Meet the Winemaker (Episode 76): David Ventura, Ventura, by Debra Meiburg

As a boy growing up in France, David Ventura could not have imagined where watching his grandfather make wine would take him... Years later, his dream was to start a family boutique winery in Israel, in keeping with French winemaking standards. Today, located in the Judean Hills in Israel, Domaine Ventura produces around 4,000 bottles of high quality Bordeaux style wines every year.

Being 900 meters above sea level with stony soil and great weather, the Ventura vineyards benefit from the ideal location and conditions for producing good quality grapes. Influenced by the French style of winemaking and by Bordeaux, Ventura wines are aged in old French oak barrels, which give them their unique flavour and aroma. Ventura confesses that his business really is about the love of the wine and despite the hard work, which includes picking grapes by hand, it is clearly something he is deeply passionate about.