The Ariel in Yehuda Winery, located in Kiryat Arba, has won the silver medal at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards for its Hallel wine, which vintner Amichai Ariel named after his daughter, Hallel, who was murdered by a terrorist.
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The family-made wine beat more than 18,000 competing wines from South America, South Africa, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.
In 2016, a terrorist snuck into the Ariel family's home in Kiryat Arab and stabbed Hallel to death while she was sleeping.
Amichai, who founded the winery on the outskirts of Kiryat Arba, tells visitors the story of his daughter's murder.
"The competition in which we won the silver medal is a very prestigious one. There were wines there from traditional wineries that are hundreds of years old. It's a very tough competition that takes about two and a half months to judge," Ariel said, adding that the judges taste wines without knowing which countries produce them.
"They don't know that this is wine from Israel, certainly not that it's a wine from a settlement in Judea and Samaria. They taste 'blind' and only after it is tasted by a number of judges in several places are points awarded," Ariel explained.
Hallel wine is a blend of cabarnet, franc, and merlot. A bottle sells for as much as 150 shekels ($44.60) and the wine is only available for purchase at the winery itself.
"We're considered a very small winery compared to the giant ones that enter the competition, which makes the success greater," Ariel noted.
While thrilled at the win, Ariel said that he is more gratified that groups of youth and visitors come to the winery and learn about Hallel.
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