Wine critic Daniel Rogov, known for his expertise in Israeli vintages, describes the Teperberg 1870 Winery, Merlot Terra 2007 as 'Dark garnet, with nicely gripping tannins and a gentle hand with the wood, those in fine balance with blackberries and blueberries. In the background appealing hints of Oriental spices and earthy minerals.'
In his Guide to Israeli Wines 2010, Rogov scored this wine an 88 ('highly recommended').
This Merlot is aged in oak barrels over the course of 12 months and can be cellared through 2011.
Teperberg Israel Wineries was founded in 1870 by the Teperberg family in the Jewish quarter of the old city of Jerusalem. The winery moved to Motza outside the city limits in 1964, and was known by the name of Efrat.
For most of the winery's history it produced mainly sacramental wines for the ultra-Orthodox community. But in 1990s it began producing table wines and starting in 2002, the winery began producing boutique wines designed to appeal to a more sophisticated audience.
Under the supervision of California-trained winemaker Shiki Rauchberger, the family enterprise recently relocated to its freshly constructed winery on Kibbutz Tzora at foothills of the Jerusalem hills. The winery has also officially returned to its original name, Teperberg.
The new winery, while still partly under construction, now employs fully modern equipment, a modern and impressive barrel room and better control over its vineyards. About 4 million bottles are currently produced annually. Interesting wines are from the Reserve, Terra and Silver series.
All of the wines are mevushal, with the exception of the wines in the Terra and Reserve series. Teperberg wineries plans to produce about 7 million bottles annually.