Welcome to the Upper Galilee region of Israel. It’s filled with rolling hills, landscape that is littered with oak trees, and verdant soil where grapes—like this Cabernet Sauvignon—grow.

It’s in this region that we also found out some interesting facts about said Cabernet Sauvignon… (though we have yet to find the proof so we’re holding it loosely!).
We sat across the tasting bar from Rami Na'aman, the founder of Na’aman Winery in the Upper Galilee as he disclosed secrets he’d found nearly a decade before.

“Cabernet Franc came from Upper Galilee to France—not the other way around!” Rami exclaimed.

Rami claimed he’d found (and subsequently lost) a French Encyclopedia from the late 1800s that proved this theory.

The Encyclopedia of Vines alleged that thousands of years ago Cabernet Franc traveled from the Upper Galilee of Israel to Bordeaux. It was there in Bordeaux that we all know it was famously cloned with Sauvignon Blanc to create the wine of all wines—Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Could it be true?! Could the origins of the beloved Cabernet Sauvignon have stemmed from the region of Israel, with a wine culture revived only in the last hundred years?!

We don’t have the Encyclopedias to prove it, but it's a fun tale and we sure know there’s more to the story of Israel than meets the eye. In fact, there are new discoveries we’re finding every day!