the winemaker selects the optimal blend from all barrels and wine types – the “blend.” The chosen blend is transferred to stainless steel tanks for clarification and stabilization before bottling.
The process concludes with corking using high-quality corks, sealing with a capsule, and labeling the bottles. The newly bottled wine is then rested for several months in optimal cool and dark conditions, allowing it to settle before release to the market.