The Yehuda wine region (appellation) in the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council will open the traditional wine month celebrations with a festive opening event at Yad Lashiryon Latrun (June 4, 2026), featuring dozens of the leading wineries in Israel. During the month, numerous events will take place at the Yehuda wineries, including winemaker meetings, festive launches of the 2025 vintage, and experiences combining culinary arts, culture, and wine, as well as a performance by Noam and Boaz Banai.
The annual Mateh Yehuda Wine Festival, one of the oldest and most significant events in the Israeli wine field, returns for its 28th year and invites the general public to experience Israel’s first wine region, Yehuda, through a broad series of events, tastings, and meetings with the people leading the wine industry in Israel. The opening event, which will take place on Thursday, 4.6.26, starting at 20:00 at Yad Lashiryon Latrun, will signal the opening of the events that will span across three weekends in June.
The opening event will offer tastings from dozens of wineries from the Yehuda wine region, alongside guest wineries from the North. During the evening, visitors will enjoy free wine tastings, meetings with winemakers and winery owners, and live music, with the center of the program being a performance by Noam and Boaz Banai featuring the songs of the Banai family. Visitors will have the option to purchase a discounted ticket for a designated driver and a food complex for an additional fee. The area’s hotels will offer discounted accommodation packages for the opening event participants.
After nearly three decades of activity, the Yehuda wine region continues to establish its status as the first wine region in Israel, with dozens of wineries combining agricultural tradition with innovation and local creation. The unique climate conditions of the terroir, the diverse soils, and the people behind the wineries create wines with a unique character and a growing reputation in Israel and around the world. But beyond the quality of the wines, the real story lies in the work and the people: winemakers, farmers, and local creators, each of whom brings a personal interpretation to the land, climate, and tradition. During the month, boutique events will take place at wineries throughout the council and the wine region.
Festival program
Guided wine tours:
Wineries between Sorek Valley and Ayalon Valley, 12.6.26, at 10:00 guided by Adv. Idan Bar Ulpan.
In the Yehuda wine region there are about 40 wineries, including kosher and non-kosher wineries. The tour led by Adv. Idan Bar Ulpan, who has professionally accompanied the wine region for two decades, will take participants between several of the non-kosher wineries of the wine region. During the tour, we will meet the winemakers who will talk about the creative process and the winery owners who will tell the participants about the choice to be non-kosher wineries. The tour will include the Clos de Gat, Kadma, and Kerem Barak wineries, where the winemakers will talk about the unique terroir of the Yehuda wine region and its part in their creation.
Ella Valley women winemakers tour, 19.6.26, at 10:00 guided by Shelly Eshkoli.
The wine field, like many fields in various industries, is a very masculine field. In the Yehuda wine region, quite a few wineries under female leadership have emerged in recent years: Female winemakers who have managed to position themselves as leaders in the Israeli wine industry. The "Ella Valley Women Winemakers" tour will introduce you to Lori Lander from Tzafririm Winery, Lea Mettler from Mettler Winery, and Sharon Cohen from Roglit Winery. The three established family boutique wineries and are the winemakers who grow vineyards and create fine wine. Throughout the years, one can sense the development of their elegant magic touch in winemaking. The tour will be led by Shelly Eshkoli, a tour guide and resident of the Ella Valley who specializes in wine tours and the biblical world.
Events at the wineries – winemaker meetings
• Lori Lander (Tzafririm Winery) will host Golan Flam (Flam Winery) for a one-time meeting that brings together around a glass of wine two of the significant voices of the Yehuda wine region. In the meeting, the two will dive together into the delicate connection between soil, climate, man, and time, and will examine how the unique region of the Judean Hills is expressed in the glass.
• Uriel Harari (Sarigim Winery) and Haim Gan (The Grape Man) will dive into a discussion about the heart of creation which is the blend, about the art of connection and balance, and will examine the place where varieties, plots, and vintage years meet, and create one whole wine, alongside a tasting that will examine the blend in its layers.
• Nevo Hazan (Nevo Winery) will offer together with Avi Yehuda (Yehuda Winery) a tasting of red wines and an exciting meeting of people who love the land.
• Lina Slutzkin (Kadma Winery) will host her teacher Nir Shaham (Sorek Winery) for a fascinating meeting after 16 years and a comparative tasting of wines made with different winemaking approaches using different technologies and production in diverse styles.
• Lea Mettler (Mettler Winery) will host Peter Mark (Hadar Winery) for a tasting evening dedicated to the connection between wine and art, and what the encounter between wine, art, and music creates.
• Ariel Bir (HaEla Winery) will join Stephan Celniker (Jaffa Winery) for an evening of joint tastings.
A series of winemaker and culinary meetings with Chef Nora:
Dates – 26.5 Underdog, Dror Engelstein. 2.6 Local, Hedai Ofaim. 9.6 Castel-Raziel. 16.6 Tzafririm, Lori Lander. 23.6 Flam, Golan Flam. 30.6 Agur, Eyal Drory. 7.7 Teperberg, Dani Friedenberg. 21.7 Nevo, Nevo Hazan. 28.7 Clos de Gat, Gidi Hayat.
Nora, Nurit Hertz, a forager chef from Moshav Mטע, will hold concept events with winemakers from the Yehuda wine region, where in each event she will match the food she serves to the types of wine offered. The dishes will be accompanied by explanations about the connections behind the flavors, and these will create a complete experience.
The launch of the 2025 vintage of Yehuda wines
During the month, launch events for the 2025 vintage will take place at Kadma Winery, Sorek Winery, Olo Winery, Kerem Barak Winery, Gizo Winery, Mettler Winery, and Yehuda Winery. Live music evenings, open wine bars, and cultural events combining wine, art, and music:
• Kerem Barak Winery (Beko'a) in the 'Opening the Archive' event, which will be dedicated to a tasting route of aging wines from the 2012 vintage (when the winery was established) to the 2020 vintage. In addition, on Wednesdays during the festival, the winery will turn into a romantic and intimate wine bar and will offer a selection of wines from the light and delicate to the deep and sophisticated, alongside a food menu built especially for the event.
• Nevo Winery (Mata) will launch the winery's new series in an evening of bottomless wine, a DJ, and a dairy menu.
• Tzuba Winery (Tzuba) will offer on Tuesdays themed tastings (whites, aging, premium) and on Thursday evenings will host live music performances.
• Tzafririm Winery (Tzafririm) will launch the new Lander Project wines in the winery's orchard, under the olive trees in collaboration with the pizzaiolo Koren Kalimi.
List of wineries participating in the Wine Festival:
Tzora, Flam, Nevo, Hadar, Mettler, Agur, Sarigim, Tzafririm, Sphera, Tzuba, Castel, Underdog, Sorek, Olo, HaEla, Seahorse, Roglit, Kadma, Kerem Barak, Yehuda, Bravdo, Raviv, Raziel, Moni, Teperberg, Gizo, Rame, Bezak, Jaffa, Peer, Latrun, Ben Nun. In addition, the Tishbi Distillery will also arrive with local grape brandy.
For the full festival program, registration for events at the wineries, accommodation packages, and the main event – details on the website.