PELTER WINERY was established, as a family business, by Tal Pelter upon his return to Israel from Australia where he studied viticulture and wine making. With the help of his family, Tal established the winery in 2002, on the grounds of the family farm in Moshav Zofit, Israel. The first winery facilities were built by the family and friends, and produced wines of four vintages 2001-2004. At the end of the second vintage, Tal decided that the winery he desired was larger than the "home winery" on the grounds of the family farm and thus began a search for a permanent location of an expanded facility – were the production of his wine could be combined with growth of the grapes. As a first step, Tal and Einbar together with their two small daughters Shacham and Aya, acquired a home in Kibbutz Merom Golan and began an effort to acquire land on the Golan on which the winery would be built and vineyards planted. During the summer of 2005 the winery was transferred to a temporary location on Kibbutz Ein Zivan adjacent to Merom Golan. The 2005 vintage produced successfully in the Ein Zivan location and resulted in a production of approximately 24,000 bottles. In addition, at the end of August 2005, Tal supervised the planting, on the Golan, of 35 dunams (8.75 acres) of grapes for the winery – a further step in the direction of establishing of the new winery. Tal's dream of a permanent winery, on the northern portion of Ramat HaGolan, is in the final stages of realization. The philosphy The production of wine in the Pelter Winery is different and exceptional due to its clear Australian orientation. We believe in the art of blending grape varieties with the goal of producing easily approachable quality wines, permitting their consumption at the time of their production or their cellaring for further maturation and enhanced quality and taste. An aspect of our approach is to produce wines that have not as yet been encountered in Israel, but which are nonetheless suitable to the Israeli taste and climate. Shiraz and Semillon are varieties which are suitable to warm climates, as is Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand version) – sharp and dry, picked relatively early, greener and with a higher acidic content. Ageing of the wine is accomplished after serious consideration, in particular in regards to suitability of the particular type of barrel to variety of grape. The use of French barrels in combination with a smaller number of American barrels, the use of new barrels for fruit which is truly capable of absorbing the wood flavors in a positive manner - these are a few of the techniques employed by Tal in influencing the wine taste by means of the ageing process. The Winery produces two principal series: Pelter series – quality wines at reasonable prices – value for money. T-Selection series – a "limited edition" of exceptional and extraordinarily superior wines. While the quantity of wine to be produced by the Winery during the forthcoming five years will grow, the boutique character of the winery and the exceptional quality of its wines will be preserved. Moreover, it is extremely important for us to maintain the personal and family nature of our work, the contact with each grape cluster and the color of our hands during vintage. We take pride in the fact that the work in the Winery is primarily, carried out by the family, from the moment the grapes arrive at the Winery, throughout the process of fermentation and aging, during bottling, marketing and ultimately the distribution of our products. This process began during calendar year 2001 with the production of 2000 bottles; we forecast the production of 2006 to reach between 30,000 to 40000 bottles.