Rimon Winery

Rimon Winery is situated in the Dalton Industrial Park, also known as the Ramat Dalton Industrial Estate, in the Upper Galilee.[5][6] It shares the complex with Dalton Winery and several other wineries.[5] The winery's contact page lists opening hours of Sunday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.[1]

The fruit used for the 2004 Black Label dessert beverage was grown on the Ben-Zimra plateau at approximately 870 meters above sea level.[7] The winery traces its agricultural roots to Moshav Kerem Ben-Zimra, where Gabi Nahmias farmed and began experimenting with pomegranates before the commercial winery was established.[8][2] A 2025 Jerusalem Post article described the Ramat Dalton Industrial Estate as a location expected to become a center of Galilee winemaking and wine tourism.[6]

The winery's origins lie in the agricultural work of Gabi Nahmias, a farmer from Kerem Ben-Zimra who began growing pomegranates after reading about the fruit's medicinal properties.[2] Over several years, he crossbred two pomegranate varieties in an effort to improve the fruit, producing a larger, deep red-purple pomegranate measuring 25 Brix—substantially higher than the 16–18 Brix of the original varieties.[2] He eventually began pressing and fermenting the fruit at home.

When his son Avi returned from Australia in 2003, he found several hundred liters of the resulting wine. Avi recalled, "We strained the wine with a diaper," before filling 2,000 bottles using makeshift methods.[2] He then sold those bottles to restaurants and delicatessens around Rosh Pina, and they sold out within ten days.[2] Recognizing the commercial potential, Avi Nahmias established a formal winery—with an initial investment of $1 million—and the venture's first harvest followed in 2004.[2]

The winery's first wines reached the market in September 2005: 30,000 bottles, of which 10,000 were sold in the United States.[2] A visitor center opened at the same time.[2] The September 2006 release comprised 150,000 bottles—approximately 75,000 liters—and was followed by exports to Japan and, on a smaller scale, Europe.[2] By 2007, exports, primarily to Japan and the United States, accounted for 70% of the winery's sales, with the wines available in 300 outlets across Israel as well as at the visitor center.[2] Globes reported a 2006 turnover of approximately 8 million shekels.[2]

Rimon markets pomegranate wines in dry and sweet categories and also produces grape wines under the name The North Lake.[9] The North Lake range includes red, white, rosé, dessert, and PET NAT wines.[9]

The winery's dry pomegranate wine is aged for 14 months in French oak barrels and described as having a bright reddish-purple color, pomegranate aroma and flavor, and a hint of black pepper, at 13.8% alcohol.[10] The I Love Israel dessert wine is made entirely from pomegranates grown in the Pelto Kerem Ben-Zimra orchards; fermentation is stopped early to preserve natural sweetness, and the wine reaches 16% alcohol.[11]

The Port Premium, at 18.5% alcohol, undergoes 48 months of outdoor aging in French oak barrels—during which the winery says 48% of the liquid evaporates through the oak—yielding what Rimon describes as a delicate thickness and velvety softness.[12] A second port-style Galilee wine is aged for 18 months in French oak barrels in the sun; Rimon attributes a balance of temperatures to the region's hot days and cold nights and describes the wine as combining pomegranate with chocolate, vanilla, and berry notes.[13] A 2012 JNS account identified Rimon's Port-Style Wine as the winery's most popular product, calling it a rich after-dinner drink.[5]

The semi-sweet Easy-series red, as reviewed in 2011, was 13.5% alcohol, with half fermented in French oak and half in stainless-steel tanks.[14] The same review described Galilee Premium—not Black Label—as an 18.5% port-style pomegranate wine aged for at least four years in French oak. The reviewer compared it favorably to port and recommended serving it with dark chocolate or mature blue cheeses.[14]

An earlier review described the 2004 Black Label as a dark dessert beverage made from free-run pomegranate juice and aged for ten months in French oak, which the reviewer said contributed complexity, softness, and depth.[7]

In 2009, the winery launched a sparkling pomegranate wine after three years of development and initial marketing in Japan and England.[8] The winery claimed it was the first sparkling wine made from pomegranates in the world—a claim not independently verified in the coverage.[8] The sparkling wine was produced at 14.8% alcohol, with 10,000 bottles planned for Israel and 90,000 for Japan and England combined.[8] Owner and CEO Avi Nachmias said, "The idea to make sparkling wine was born while working in the vineyard," adding that the wine's sweetness and bubbles brought out the pomegranate flavor.[8]

Rimon also produces Caudalie, a pomegranate liquor blended from pomegranate dry liquor, pomegranate juice concentrated over heat, and pomegranate brandy.[15] The winery says its production method draws on more than 200 years of Marsala winemaking experience from the area around the port of Marsala in Sicily and describes Caudalie as aged for ten years in the open air at 22% alcohol.[15] A limited release of 1,630 bottles was reported in 2015, priced at 399 shekels.[16]

Rimon operates a family-run visitor center at the Dalton Industrial Park.[4] A 2014 Ynet account described guided tours that included a film, an explanation of how pomegranates are pressed and fermented, and wine tastings, priced at 25 shekels per visitor at the time.[4] Children aged 3–12 could participate in a chocolate workshop in an adjoining room, making pralines and dipping pretzels and marshmallows in chocolate, priced at 30 shekels per child.[4]

The winery's current tasting routes pair wines with pralines, chocolate, or cheeses.[17] A premium chocolate route samples six wines—three pomegranate and three grape—alongside three pralines.[17] A professional wine workshop of approximately one and a half hours is also available for groups of 8–50 by advance arrangement.[17] Holiday gift sets combining pomegranate wines with chocolates from the winery's chocolate center have also been offered; one example paired a Port Galilee-style wine with three chocolate bars.[16]

Two areas of contested classification or chronology appear in coverage of Rimon Winery. First, wine critics have characterized Rimon's pomegranate-based beverages as liqueur rather than wine because they are made from fruit other than grapes—a classification opinion reported by JNS in 2012, not a settled regulatory determination.[18] The winery itself markets the beverages as wines.[9]

Second, sources give different founding years. A 2007 Globes profile states that Avi Nahmias established the winery in 2003, while a 2019 Ynet guide gives 2000 as the founding year.[2][3] Globes also records earlier home winemaking by Gabi Nahmias, Avi's initial bottling in 2003, the first commercial harvest in 2004, and the first market release in 2005.[2] The differing establishment dates may therefore refer to different stages in the venture's development, although the sources do not explicitly explain the discrepancy.