448: What It’s Like Being a Head Winemaker in Israel With Victor Schoenfeld, Golan Heights Winery [Main T4C Episode]

Victor Schoenfeld is the head winemaker at the Golan Heights Winery in Israel, the third largest winery in Israel. In the three decades he’s been at the winery, Victor has become a driving force in Israel’s emerging modern wine industry. Under his leadership, the winery has won numerous awards, including top honors as a Wine Spectator Top 100 Wine of the Year in 2008 and again in 2018. Golan Heights also received an award for having the best winery in the world in 2011, along with being recognized as a top 100 wine of the year 2014, all firsts for a winery from Israel. Victor is a pioneer in the application of new technology and winemaking techniques, including sophisticated weather predicting, irrigation management and green practices. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE: What a head winemaker does and what are his main responsibilities (4:00) What is the winemaking process (8:10)  How the year unfolds for winemaking in Israel (11:55)  How careers develop in this industry (16:55)  Why winemaking is fun but not romantic (32:00)